An All-American summer
After a winter where he helped the Minneota wrestling team reach the state tournament, Adam Josephson helped himself and his team to All-American accolades this summerBy Jenny Kirk jkirk@marshallindependent.com
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On the world's biggest wrestling stage and amongst thousands of individual competitors at the 2010 ASICS/Vaughan Junior and Cadet Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota last week, Adam Josephson recorded a runner-up finish and became Minneota's first All-American wrestler.
Josephson, who wrestled in the Cadet division (ages 15-16), was also a member of Minneota Team 1 that won the national championship in both Olympic styles - the Greco-Roman and freestyle - at the 2010 Cadet National Duals at the Regional Sports Center in Rochester in June.
"We've had a lot of great wrestlers come through Minneota," Josephson said. "It's a great feeling to be an All-American, but it hasn't really sunk in yet. We're still building for the future."
Wrestling at 189 pounds, Josephson won some key bouts in the team competition. In the Greco-Roman tournament - where only upper body positions score points - Josephson defeated a ranked opponent to spark momentum for Minnesota.
"The experience was amazing," Josephson said. "Greco is different because you're not able to shoot and you can't touch them below the waist. I like freestyle a lot better and I don't consider myself a big Greco wrestler, but my performance kind of sealed the deal in the championship against Pennsylvania."
Cadet director Jim Moulsoff - who is also an assistant wrestling coach at Augsburg College - called Josephson a workhorse for the team.
"I learned that good things happen if you work hard," Josephson said. "My coach pretty much told me that I had a great tournament. He told me I made strides upon strides from where I started out to where I finished up."
After being on Minnesota Team 2 last year, Josephson was pleased to make the top team this summer.
"I've been invited to be on the team a couple of times, but the national competition was quite a ways away," Josephson said. "But the last two years, it's been closer. I thought I'd probably make the top team this year. It's a group of guys selected from around the state based on high school accomplishments. It's been great."
In the team freestyle, Josephson came out on top of a battle with a national champion from the previous year to help lead Minneota 1 to a national title.
"The margin of error is so slim at a those tournaments," Minneota head wrestling coach Joel Skillings said. "It's the largest wrestling tournament in the nation. Adam was a big part of Minnesota's win. He really showed up. He has a bright future."
Two of Josephson's high school teammates - Beau Buysse and Christian Skillings - were also at nationals, but were on the junior team (ages 17-18) since both will be seniors at Minneota in the fall. Joel Skillings co-coached the junior team to a third-place finish in the duals.
"We're pretty fortunate to have three kids on the teams," Joel Skillings said. "It's not an easy thing to compete up there. Beau went 2-2 and Christian was 4-2. They just wrestled tremendous. Christian was one match away from All-American. And what Adam accomplished in the world of wrestling was of high magnitude."
Over the course of seven days at the FargoDome in July for the 40th annual individual tournament - featuring 23 mats of competition - Josephson mowed over opponents from Indiana, Ohio, New York, Maryland, Wisconsin and Illinois to take his 6-0 record into the championship matchup against Indiana freshman Mitch Sliga.
"In the finals, I beat a kid that was the national runner-up for all three styles last year," Josephson said. "That's when I knew I could compete."
While he gave it a good shot, Josephson came up short against a valiant competitor.
"In the championship, I wrestled a kid that won the triple crown last year," Josephson said. "He was pretty tough."
With his 7-2, 2-0 win over Josephson, Sliga became the tournament's only wrestler to win the triple crown, with national championships in the Cadet freestyle, Greco-Roman and folkstyle.
"In the first period, he took me down," Josephson said. "So I got down 3-0. But then I shot in and lifted him and I thought I tied it up. I shot again and thought I earned two points, but they gave him the points instead and it was 7-0. My coach wasn't very happy either. It's tough being down that many points and it totally changed the first period around."
While Josephson finished one step short of the ultimate prize, he's gained a wealth of experience for the future.
"Being on a team and wrestling with a bunch of people that are all returning champs has made me raise my level," Josephson said. "I had to follow up those guys. Overall, it was a great experience."
What motivates Josephson now is to try to get his Viking wrestling team back to the state tournament. Last season, Minneota returned to state as a team for the first time since 1999 with section wins over Pipestone Area (47-10) and defending state champion Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (44-17).
"This summer was great preparation," Josephson said. "We have big plans for what we're going to do as a (Minneota wrestling) team this year. I also have big plans for myself individually and competing with the best in the country is just great experience."
While JCC went on to win the state team title, the Vikings rebounded with a 28-21 victory over Zumbrota-Mazeppa to claim third place.
"It definitely wasn't how we wanted it to end," Josephson said. "The loss in the semifinals was kind of a heartbreaker. We were that close. It was one match, one call. But we really rallied back."
Josephson also advanced to the Minnesota State Wrestling tournament as an individual last year, despite sitting out for a good chunk of the season with a hip flexor injury.
"We lost Adam at a pretty crucial point in the season," Joel Skillings said. "But we got him back at the end. It was more of an individual setback because he was a tremendous help for the team. We bumped him up from 160 pounds to 189 and he never batted an eye."
Physically, Josephson didn't feel at his prime when he came back to wrestle for the post-season. But he did his best.
"I got hurt in the quarterfinal match at the Rumble on the Red tournament," Josephson said. "The trainer asked how I could even walk on it. I was out for a good five weeks. It was tough being out that long and it put a damper on my season. I was disappointed that I wasn't at the point I needed to be."
Josephson lost in his opening round of the state individual competition, but he is extremely excited and has some pretty lofty goals for himself this winter.
"You have to set goals high," he said. "My goal as an individual is to be a state champion by the end of the season. I'm hoping that the team will win state and I think we could have four to five individuals that could win state titles, too.
"The weight I'll wrestle at will depend on what I weigh after football and what the team needs me for. I'll go wherever they need me."
