Jamie Mountain
Members of the Mighty Mustang Wrestling Club in International Falls recently had a solid weekend on the mat.
The squad competed in a pair of tournaments earlier this month, including the North Shore Classic in Proctor, Mn. on Feb. 3 and then the Jaycee Open in Fertile, Mn. the following day, which brought a trio of first-place finishes.
Wrestling a grade above himself, Hudson Mann, who was born in Fort Frances but now lives in the Falls, claimed top spot in the Grade 8 division at the North Shore Classic.
He then finished third in the same division at the Jaycee Open.
“Hudson wrestled up at eighth grade all weekend,” explained assistant coach Jeremy Mann, who also is his dad.
“He does that on his own to get good matches [and] it helps him when it comes to state and national level competitions,” the elder Mann explained.
Zayne Basaraba of Fort Frances nabbed first place in the Grade 2 division at the North Shore Classic before also placing third at the Jaycee Open.
Vai Lockman rounded out the Fort contingent, finishing third in the Grade 3 division at the North Shore Classic.
Fellow Mighty Mustang Teagan Green also had standout weekend, nabbing top honours in the Grade 1 division at the North Shore Classic while placing second at the Jaycee Open.
Mann noted both tournaments were scratch weights, and that they try to keep kids within six- to eight-pound classes.
“Our kids wrestled well and improved as the weekend went on,” he enthused.
“Coach Dan [Schermerhorne] has really been covering our basics, [working on] good shot set-up, good finishes, good stance and motion, and lots of break downs,” Mann added.
“We did some things well over the weekend and some we will continue to work on,” he conceded.
The North Shore Classic also featured a girls’ division that Mann said saw 30-35 girls take part, including three from the Mighty Mustangs.
“It’s nice to see more and more tournaments running girls’ brackets,” he remarked.
“It’s a great way to grow the sport and lots of college scholarships are available for wrestling.”
Up next for the Mighty Mustangs will be a tournament this Saturday (Feb. 17) in Grand Rapids, Mn.
Hudson Mann, meanwhile, will be wrestling at “Rumble on the Rum” in Princeton, Mn. that day.
He then will compete at the Liberty Nationals on Feb. 23-25 in Missouri.
