Mar. 14—Family comes first for Zumbrota-Mazeppa wrestling. So when Z-M head coach Link Steffen saw that his son, Caden, was going to be competing for a Division II National Championship for Southwest Minnesota State, he let his Cougars know that he wasn’t going to be able to coach the Section 1A championship.
It’s family. And it’s special because Link won a National Championship in 1998 for SMSU.
His team totally understood the predicament.
Caden — a two-time state champion for Z-M — went on to place fifth at 184 pounds and was named an All-American. Ace assistant Mark Krier stepped up and assumed head coaching duties for the Cougars, and Z-M rolled an undermanned GMLOS squad 50-15 for the Section 1A Championship that they so desperately wanted.
“Today was such a great day,” Krier said. “Caden is not only a great wrestler but a great kid. So it’s pretty huge to get fifth and become an All-American. Link was probably having a very tough day today. As happy as he was for Caden, it was killing him not to be here.”
But it was also special for Krier because his son, Jack, is a freshman for Z-M. Jack Krier stepped up huge with a big 19-3 technical fall at 106 pounds to really set the tone. GMLOS was without multiple key contributors and they just couldn’t hang with the streaking Cougars.
“That was pretty neat,” Mark Krier said. “He got his first tournament win. We got a picture with the Section 1A trophy and our medals on.”
Zumbrota-Mazeppa lost to GMLOS 40-24 on Feb. 23. They lost to Chatfield 33-31 on March 5. They were the fourth seed in Section 1A. They’re the champions. Call them the grim reapers, because the Cougars avenged both of those brutal losses in the Section 1A tournament.
Ben Murray (132 pounds) and Ashton Macht (138 pounds) both had key one-point wins to help Z-M take a stranglehold over GMLOS, and the Cougars cruised the rest of the way.
“GMLOS didn’t have all their guys but they were still so tough and gritty,” Krier said. “Chatfield, they could’ve won a state title. Our kids wrestled hard and competed. They just expect to wrestle well in Section time. We’re the fourth seed. Fourth seeds aren’t supposed to win the section. But we don’t get into the rankings. We have good tough kids, but the kids worked extremely hard. Link’s practices are phenomenal. It’s fun. I love it. I feel blessed to be a part of it.”
GMLOS finished its season a terrific 30-5. Z-M advanced to the Elite Eight where they lost to the Section 4A champion Kimball Area 35-23 in a hard-fought affair.
But even against a team like Kimball Area, Z-M managed to step up. 106-pounder Coby Dohrn is only an eighth-grader, but in his first varsity start, he came out and picked up a monster 14-0 major decision win over Mark Schiefelbein. Z-M held a commanding 16-0 lead after four bouts, but Kimball Area won eight of the next 10.
“Our kids, you can’t take anything away from them,” Krier said. “Even against Kimball Area, we wrestled really well. They’re a good team. I think they’ll probably win the state title. They are monsters. I’ve never seen a team quite like that. They just kept coming out there. Wow, they were huge.”
The 2021 state wrestling tournament just wasn’t the same. Krier and wrestling coaches throughout the state cannot wait until the Xcel Energy Center is jam-packed and roaring with wrestling fans.
But the Z-M parents provided as close to a tournament atmosphere as they could.
“Our parents are phenomenal,” Krier said. “I mean that wholeheartedly. From our youth program to our high school, they are top-notch people. They let the coaches coach and they do the parenting. We’re so lucky.”
Zumbrota-Mazeppa was the fourth seed. They weren’t supposed to win the Section 1A title. They beat the odds. And they did it on the exact same day that Caden Steffen became an All-American at the place where his dad, Link, won a National Championship.
That’s one pretty good Saturday for the Zumbrota-Mazeppa wrestling family.
SECTION 1A CHAMPIONSHIP
ZUMBROTA-MAZEPPA 50, GMLOS 15
— 106 — Jack Krier (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Aiden Quintana (GMLOS) TF 19-3
— 113 — Zayne Novek (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
— 120 — Lucas Schiell (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over James Jacobsen (GMLOS) Fall 3:07
— 126 — Cohen Wiste (GMLOS) over Kaleb Lochner (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Dec 7-1
— 132 — Ben Murray (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Braxten Wiste (GMLOS) Dec 4-3
— 138 — Ashton Macht (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Lucas Winfield (GMLOS) Dec 2-1
— 145 — Mason Goodman (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Donavon Felten (GMLOS) Fall 1:44
— 152 — Rece Voigt (GMLOS) over Beau Jurrens (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Dec 7-1
— 160 — Daniel Smith (GMLOS) over Tanner Mancilman (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Dec 5-2
— 170 — Ryan Lexvold (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Corbin Ludemann (GMLOS) Dec 7-3
— 182 — Christian Jacobsen (GMLOS) over Luke Janssen (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Fall 1:51
— 195 — Cody Anderson (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Rowan Sween (GMLOS) Fall 0:55
— 220 — Gabe Tupper (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
— 285 — Ethan Kovars (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf
CLASS A QUARTERFINALS
KIMBALL AREA 35, ZUMBROTA-MAZEPPA 23
— 106 — Colby Dohrn (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Mark Schiefelbein (Kimball Area) Maj 14-0
— 113 — Jack Krier (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Jack Bollman (Kimball Area) Dec 11-6
— 120 — Lucas Schiell (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Chase Anderson (Kimball Area) Fall 1:38
— 126 — Kaleb Lochner (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Blake Brutger (Kimball Area) Maj 9-1
— 132 — Gavin Winter (Kimball Area) over Ben Murray (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Fall 1:42
— 138 — Lucas Jurek (Kimball Area) over Ashton Macht (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Dec 5-1
— 145 — Alex Nelson (Kimball Area) over Beau Jurrens (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Dec 4-3
— 152 — Kyle Cloutier (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Brett Schiefelbein (Kimball Area) Dec 3-1
— 160 — Zack Holtz (Kimball Area) over Isaiah O’Reilly (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Maj 13-3
— 170 — Haden Rosenow (Kimball Area) over Tanner Mancilman (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Maj 15-3
— 182 — Ashton Hanan (Kimball Area) over Ryan Lexvold (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Fall 1:18
— 195 — Brandon Guggisberg (Kimball Area) over Cody Anderson (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Fall 2:34
— 220 — Carter Holtz (Kimball Area) over Gabe Tupper (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) Dec 8-2
— 285 — Ethan Kovars (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) over Ace Meyer (Kimball Area) Dec 8-1
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