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Minnesota West wrestling season is full of learning opportunities

skyler jackson, the daily globe, worthington, minn.
·4 min read

Nov. 14—WORTHINGTON — The wrestling season at Minnesota West Community and Technical College is just underway and there has definitely been a learning curve to it.

Many adjustments have been made within the Bluejays wrestling program both prior to and since the start of the season.

The first major adjustment came at the head coach position. Longtime coach Randy Baker retired over the summer and assistant coach Brayden Curry took over. Since becoming the head coach, Curry is continuing to adjust to his new job.

"A lot of learning, definitely a lot of learning," Curry said. "It's been exciting, it's been fun. There have been stressful times, you know, there've been times where my assistant coach and I were talking different situations through and whatnot and all of a sudden, it's been two to three hours. It's been fun to find out the answers and, you know, stay staunch of what we believe in and keep pushing forward."

The Bluejays will look to keep pushing forward with a solid roster that currently has 18 wrestlers on it. Curry said the current roster features a lot of talent, which is one of the reasons why his expectations of the program are high.

Going into the season, he said he wanted the program to make the NJCAA Region 13 National Qualifier and after that the NJCAA National Championships.

In the early stages of the season, Curry remains optimistic about those expectations.

"We're still steadfast in our expectations," he said. "We believe we have a lot of talent on this team. Kind of what the coaching staff has been talking about is we just need to tap into that potential a little bit more. ...We're getting adjusted to what college wrestling is and I think once we make that adjustment, we're really going to take off here."

Ian Johnson, a freshman 157-pounder from Watertown, South Dakota, was one of the talented wrestlers Curry mentioned who has impressed early this season. So far, Johnson has enjoyed his transition to college wrestling and getting to know his new teammates.

"It's very different, I will admit it's been different. I love it. It's hard work, and I love hard work," Johnson said about the transition from high school to college wrestling. "I would have to say, from high school wrestling to college wrestling, (there's) more technique. It's very tactical and obviously you have to be very conditioned as well."

One personal goal Johnson set out for himself was to initially make the starting lineup. Now there, his next goal is to potentially get all-America honors this year.

Another Bluejay wrestler that Curry mentioned was redshirt freshman Joseph Kallevig, a solid, hard-working 165-pounder from Willmar. A couple other wrestlers to keep an eye on this year are Deante Porter, a sophomore at 184 pounds and Brody Knapp, a freshman at 285 pounds, who are both on the Bluejays football team. The roster also features Ethan Meyer, a freshman 133-pounder and a former standout at Worthington High School.

Along with Johnson, they and the rest of the Minnesota West team have adjusted well to college wrestling so far and will look to keep doing so throughout the season.

"It's definitely a learning curve," Curry said. "They're adjusting well, you know, their pace is getting up there. Really right now they're just kind of figuring out what college wrestling is. We certainly, from week one to week two saw a lot better effort from them. The results are going to start building as we go through the season here."

Looking at Minnesota West's schedule, it's one that features numerous duals and tournaments against wrestlers from higher-level schools, which Curry said could benefit his guys to help them improve, along with being a possible recruiting tool for the future of the program.

After competing in its first event of the season Nov. 4 at the Yellowjacket Open in Rochester, Minnesota West will compete in the DWU Open on Nov. 11 before opening its dual season at Ellsworth Community College. Other highlights on the schedule are two meets in Worthington, the Iowa Lakes CC Dual on Dec. 15 and on Jan. 20 the Worthington Open, a tournament where hundreds of freshman, sophomore and non-varsity wrestlers can showcase their skills.

With a good-sized roster and a schedule that could benefit the team, this season looks to be full of learning opportunities for Minnesota West wrestling.

"I think everybody right now is on the right track and starting to understand that it's a different level," Curry said. "It's going to take a different effort and hopefully the buy-in is there going forward."