Wildcat wrestling team honored at awards banquet

Success can be measured in many different ways and anyone close to the Humboldt High School wrestling program can point to a long list of accomplishments by the 2016-17 Wildcats, who were recognized at the team’s banquet last week (Feb. 28).
Humboldt head coach Chad Beaman presided over the evening and distributed numerous awards. Humboldt finished the year with a dual meet record of 23-9 overall, including 5-2 and second in the North Central Conference.
Humboldt also qualified for the regional dual tournament, where they won their semifinal round match before falling to No. 3 ranked Atlantic in the regional finals.
Humboldt also had four individuals qualify for the state wrestling tournament in Des Moines last month.
“We did have a lot of question marks at the beginning of the year when pre-season practice began. We thought we had the potential at the beginning of the year to have a pretty good dual team, but we had question marks that had to be answered,” Beaman said.
“We didn’t know how kids were going to be spread out through all of the weight classes. The kids kind of did it themselves. They sorted out the weight classes themselves. We didn’t have to do a lot of intervening there or persuade kids,” Beaman said.
“Even when we lost Jaxon Kampen to an injury and when we knew Trayton Harris was going to be out all season with a knee injury from football, we had guys step in at different times all year and that shows a lot about our depth,” Beaman said.
“We were excited from the standpoint that we felt we could have a very solid season regardless of who we put on the mat,” Beaman said of his pre-season indications.
Sophomore 138-pounder Joey Busse was named the recipient of the David Musselmann Award as the Most Outstanding Wrestler for the season. Busse qualified for the state tournament for the second straight year and compiled a won-loss record of 41-10. He has a career mark of 83-19.
Senior 160-pounder Gus Arnold was named the Stan Jenson Hustle Award winner, which honors the wrestler who displays a combination of academic success, mat success and work ethic. Arnold posted a 35-8 record this past season and has a career mark of 103-46.
Junior 195-pounder Brandon Johnson was named Most Improved Wrestler this past season. Johnson was 27-17 this past season and filled a slot that was held by teammate Trayton Harris the previous year. Harris sat out the season due to a knee injury last fall.
The Booster of the Year Award went to the late Michelle Jensen, who passed away in late-January. Jensen, an avid wrestling fan, was secretary at Taft Elementary School for many years. Her husband, Gary, accepted the award on her behalf.

See full story in this week's Humboldt Independent Newspaper. Subscribe today for print/digital access to the Independent by selecting the link on this page to get started!