Coming into this season the wrestling team knew it was going to be a challenge with a lot of their seniors graduating. This Owatonna squad knew they were a young team but with the help of their senior captains and returning state participants in Cael Robb and defending state champion Landen Johnson, they have achieved a record of 2-1 at the team dual meets. So far they have already placed three winners at their Christmas tournament in Rochester, Minnesota that held about 32 teams.

As a first-year head coach to the Owatonna Wrestling program, Derek Johnson has stepped up to take on the position as a head coach and be a role model to these young athletes. Johnson has gone to school and wrestled in Owatonna it is very special to him to be coaching at Owatonna.  Coach Johnson said, “This is where I grew up, this is home to me and awesome to be back and always been as always it’s been a dream that’s come true.”

OHS senior Jacob Reinardy, who is a two-year team captain, has great hopes for the team. Reinardy said, “It is going well individually. I think I have a chance at being a top place winner this year and for my team, they have a lot of potential to make the state tournament as a team.” The weight of the team falls on the captains’ shoulders keeping everyone in line and focused. They all have one goal in mind and this is making it to the state tournament as a team.  Reinardy said,  “We have a lot of young potential spread throughout the team.” 

Coming out strong, three Owatonna wrestlers are ranked top 10 in the state of Minnesota. These three wrestlers include Kanin Hable, Landen Johnson and Cael Robb. Already achieving high goals this season, Hable and Reinardy hit 100 wins this season along with Johnson winning his 200th match. As always, following this Owatonna Wrestling team will be exciting as things start to heat up heading farther into the season.  The next match is Thursday, Jan. 13 in Northfield.