Park Rapids Wrestling Team Eyes Improvement Through Injury Avoidance and Weight Class Balance
The Park Rapids wrestling team enters the new season focused on staying healthy and strategically distributing wrestlers across weight classes, factors that will heavily influence their overall success. Coming off a 5-14 dual meet record last year, the Panthers boast a roster filled with returning talent, poised for growth and improvement.
The team’s composition includes seniors Cooper Ackerman, Wrigley Clark, Alex Holmer, Andrew Johanning (currently recovering from an injury), Heath Safratowich, and Corbin Schiller; juniors Cooper Darchuk and Leo Kueber; sophomores Cesar Quixan Gutierrez and Charlie Johnson; freshmen Eli Hill, Hunter Krings, and Tucker Warmbold; and eighth graders Caleb Mack and Tygan Miller.
Six members of the team gained valuable experience at the Section 8AA tournament last season. Ackerman narrowly missed a state berth, finishing third at 152 pounds, while Holmer (fifth at 189), Johanning (sixth at 160), and Schiller (sixth at 172) also placed. Safratowich and Kueber also competed at the sectional level. Clark, a state qualifier in 2023, unfortunately saw his season cut short due to injury.
In their inaugural season within the Heart O’Lakes Conference, the Panthers secured fifth place, with Staples-Motley claiming the conference title. The team received the No. 5 seed in the East for the team tournament, ultimately falling to No. 4 Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus with a score of 48-24. Perham emerged victorious in the Section 8AA championship match, defeating Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton.
Individual performances from last season highlight the team’s potential. Johanning recorded an 18-18 record with 13 pins at 160 and 172, while Ackerman went 17-16 with nine pins at 152 and 160, earning all-conference honors at 152. Schiller finished with a 17-12 record and eight pins at 160 and 172. Darchuk posted a 16-16 record with 10 pins at 189 and 215, Holmer went 15-15 with seven pins at 189 and 215, Safratowich went 12-31 with nine pins across multiple weight classes (121, 127, 133, and 139), and Clark achieved a perfect 3-0 record with one pin at 127, 133, and 139, bringing his career wins to 102.
Additional contributors last season included Kueber (5-26 with two pins at 127 and 133), Quixan Gutierrez (3-6 at 139 and 145), Krings (3-10 with three pins at 121 and 127), Johnson (1-3 at 285), Miller (1-0 with one pin at 114), Warmbold (1-1 with one pin at 160), Mack (0-1 at 114), and Hill (0-2 at 121 and 127). The team also welcomes freshman Jacob Miller, eighth grader Owen Sunram, junior Deven Donarski-Borg, sophomores Jason Donarski-Borg, Walter Gartner, and Braden Greeno, eighth graders Simon Kueber, Jayce Tyge, and Ryker Simpson, and seventh graders Cooper Clark, Avery Kimball, and Brayden Weite, all vying for varsity positions.
The Panthers face the challenge of replacing the contributions of graduated state qualifiers D’Andre Johnson and Brooke Kritzeck. Johnson, a Section 8AA runner-up at 215 pounds, finished his career with a 28-5 record and 22 pins, amassing 109 career wins. Kritzeck, a Section 7 & 8 girls tournament runner-up at 148, concluded her season with a 21-6 record and 19 pins, making three trips to state. Other graduating wrestlers include Jarrett Galzki (26-14 with 17 pins at 145 and 152), Peter Carroll (6-3 with three pins at 160), Zamareon Oliver (6-18 with four pins at 285), Arcaley Quixan Gutierrez (8-8 with eight pins at 148), Kyla Mercil (2-11 with two pins at 190 and 235), and Rachel Weiss (4-4 with four pins at 235 and 250).
“Filling the first three weights is going to be tough, but our last five weights should be pretty decent,” stated the Park Rapids head coach, Matt Clark. “Hopefully some kids can fill in (in the lower weights), but they’re pretty green. We’re bunched up in the upper weights, so we need to get them spread out. Our older kids will have to be our hammers and our younger kids will have to do what they can.” Clark emphasized the competitive nature of the section, adding, “Our seniors should have a pretty good season. A number of them placed and hopefully they can move up a couple more rungs (in the section tournament). We’re looking at staying healthy and making improvement. Hopefully we’ll get better as the season goes on.”
The Panthers’ schedule kicks off on December 4th with a triangular meet against Blackduck/Cass Lake-Bena and United North Central at Sebeka. They will then compete at the Bagley/Fosston Invitational on December 6th, followed by a home meet against Rock Ridge and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley/Nevis on December 11th. Additional competitions include the Crookston Invitational (December 13th), a home meet against Alexandria and Thief River Falls (December 16th), and the Grafton Invitational (December 20th).
The new year brings further challenges, including a triangular meet with Badger-Greenbush-Middle River, Roseau, and United Clay Becker on January 6th, a home meet against Bagley/Fosston and Mahnomen/Waubun on January 8th, the Ogilvie Invitational on January 10th, a meet at New York Mills on January 13th, the Heart O’Lakes Conference meet at Perham on January 16th, the Moorhead Invitational on January 17th, a home meet against Crosby-Ironton and Wadena-Deer Creek on January 20th, a meet at Pelican Rapids on January 22nd, a meet at Fergus Falls with Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus and Sauk Centre/Melrose on January 29th, and a home meet against Detroit Lakes and Fertile-Beltrami on January 30th.
Postseason competition includes the Girls Section tournament at Brainerd (February 6-7), the Section 8AA team tournament (February 12-13), and the Section 8AA individual tournament at Alexandria (February 20-21).
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