by Dennis Dalman
The Sartell Youth Wrestling Team, for the third consecutive year, took first place in Pool 5 in the state tournament of the Northland Youth Wrestling Association held at the Rochester Mayo Civic Center March 29-30.
Another tournament triumph was earned by Sartell’s Liam Thom, who was named State Champion in the individual wrestling category for weight and school grade (fifth and sixth grade). Liam, a fifth-grader at St. Francis Xavier Elementary School, wrestled in the 70-pound bracket. His younger brother, Landon, 9, was also on the team that won first place in Pool 5. And they have a 7-year-old brother, Gavin, who is also in youth wrestling. They are the sons of Sartell residents Shari and Preston Thom.
Yet another achievement for young Sartell wrestlers was that four of them, besides Liam’s first-place win, also placed in individual wrestling weight-and-class categories:
Corbin Scherer, fifth place, 76 pounds, grades 3 and 4.
Owen Willis, fourth place, 140 pounds, grades 5 and 6.
Ben Mack, fifth place, 88 pounds, grades 5 and 6.
Like Liam Thom, Ben Mack is also a fifth-grade student at St. Francis Xavier Elementary School. He and Liam are good buddies and frequent wrestling partners.
The youth wrestling program is for participants in pre-K through sixth grade; there is also a state tournament division for students in grades 7 and 8 and a separate girls-only tournament. Sartell has not yet sent a 7-9 grade team to the state tournament.
Thirty-two teams competed at the tournament. There are 21 members on the Sartell team, which tallied four wins-one loss. The only team it didn’t win was the one from Wabasso.
The Sartell team is coached by Dustin Coffin and assistant coaches Alex Pachan and Avery Starz, with volunteer coaching help from many of the team members’ fathers.
At the state tournament, the 32 teams are seeded into four brackets after qualifying at a regional tournament. Then, depending on results from the first day, they are placed into one of eight pools of competition for the second day. The Sartell team’s first-place winners of Pool 5 placed 17th overall among the 32 teams.
There are some new members on the Sartell NYWA team this year, including twins Cael and Palmer Olson, fifth-graders, who are the sons of Cody Olson, the head coach of the Sartell High School wrestling team. He helped do some coaching for the youth team this year and said he was so pleased at the team members’ dedication and hard work.
After the top six placements for each bracket were announced at the Mayo Civic Center, there was a “Parade of Champions” across the floor, accompanied by bursts of jubilation and wild cheers from audience members and fellow wrestlers.
“They worked so hard for that moment so it was very, very cool to see,” said Shari Thom, the mother of wrestlers Liam, Landon and Gavin. “And that work ethic carries over into their school studies too. We parents are so very proud of all of them.”
During the tournament, all the wrestlers and their families stayed at the same hotel. After their tourney triumphs, they celebrated in a large meeting room in the hotel, enjoying pizza and cookies, followed by a rousing, splashing swim-time in the hotel pool
Team Members
The 21 members of the Sartell Youth Wrestling Team are: Kindergarten: Vinny Coffin; Grade 1: Griffen Gertken, Titus Pesta and Sawyer Lust; Grade 2: Hawkins VanCleve; Grade 3: Landon Thom and Hudson Winkelman; Grade 4: Emmett Coffin, Corbin Sherer, Bryce Cummings and Jameson Lust; Grade 5: Liam Thom, Dexter Schoenberg, Cael Olson, Palmer Olson, Benjamin Mack, Jaxon Disrud and Micah Smith; and Grade 6: Jackson Gulden, Owen Willis and Trenton Pesta.
These are the 21 jubilant members of the Sartell Youth Hockey Team, along with their coaches and adult volunteers, after the team won first place in Pool 5 at the state youth wrestling tournament held recently in Rochester.
Liam Thom (right) shows the first-place award he won in his weight-and-grade category at the state youthwrestling tournament in Rochester recently. At left is Ben Mack, who won fifth place in his weight-and-grade category. The are both fifth-grade students at St. Francis Xavier Church in Sartell, as well as good buddies who practice and hone their wrestling skills in friendly competition.
