If there is strength in numbers, then the third edition of Okoboji/HMS wrestling should be in good shape. The Pioneer team numbers 30-plus wrestlers.
“The more competition we have in the room the more we will grow as a team,” commented head coach Nate Dau. “When we have buy-in for the sport of wrestling everybody improves which benefits the team.” The other members of the wrestling staff are Ryan Pratt, Josh Pratt, Alex Spooner, Ethen Johnson and Todd Gonnerman.
HMS athletes on the team this season are Nick Bronstad, Bryce Dodge, James Gellerman, Jack Mastbergen, Aaron Ortiz, Johnny Ortiz, Levi Van Beek and Ethan Wiersma. Bronstad earned an eighth-place medal at last year’s State Tournament. He joins a list of 10 returning letterwinners which includes Jesse Bockman, Logan Duvall, Michael Gonnerman, Caleb Jones, Dylan Jones, Sam Pas, Ryan Pyle, Bryce Sehman and Noah Strantz. Last season Strantz was a District qualifier while Bockman reached that level the previous year.
The strong numbers have allowed Okoboji/HMS to pair up some wrestlers of similar weights during practice. “We have some great partners in the room that push each other everyday and that will pay off in the later part of the season,” noted Dau. “Nick Bronstad and Sam Pas fit that category well and much of their success can be attributed to each other.”
In addition, Dau is pleased with the work put in by his grapplers in the span between the rolling up of the mats in the spring and the rolling out of the mats this fall. “We have also had wrestlers work very hard in the off season and spend a lot of time on the mat and in the weight room,” stated the coach. “Noah Strantz has done just that. We’re confident he will have a great season because of all his hard work.”
Dau expects the newcomers to the high school level to be valuable additions to the program. “We have a solid freshman class coming in with good numbers and kids with a lot of mat time,” said Dau. “Nathaniel Franklin and James Gellerman are both AAU state place winners from last season and will help us in the upper weights. Both have a lot of fight in them and we can’t wait to see them compete.”
The coach is equally excited about the growth on the girls side. “Our girls program also continues to grow and it looks like we’ll have close to 10 this season!”
At this point of the season, Dau was not ready to predict which Siouxland Conference teams were likely contenders for the crown, noting that it is all to be determined.
The coach offered a rather straighforward blueprint for measuring achievement in the program this year. Said Dau, “Success for us this season is finishing with the same kids we started with and getting better each day.”