KoMets look forward to section tourney

The Kasson-Mantorville wrestling team finished off its HVL season this past week after picking up victories over Zumbrota-Mazeppa and Goodhue. 

In the process, they claimed another HVL championship, but the KoMets know that the recent stretch of success could turn into so much more as they head into the section tournament.

“I’ve felt as good or as better with this team than any other that I have coached,” K-M Wrestling Coach Jamie Heidt declared. “We’re competing in every single weight from 106 [pounds] to heavyweight and that’s huge team-wise.”

A key to the KoMets’ success has been the tremendous amount of depth that they possess. Jared Johnson (113 pounds), Brady Laumb (120 pounds), Keaten Schorr (126 pounds), Patrick Kennedy (145 pounds), Brady Berge (160 pounds), Andy Bigelow (170 pounds), Aaron Berge (182 pounds) and Noah Ryan (195 pounds) all earned All-HVL honors which makes any member of this team a challenge for an opposing lineup.

“I’m excited about every guy we put on the mat,” Heidt admitted. “I’ll get asked sometimes after a dual about who stood out and I could probably give you about five guys. Jared is doing well. Brady [Laumb] is having a great year. We’re getting some big wins out of Brett Paulson right now. There’s a lot of guys right now that I haven’t even mentioned that have had past success as well.”

In the past week, the KoMets were able to show why they’re not just the best team in the HVL, but the top-ranked team in Class AA. They hosted Z-M on Feb. 4 and walked out of that relatively unscathed in a 54-6 victory. The next night, K-M followed that up by traveling to Goodhue and earning a 53-18 win to complete an undefeated HVL schedule and run their overall record to 19-0.

The undefeated record is impressive on its own, but when it’s considered how the KoMets got to this point, it’s downright remarkable. K-M has headed to several of the top tournaments in the country and has faced top competition from across the nation as they’ve continued to build toward this time of the year.

“When you look at some of our guys records, we have a lot of guys that have a fair amount of losses,” Heidt admitted. “But, they’ve been wrestling some of the best guys in the country. If you put that in the right frame of mind, we’ve been through the tough part of it heading into the state tournament.”

For their efforts, the KoMets were awarded the top seed in Section 1AA and will face the winner of Cannon Falls and Winona on Thursday night in Kasson. If they’re able to pick up the victory, they’ll head to Rochester for the section semi-finals and finals which will take place at the Mayo Civic Center at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.

“We’re healthy and we’re wrestling well,” Heidt said. “The little things make a big difference at this time of the year and we know where we are good. We just need to make sure that when we go on the mat, we go out and we execute.”