Belle Plaine quartet excel on
the mat and in the classroom
BY MATT PFIFFNER
Thirteen. That's the number of State place finishers Head Coach Bob Yilek and the Belle Plaine wrestling program have produced over the past five seasons.

That's impressive. But maybe even more impressive is that 13 is also the number of wrestlers who have been named to The Predicament's Academic All-State Teams over the same period of time.

It's tough to place at the Iowa High School State Tournament, but it may be even tougher to land a spot on the Academic All-State squads. This season, there were 150 wrestlers nominated for the 18th annual honor. Only 44 of them made the First, Second and Honorable Mention teams, with an average grade point of 3.94 for the 44 team members. Nothing lower than a 3.72 GPA was good enough to make the cut.

This year, the Plainsmen boast four Academic All-State honorees. Sophomore twins Cameron and Colton Wagner both hold perfect 4.0 GPA's and with their State Tournament efforts in Class 1A (Cameron was second at 112 and Colton fourth at 119), each was tabbed to the First Team. Senior Tyler Weeda was named Honorable Mention for the third year in a row with a 3.79 GPA and a seventh-place finish at State at 140. Fellow senior Ryan Kurovski boasts a 3.73 GPA and finished third at State at 152, to earn his first Academic All-State honor.

"You end up with four on the team and that says a lot," Yilek said. "The way the criteria is set up, they have to excel in both wrestling and academics. It's important to take care of grades first. And that's what I say at the start of each season. We're here to get an education and the rest, like wrestling, is for fun.

"The biggest thing I tell the kids is that, for most of them, wrestling is only going to last so long and you need an education."

The Plainsmen have obviously been listening to their coach - whether it's during practice drills or discussions of the importance of their grades.

"That always is our number one goal - academics," Weeda said. "Academics come before everything else. Coach stresses we get our work done in the classroom before we hit the practice room. It's good to have a coach who isn't all about the wrestling. He knows our academics will take us to where we want to go, not just our wrestling. He looks at it from both aspects."

Freshmen aren't eligible for the teams, so this is the first year making the squads for the Wagner twins. If they continue to excel in the classroom and on the mat, they very well could both become rare three-time Academic All-State First Team selections.

"It's important to both of us and it means a lot," Colton said. "It shows our team is well-rounded. School comes before sports and (Coach Yilek) knows it."

Cameron added, "He always says that academics come before sports and if you have to miss a practice to make up a test, do it. This shows that Belle Plaine isn't just a wrestling school."

The Wagner twins have been perfect in two years of high school academics, but still have big goals to meet in wrestling. Both advanced to the semifinals at State this season, but fell a little short of the gold.

"I'm pleased with my season, but never satisfied until I get a State Championship under my belt," Cameron said.

"I won't be satisfied until I get a State title either," Colton added.

If both continue to work as hard on the mat as they have in the classroom, they may very well meet those goals.

Kurovski, who was named to the Academic All-State Team for the first time, said he doesn't just focus on his own grades. Everyone on the team knows how important it is to keep their grades up throughout the season.

"I work with some of the other wrestlers in math, to make sure they're getting the work done," he said. "Coach knows that we help each other. But we have never been asked to do it. We just do it because it's the right thing to do and to help keep everyone eligible."

Yilek said the Academic All-State Team helps disprove the "dumb jock" attitude that some people have about athletes, and sometimes wrestlers in particular.

"It says a lot about our sport. To be a top caliber wrestler and also keep up in the classroom is impressive," he said.

Impressive is a good word to describe the Belle Plaine wrestling team - both on the mat and in the classroom.