And it’s great to have a lot of kids in the lineup that have a lot of varsity experience. So it makes our job a little bit easier, but again, they’ve got to do the work. Nothing is given to you in this sport, we all know that.”

Park head coach Jim LaBrosse

At the state tournament at the end of last season, Park head coach Jim LaBrosse said, “The future is bright for Park wrestling.”

With three ranked wrestlers returning, four state meet qualifiers back, and 10 starters returning in the lineup, the future is now for the Park High wrestling team.

Back in the fold are eighth grader Landen Brooks, who was ranked eighth at 113 pounds in the final Class AAA rankings last season by The Guillotine; sophomore Zack Carr, ranked 10th at 120 pounds and junior Gunnar Mullen (86-20 in 2022 and 2023) who was ranked sixth at 145.

“We should be pretty good, but it’s never easy. The kids got to do their work and prepare,” said coach LaBrosse. “We did lose some good leadership in the seniors from last year and that’s really hard to replace. So hopefully these kids can step up. Gunnar Mullen and Sam Lankow are our captains this year and hopefully they can fill those big shoes. And we’ve got a couple weights that we need to fill as well. We’ve got a little work to do but we have a really good nucleus of kids coming back.”

Carr (85-18 in 2022 and 2023) finished fourth at state last season at 120 pounds and became the first Park freshman to earn all-state honors.

Junior Kyler Jubinal (27-24 at in 2023) and senior Samuel Lankow (34-18 at 170 in 2023) also return after getting their feet wet in the 2023 state tournament.

Park pinned St. Thomas Academy 44-27 in the Section 3AAA team quarterfinals last season before falling to Hastings 50-20 in the section championship. Hastings, the defending Class AAA state champion, lost some top seniors but will likely be loaded again this season. But so will the Wolfpack.

A lineup which starts with Brooks, Carr, Mullen, Lankow and a host of other talented and veteran wrestlers will be tough to beat.

Wrestling for the Park Wrestling Club, Brooks won the 119-pound state championship in the 14-under division in the 2023 Minnesota/USA state folkstyle championships held at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester in March. Brooks was named the team’s top rookie last season. He finished true second in the section meet last winter.

At state last season, Park’s Mullen won his opener 15-2 at 145 pounds, lost a tough 5-3 decision, won 6-0 in the first round of consolation and then lost in the consolation semifinals.

“Just wrestle hard, I want to place at state this year, state champion, maybe, we’ll see, but definitely place at state this year,” said Mullen when asked what his goals for the season were. “I kind of went to state last year with a bad mind set so I’m trying to change that. … I wrestled not to lose instead of just wrestling. So I wrestled scared instead of just wrestled.”

Carr finished fourth at state 120 pounds with a 50-8 season record. At state, Carr lost in the first round then won three straight in consolation before dropping an 11-5 match in the third-place finals. Carr and Mullen shared MVP honors last season. Carr led the team in pins.

Park lost just five seniors and three full time starters from its late season lineup of a year ago: Will Deutsch at 152, Alex Carr at 182 and Doug Sabin at 285. Also missing from the lineup is graduated Dylan Richardson, who finished true second in the section meet at 160 pounds.

Returning will be Brooks at 113, Zack Carr at 120, Jubinal at 126, Layne Frandrup at 132, Joey Chilton at 138, Mullen at 145, Dylan Richardson at 160, Lankow at 170, Fiyin Taiwo at 195 and Taran Blasy at 220. Backing those veterans will be a host of talented newcomers up from reserve roles or the junior varsity.

“We’ve got some kids knocking on the door,” said LaBrosse. “And it’s great to have a lot of kids in the lineup that have a lot of varsity experience. So it makes our job a little bit easier, but again, they’ve got to do the work. Nothing is given to you in this sport, we all know that.”

Lankow will wrestle at 189 this year, up from a year ago. He has lofty goals for the season.

“The expectation would be to go to team state and my plan for this year is to hopefully take the title of state champion for 189,” Lankow said. “I think I can do it.”

Going to state last season will pay dividends this year, Lankow said.

“It gives me a gauge of how much harder I need to work this season to get where I want to be,” said the Park senior.

Jubinal was the fourth Park wrestler at state last season, qualifying at 126 pounds as a sophomore. His stay in the state tournament was short, as he lost in the opening round and then in consolation.

Wrestling fans will also note there’s a new weight class system this year, down to 13 classes from previous years. The 195-pound weight class was eliminated and several others were tweaked a bit. The new lineup is: 107, 114, 121, 127, 133, 139, 145, 152, 160, 172, 189, 215 and 285.

Park begins the season against an always strong Anoka team and Irondale at Irondale on Thursday, Nov. 30. The Wolfpack will wrestle in the Lakeville North Invitational this season on Dec. 2, then host Cretin-Derham Hall and Roseville in a Parents Night triangular meet on Friday, Dec. 8, starting at 5 p.m. Park hosts the six-team Wolfpack Duals invitational Saturday, Dec. 9, starting at 9:30 a.m.