Joey Payeur
The kid from the Fort is now the king of Minnesota.
Hudson Mann, who was born in Fort Frances but now lives in International Falls, where he fights out of the Mighty Mustang Wrestling club, avenged an earlier loss this season by beating Tate Hermes (Medford) 7-6 in the final of the Novice 120- to 130-pound division at the MN USA Kids-Schoolboy/girl State Folkstyle Tournament in Rochester, Mn.
“I can’t explain how he felt or myself as a parent,” beamed Mustangs’ assistant coach and proud dad, Jeremy Mann, whose son is now the top-ranked Novice wrestler in Minnesota.
He also was representing the Avengers club out of Hibbing, where the youngster trains in freestyle and Greco-Roman techniques along with his sessions in the Falls.
“Hudson had a bunch of friends watching that match. It was great,” his dad noted.
The younger Mann lost to Hermes at a recent tournament and knew he was in for a battle against the two-time Triple Crown winner in his division.
Mann fell behind 2-0 in the first period, but then put his training into use when Hermes chose to start the second stanza with what he thought would be the advantage of being positioned on top of Hudson.
“[Mustangs’ coach] Pete Benedix and I figured Hermes would go for that–he loves to tilt for back points,” said Jeremy Mann.
“Both Pete and I have worked with Hudson on defence of this for this opponent.”
Hudson hit a reversal for two points and chin-dropped Tate to almost get the pin fall, but gained three more points as it was to lead 5-2.
Hermes rolled up Hudson to gain two point back for a reversal to cut the lead to one–leaving Hudson with a crucial decision.
“Going into the third and final period, Hudson looked at me and said he wanted top,” Jeremy Mann recalled.
“Both myself and a friend, another coach, agreed that Hudson was great at keeping pressure on Tate, so Hudson went up.”
Hermes tried repeatedly to sit out and roll out of trouble, with no luck.
With less than 45 seconds left, Hudson lost control of Hermes and gave up a reversal for two points to make it 6-5 in the latter’s favour.
But Hudson had one last trick left up his sleeve with 18 seconds left–putting Hermes on his back for the winning points as time expired.
Jeremy Mann said being so far away from the wrestling hub of Minnesota in the Twin Cities puts wrestlers in this area at a big disadvantage.
“Kids out that way train year-round at everything,” he noted.
“It goes to show what hard work and dedication can do for a kid,” he added. “It’s great to be part of the elite wrestlers.
“In the car ride home, Hudson told me when he was down in the third that he told himself, ‘That gold is mine and silver is not good enough today,'” his dad recounted.
“I hope more kids in all sports can take something positive away from this.”
Hudson made it to the final by having a first-round bye due to having a high seed at the tournament, then crushing Jackson Cercioglu (MN Elite) by a 12-0 margin in the quarter-finals.
He later pinned Dylan Hendrickson (Farmington) in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, a second Mustang also was bucking his way to the top of his class.
Local resident Zayne Basaraba took first place for the Mustangs in the Grade 1 50- to 55-pound division at a meet in Hibbing for his second tournament title.
Basaraba, who normally wrestles in the SK 45- to 50-pound class, was bumped up a level due to some confusion during the registration process.
The Mustangs next will host their third-annual “Top of the Nation” meet March 26 at Falls High School.
