The Becker Bulldog wrestling team is gearing up for the upcoming 2016-17 season and Head Coach Matt Aho is excited to get things underway.

 

Aho has 43 wrestlers in grades seven through 12. He lost two seniors to graduation last year and one of those seniors was Casey Vesledahl — a behemoth in the heavyweight division and inspiration to many young athletes.

 

“Casey will be missed for us at heavyweight however, we have recruited a couple new guys that hopefully will help fill his spot that I am excited about,” said Aho. 

 

Aho sees no rule changes for this year and is bringing back his complete line of coaches from previous years. They include Dustin Weege and Jeff Zimmer, who are not only great coaches, but good examples to the youngsters in their daily lives.

 

The team’s student managers are Alli Zimmer, Megan Dudek, Avery Tamm and Reese Arbuckle. The student mangers are valuable to Aho and the coaches as they help prepare for meets and help photo and videograph all matches.

 

Aho also is appreciative when former students make cameos at practices and matches to inspire the athletes.

 

One of Aho’s biggest challenges year-in and year-out is pitting his best wrestlers in their weight classes — when at some weight levels he has two or even three great wrestlers but only one can make the team as the starter.

 

Aho has named seniors Colten Demant, Josh Lumley and Jaylin Hildebrandt — along with junior Blake Paulson, as team captains for the 2016-17 season.

 

“We should be a team that is very solid from our lower weights to mid weights,” said Aho.  “We will have a few upper weights with a lot of experience and few wrestlers that will be wrestling for the first time. We also will have a mixture of upper and lower class-man at all our weights.”

 

Aho says his favorite part of coaching is seeing his student-athletes grow up and become men right before his eyes.

 

“I enjoy watching these young men become well rounded people,” he says. “The lessons that they learn from this sport prepares them for everyday life challenges and knowing that they are prepared for that is a good feeling.”

 

 Aho and his coaches teach their wrestlers how to attack when wrestling and how to defend and maneuver out of holds and difficult situations. It’s all about getting points and Aho knows if his wrestler is scoring points, his opponent is not.

 

“Being able to keep attacking and staying on offense can be a very big advantage for a wrestler,” he says.

 

Wrestling is more than just strength against strength physically, but it is also a challenge of the mind and character. It’s a one-on-one situation with the entire team, coaching staff and gymnasium focused on each wrestler’s match. The wrestler needs to be able to not get too high when things are going well, and not too low when one is struggling.

 

“The mental part of this sport is very important,” Aho said. “I would say 90% (of the sport is) mental and 10% physical.” 

 

Aho says being strong and having good technique is also important, but if the athlete doesn’t have the mental ability to go with it, it’s hard to win matches.

 

“This sport is a battle, “ he says. “You have to be both mentally and physically ready to go up against someone that is wanting to do the same thing to you as you to them. There are no timeouts and no (substituting). If you don't finish - you lose.” 

 

One of Aho’s goals this year has been to talk to his wrestlers about a philosophy he calls, A.I.M., which stands for attitude, intensity and motivation.

 

“If your attitude is not positive each day, you will not get the most out of it,” he says. If you don't have intensity each day, you are just going through the motions. If you don't have motivation, then you have no purpose.”

 

Those three concepts are key to the success of the wrestling program and are key attributes one can carry on throughout life. 

 

It appears Aho and his coaching staff have things well in hand as the season opener against St. Cloud Apollo nears.

 

The varsity roster features the following athletes: Ethan Anderson (7), Kevin Andres (10), Brenton Arbuckle (11), Adam Bauman (12), Austin Benkowski (12), Alexander Berglund (10), Jacob Berning (10), Braeden Beutz (10), Lincoln Carlson (10), Colten Demant (12), Caden Dewall (8), Mason Doucette (7), Bennett Edling (8), Jacob Eich (8), Luke Eigen (8), Tristen Emholtz (9), Dalton Fouquette (9), Nicholas Goth (10), Jaylin Hildebrandt (12), Hayden Hurrle (10), Samuel Hyttsten (7), Michael James (10), Liam Jenkins (8), Jacob Jurek (8), Logan Jurek (10), Reid Kraus (9), Bryce Kushel (7), Jonathan Lipinksi (8), Alex Lumley (9), Joshua Lumley (12), Travis Meyers (11), Cornell Myers (12), Jake Nelson (9), Blake Paulson (11), Lukas Paulson (8), Nicholas Radunz (11), Ryan Rasmussen (11), Dylan Riedinger (8), Kylen Rish (8), Cole Simkins (8), John Stangler (9), Reid Tripp (9) and Brayden Weber (8).

 

• 12/2 - Monticello (away) - 6 p.m.

• 12/13 - Albany (away) - 5 p.m..

• 12/20 - Rocori (away) - 6:15 p.m.

• 1/13 - Delano (away) - 5 p.m.

• 1/13 - Royalton/Upsala (home) - 5 p.m.

• 1/19 - Big Lake (away) - 6 p.m.

• 1/27 - Sartell/St. Stephen (home) - 6:15 p.m.

• 1/31 - Brainerd (away) - 5 p.m.

• 2/2 - Litchfield (home) - 5 p.m.

• 2/2 - Zimmerman (home) - 5 p.m.

• 2/10 - Albany (home) - 4 p.m.

• 2/24-25 - Section 6AA (away)