MACCRAY and Renville County West have struggled with numbers in their respective wrestling programs for several years and often have been forced to forfeit matches at various weights, putting them in a hole before the matches even got started.
School administrators hope the recent move to pair the two programs will help.
The two school districts voted at school board meetings last Monday to form a cooperative in wrestling for the upcoming season. Conference teams were notified a day later.
"(MACCRAY athletic director Mike) Dammann and myself have worked out a schedule that is a mix of both team's schedules," said RCW athletic director Dale Negen. "We will be notifying schools shortly of our combined schedule."
The coop must be approved by the Minnesota State High School League, with RCW and MACCRAY filing the necessary paperwork in the near future, said Negen.
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Coaches will be named after the Nov. 8 school board meetings, he said.
MACCRAY and RCW are already a cooperative in boys and girls cross country and boys and girls tennis.
Litch names new wrestling coach
Dan Buker, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, has been hired as the new wrestling coach at Litchfield. Buker, a math teacher, has been an assistant coach at Litchfield the past two seasons.
Robert Finneseth, who has been the head coach the past three seasons, resigned but will continue to help the Dragons' wrestling programs.
"I will continue to be a constant face in the program by helping out Dan, in much the same way that I helped out previous coaches," said Finneseth in an e-mail recently. "Dan has been a great asset to our program and we look forward to having him take over the varsity program."
