Frazee-man has strong ties to wrestling community

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

In 1960 the Minnesota state wrestling tournament looked very little like it does today. While wrestlers from across the state gathered in St. Paul to take to the mat just like they do today the tournament was much smaller than the four-day marathon that fills the Grand Casino Arena today. 

Among the competitors during those early years was Frazee High School wrestler Dan Niemi. He was among the first high school wrestlers for a Frazee program that has become one of the most consistent and successful in the region and was the first-ever Hornet to qualify for the state tournament in 1960.

“I was the only one who wrestled down there, but there were three of us who went down (to St. Paul),” he said. 

While wrestling was in its early days at Frazee High School, Niemi said many of the schools in the Minneapolis and St. Paul areas had been wrestling for quite some time. The Frazee program had started just a few years before he qualified for state and Niemi said he remembered that the program didn’t always fill the gym for matches quite like they do today.

“I remembered the first wrestling match we had up here, there were like three people in the gymnasium,” he said.

After qualifying for the state wrestling tournament, Niemi said his parents questioned the need to go all the way to St. Paul to wrestle more matches against the best wrestlers in the state. While it almost seems unfathomable today, Niemi’s coach had to tell his parents how important the state tournament experience would be for not only their family, but the entire wrestling program as a whole.

“They said you have been wrestling down here and you did good, why do you want to go down there,” Niemi recalled of his parents questioning the need to go to state. 

His parents relented and the Frazee wrestler packed his things for St. Paul where he won a match in the 165 lbs. tournament but did not place at state.
He said the mats were in different locations throughout the venue and wrestlers had to go around columns to find where they would take the mat for each bout. 

This past year the state wrestling tournament grew to four days and included a full consolation bracket for the individual wrestlers and a full female individual tournament for one of the fastest growing sports in the country. 

Niemi said “wrestling has grown a lot,” since those early days of the state tournament and he remembers fondly his time wrestling for the Hornets over 60 years ago.

In addition to the growth of the sport, Niemi said one of the things that has changed in wrestling over the years is the knowledge of how to properly cut weight. 

“Making weight back in those days we didn’t have any real way to do it. It was tough,” he said. “Nobody had the ability and nobody knew how to do it.”

While he has long retired his wrestling shoes, Niemi continues to leave a legacy in the wrestling community throughout the region. He has nine grandchildren, including six grandsons who were all wrestlers and state entrants over the past 10 years. His son, Eric Niemi, is also the head wrestling coach at New York Mills High School.

Among his grandchildren who were wrestlers and state entrants were Justin and Cody Dravis of Park Rapids Area; Dane Niemi of New York Mills; and Brett, Daniel and Jack Graham of Frazee.

His three granddaughters have also left a mark on the sport as statisticians including Taylor and Kate Dravis of Park Rapids Area and Mikaela Niemi Hart of New York Mills.