The Mayo Civic Region One Wrestling Hall of Fame has announced six new members to its class for 2017.
The banquet will be held on March 6 at the Elks Bingo Hall (1652 North Highway 52 NW) in Rochester.
This year's Hall inductees include Owen Elzen(athlete), Steve Ihrke(contributor), Dennis Kuisle(coach), Clyde Lundholm(coach), Jim Richardson(athlete/coach/contributor) and Nick Severson(athlete).
• Elzen won back-to-back state title for Dover-Eyota in 1996 and '97. He also won a national high school title in 1997. He became a two-time college All-American at Minnesota and placed third and fifth at the NCAA National Tournament.
• Ihrke, who resides in Rochester, has served on the Minnesota Clash Wrestling board of directors for the past 15 years. He also volunteers for that tournament as well as the National High School Duals and NJCAA National Tournament.
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• Kuisle coached his hometown Stewartville High School team to 283 career wins. He guided the Tigers to six state team tournaments, coached seven individual champions and was named the Section 1A Coach of the Year in 1990.
• Lundholm coached in high school from 1959-85. He spent four years at Preston and 22 at New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva. He had a 210-90-9 career record and coached two state individual champions.
• Richardson excelled in high school at Hayfield and went on to wrestle at the international level. He placed fourth and third at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1988 and 1992. He coached in high school at Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander and on the club level for the Minnesota USA Storm. He still sponsors several wrestling events each year.
• Severson won an individual state title at Hayfield. He then had a standout Division II college career at North Dakota State. He won two individual national titles and was part of two national championship teams. After college, he qualified for the Olympic Trials in 2004, but did not wrestle due to an injury. He was then fourth in 2012. In recent years he has been an assistant at Byron High School and RCTC, helping the Yellowjackets win the NJCAA Division III national title in 2013.
The Hall of Fame banquet is open to the public and costs $15. For more information, contact Chuck Siefertat chucksiefert@hotmail.com or 398-3400.
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Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielenis supporting Bolder Options Youth Mentoring, a company out of Minneapolis that was founded by Rochester native Darrell Thompson.
Thielen, currently a restricted free agent, and his wife, Caitlin,made the choice to support Bolder Options last summer. During Week 13 of the 2016 season, Thielen wore customized Bolder Option cleats as part of the NFL's "My cause my cleats" campaign.
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Thielen has now started his own line of apparel with 100 percent of the proceeds going to benefit Bolder Options. Information on the apparel line can be found at adamthielen19.com.
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The Rochester Honkers have signed infielder Tristan Hildebrandtand right-handed pitcher Blake Workmanof Cal State Fullerton for the upcoming summer season.
Hildebrandt is a 5-foot-9, 175-pound junior from Yorba Linda, Calif. In his sophomore at Cal State Fullerton, he played 50 games and made 30 starts. He batted .174 with three doubles, a triple and 10 RBIs.
After high school he was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 16th round of the amateur draft. His father, Vern Hildebrandt, played for the Minnesota Twins in 1986-1988.
Workman is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound sophomore from Ramona, Calif. As a freshman, the righty appeared in only four games but went 1-0, recording three strikeouts and allowing six hits in 4 1/3 innings.