Cloquet wrestling coach Al Denman could barely contain himself on Tuesday morning as he awaited the long anticipated return of Cloquet wrestling. After a 40-plus year absence of the sport the Lumberjacks premiered with a pair of wins in a home triangular on Tuesday night.
"It is hard to describe what this feeling is like because it's been 11 years working toward this goal," explained Denman. "To see it finally come to fruition is an incredible feeling."
As good as that feeling was Wednesday morning, Denman and his team probably had to pinch themselves and make sure they weren't dreaming after beating Virginia 46-27 and Superior 43-30, two programs with long and storied wrestling traditions.
"So few people in this area understand how popular wrestling is in other areas," said Denman. "Wrestling matches are a lot of fun to attend and there is a lot going on for a fan to see."
The Jacks started out with a bang against Virginia, picking up five wins by pins in the match and winning eight of 10 matches. Jordan Land, Jordan Villa, Jake Baker, Simon Thill and Pat Kruchton all won by pins. Mike Land won in a technical fall over Luke Lastilla by a score of 17-2, Sonny Hain defeated Bailey Felix 18-1 and Jeremy Campbell won by forfeit.
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"We are very lucky to be led by four very supberb athletes and wrestlers," mentioned Denman. "Jordan Land and Mike Land came to Cloquet from Monticello and both Jordan Villa and Simon Thill are products of our program."
Mike Land wrestled in the state championship in each of the past two seasons and at 135 pounds is one of the best wrestlers in his weight class in the state.
Against Superior the Jacks got pins from Sonny Hain and Jeremy Campbell. Also picking up wins were Jordan Land, Jake Baker, Mike Land, Hanna Tibbetts, Simon Thill and Peter Jacobs.
According to Denman there are 14 weight classes, but Cloquet will give up forfeits in four of the weight classes because they have no wrestlers at those weights. However, even in the second match where Cloquet had wrestlers participating at 10 of the 14 weight divisions the Jacks picked up wins in seven of the 10 matches. Pretty impressive.
"It was a pretty exciting night," Denman stated. "I'm really excited for the kids to be able to participate at the varsity level."
Pine Journal sports reporter Kerry Rodd can be contacted at: kdrodd@aol.com .
