The Maple River/USC wrestling team is shown above, front row, left to right: Noah Ziegler, Boden Simon, Cooper Ochsendorf, Thayne Decker, Ethan Evenson, Konner Harpestad, Ethan Elvebak, Collin Van Cleave. Back row, left to right: Garett Bollmann, Waylon Simon, Braxton Simon, Byron Getchell, Brayden Mithun, Isaiah Gonzalez, Noah Gonzalez, Michael Shepherd, Robert Borden, Kolt Bullerman, Wyatt Walters, Colten Berkner. Missing from the photo are: Jonathan Hodge, Eric Ridler, Gavin Bird, Eric Flynn, Hayden Fox, Dizel Butler. Maple River and USC have formed a wrestling cooperative beginning this season. Their first competition was Dec. 4, in Blue Earth.

There will not be a United South Central Rebel wrestling team this year.

And yet, there will be.

United South Central High School and Maple River High School have formed a wrestling cooperative this year. It will be officially called the Maple River/United South Central wrestling team, or MR/USC for short.

“We won’t be the Rebels, or the Eagles,” says USC’s Dan Dylla, who is the co-head coach of the new team. “We won’t have a mascot name this year at all, but maybe one next year.”

Their uniforms will not be the Maple River green and white or the USC red and blue. Instead, the team’s colors are going to be black and gray.

Practices and matches will be split between the two schools.

“We are doing the first two weeks of practice here at USC,” Dylla says. “Then two weeks at Maple River, and so on. We started here first because Maple River was still actively involved in football.”

The team has six home meets this season, and three will be at USC and three at Maple River.

The reason for the cooperative was pretty simple; numbers.

“Our numbers (of wrestlers) have been down the past few years,” Dylla explains. “That makes it difficult to field wrestlers for all 14 weight classes, and it is also difficult in practice for having enough kids to pair up at equal weights.”

Dylla says he understands the lack of numbers, because wrestling is a tough, physical sport and takes a lot of hard work in order to be good at it.

Even with only 11 varsity wrestlers last year, the Rebels won six duals and had three wrestlers make it to State.

“It is hard to be competitive, tough, when you give up 30 points due to forfeits,” Dylla explains. “Maple River still had some good numbers, but were still having some holes in their lineup.”

Combined into one team now, the Maple River/USC team has 27 wrestlers out, with the new team returning a fair amount of wrestlers with a lot of varsity experience.

“Between the two former teams, we already have five wrestlers who are ranked in state,” Dylla says. “So this could be a pretty exciting year.”

Coming from USC, seniors Ethan Elvebak and Konnor Harpestad are expected to help lead the team, as well as ninth grader Byron Getchell.

Others include senior Collin Van Cleave, ninth grader Isaias Gonzalez and eighth graders Brayden Mithun and Gavin Bird.

Coming from Maple River, seniors Boden Simon, Ethan Evenson, Thayne Decker and Colten Berkner are expected to help lead the team.

Others who will help include junior Cooper Ochsendorf, sophomores Braxton Simon, Garrett Bollmann and Robert Borden, and ninth grader Wyatt Walters.

The coaches, besides Dylla, include co-head coach Terry Ochsendorf (MR), and assistant coaches Dan Robbins, Adam Knutson, Colten Carlson and volunteer coaches Dustin Dylla, Kyle Sieberg, Zach Kuhns, Paul Sonnek and Clint Butler.

The new team’s season starts on Tuesday, Dec. 7, with a home quadrangular meet in Mapleton.

“The other three teams are Blue Earth Area, Lake Mills (Iowa) and Fairmont-Martin County West,” coach Dylla says. “That is three really good teams. We are going to find out how good we are right away.”

The team’s expectations are high.

“We think we will contend all year long,” the coach says. “We want to be seeded in the top part of the Sections and do well in the season and post season.”

So far what the coaches have seen at practice gives them confidence the team can excel.

“Practices have been going well,” Dylla says. “The adults worried if the kids would all get along, but the kids were just fine and started making new friends right away.”

The new cooperative wrestling team seems to have been a good deal for both schools.

“We both could probably have continued alone for a few more years,” assistant coach Robbins says. “Our numbers at Maple River were OK, but declining. It just seemed to make sense to put the teams together now, and see how we can do, rather than wait until it was way down at both schools.”

The coaches and the wrestlers are all ready to see just what this new team can do.

“Everyone is really excited about this,” Dylla, who has been coaching wrestling at different levels for 31 years, says. “It is fun to see.”