NYM returns three state entrants from last season

Photo by Tucker Henderson
New York Mills senior wrestlers include: Blake Unger, Joe Mann, Alex Simpson, Ashton Lehmann and Austin Geiser.

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

When the New York Mills Eagles open their wrestling season this week they will be doing so with 12 letter winners and three state entrants returning to the line up. The Eagles will be led by Creed Mursu, Austin Geiser and Blake Unger, all who advanced to the state wrestling tournament last season.

In addition to the three state entrants, nine other letter winners will grace the Eagle line up this season, including: Carlyle Tumberg, Isaac Geiser, Finn Wallgren, Elijah O’Dea, Wes Simpson, Ashton Lehman, Joe Mann, Grady Roberts and Alex Simpson.

In addition to the returning letter winners, head coach Eric Niemi said the Eagles will have a number of seventh and eighth grade wrestlers who could have an impact on the varsity level at the lighter weights this season. 

“We will have a young team in the lower weights with limited varsity experience.  I’m excited about the number of seventh and eighth grade wrestlers that could contend for the starting 107 or 114-pound weight class. It’s been a few years since we have had that in our room. Wyatt Helmbrecht (9), Royce Lorentz (9),Tony Nichols(10) and Kaden Snook (9) could all be impact wrestlers this season,” he said.

As the team gears up for the season, Niemi said the Eagles will look to fill the gaps left by several seniors who graduated last season and had a big impact on the program over the past decade. 

“Every wrestler we graduate from our team is a tremendous loss,” said Niemi. “As a program we spend over a decade working with some student athletes and that eventually comes to an end.  The wrestling program and our school graduated a great student athlete in Bode Roberts last year.  Graduates are all missed, but their impact on a program can remain.”

The Eagles will open the season at home on Tuesday night when they host Border West in a dual. After the dual the Eagles will travel to Hillsboro to participate in its opening season tournament in North Dakota. 

As the team gears up for its season, Niemi said he is excited about the opportunity to potentially fill all of the weight classes with competitive wrestlers. If the team is able to fill its 13 weights, he said the NY Mills wrestlers have the chance to be .500 or better and take a positive step in the right direction.

“I think we have the potential to fill all of our weight classes with competitive wrestlers. That will take a considerable amount of dedication from some key individuals,” he said. “If we are able to fill our weight classes, we could have the chance to be a .500 or better team. That would be a real step in the right direction for our program. Individually we have always had a great showing in section 6A and I would expect that to continue.  As for the team it is always a numbers game.”