Four (Or More) Time State Champions in College = Minnesota

 After a long and thorough search looking for Misouri's four time state champions it was refreshing how simple and easy it was to find Minnesota's. Hours and hours of looking through various resources & messaging/emailing various individuals in concerns to Missouri, Minnesota's four timers were found in a matter of less than thirty seconds. I can't tell you how much a guy like me appreciates that. 

Jim Van Gorden 

Representing Minneapolis-Marshall, Jim Van Gorden became the first four time Minnesota High School State wrestling champion winning titles in 37', 38', 39' & 40'.  From what I have found, he did not wrestle in college. 

Steve Carr 

Steve Carr won his first three Minnesota High School State titles (76'-78') for Battle Lake, winning his final title for Moorhead in 1979.  Collegiately he spent his freshman season at Iowa State where he was 4th at the BIG 12 championships in 1981. He'd then spend a year at North Dakota State College of Science where he won the 1982 NJCAA title. Finishing up at North Dakota State he won an NCAA Division II title in 1983, taking a 4th place finish in 1984. His collegiate career accumulatively was 132-38. 

John Miller 

John Miller won four Minnesota State High School titles for Renville-Sacred Heart from 82'-85'.  Collegiately he started off at Minnesota before transferring to South Dakota State & finishing up at Southwest State. 

Ty Friederichs 

Representing Osseo, Ty Friederichs won Minnesota High School State titles from 92'-95'.  He wrestled for Minnesota collegiately. 

Chad Erickson 

Representing Apple Valley, Chad Erikson won Minnesota High School State titles from 94'-97'.  Wrestling for Minnesota in college, Erikson was a two time NCAA All American finishing 8th in 2001 & 7th in 2002. He was also a two time BIG 10 finalist. 

Matt Nagel 

Minnesota's first five time state champion, Matt Nagel won titles from 97'-01' for Frazee. Collegiately he competed for Minnesota where he was a three time NCAA qualifier finishing 5th-3rd-2nd in the BIG 10, earning All American honors of 6th place in 2005 as a junior. 

Ty Eustice 

Representing Blue Earth, Ty Eustice won four Minnesota titles from 98'-01'. Collegiately Eustice competed for Iowa where after a 5th place finish as a junior in 2005, he made the NCAA finals in 2006 as a senior. A BIG 10 finalist in 2003 as a freshman, he was 3rd his final three seasons. 

Eric Sanders 

Competing for Wabasha-Kellog, Eric Sanders won four Minnesota High School State titles from 99'-03'.  In College he wrestled for North Dakota State. In his freshman season, the Bison were NCAA Division II where he finished 4th in the Regional to qualify for nationals. Sophomore through senior seasons, NDSU moved up to NCAA Division I status.  Sanders would take 3rd place finishes at the West Regional in both his junior & senior seasons of 2007 & 2008 respectively. He garnered 75 career victories. 

Marcus Levesseur

Winning his first three Minnesota State High School titles for Minneapolis-Roosevelt from 98'-00, Marcus LeVesseur won his final title for Bloomington Kennedy in 2001. Redshirting at Minnesota, he would transfer to Augsburg where he had an unmatchable career going 155-0 in route to four NCAA Division III titles. 

Jeff Pfaffinger 

Another representative of Blue Earth, Jeff Pfaffinger won Minnesota High School State titles from 99'-02'.  Collegiately he wrestled for Mankato State where he was 7th at the 2006 NCAA Division II tournament. 

Gabriel Mooney 

Winning Minnesota High School State titles for both Badger as well as Greenbrush-Middle River, Gabriel Mooney competed collegiately for North Dakota State. 

Charlie Falck 

Representing Apple Valley, Charlie Falck won Minnesota State titles from 01'-04'.  Collegiately he wrestled for Iowa where he picked up 94 varsity victories during his career. A two time All American he was 8th in 2007 as a sophomore, placing 6th in 2008 as a junior.  A BIG 10 finalist in 2007 as a sophomore, Falck spent a majority of his senior season injured but still managed to come back for a 3rd place finish at the BIG 10's. Along with these accomplishments he was also a two time Midlands place-winner with finishes of 7th & 3rd. 

Zach Sanders

A representative of Wabasha-Kellogg, Zach Sanders won four Minnesota High School State titles from 03'-07'.  Collegiately he wrestled for Minnesota where he was a four time NCAA All American going 6th-5th-5th-3rd. Incidentally he was also 3rd-3rd-2nd his last three seasons in the BIG 10. Going 134-27 during his career to date he is the only wrestler in the history of NCAA Division I to win the bloodround match at Nationals four years in a row. 

David Thorn 

Of the famous Thorn family of St. Michael, David Thorn won four Minnesota State High School championships from 06'-09'.  Competing for Minnesota he was a two time NCAA All American placing 7th in 2013 & 5th in 2014. 

Destin McCauley

A five time Minnesota High School State Champion for Apple Valley, Destin McCauley won titles in 06',07, 08', 10' & 11'.  Collegiately he competed for Nebraska-Kearney. A three time All American he won the NCAA DII title in 2016, finishing 3rd in 2015 & 2nd in 2017. Along with these accomplishments he was a three time Reginal champion & a three time Conference finalist, winning a title his sophomore year. His collegiate career was 89-24.

Brandon Kingsley

Winning four Minnesota State High School titles for Apple Valley from 09'-12', Brandon Kingsley wrestled collegiately for Minnesota. 

Mitch Bengtson

Mitch Bengtson won four Minnesota High School State titles for St. Cloud Apollo from 09'-11' & then 13'.  Collegiately he competed for North Dakota State.  In his freshman season of 2015 he won the Western Wrestling Conference also taking 8th at CKLV.  As a sophomore NDSU moved into the BIG 12 where he took 6th. Unfortunately injuries kept him from achieving goals his junior & senior seasons. 

Jake Short 

Representing Simley, Jake Short won four Minnesota State High School Championships from 10'-13'.  Collegiately he competed for Minnesota. A three time NCAA qualifier, he was a two time CKLV finalist in his sophomore & junior seasons, winning the title in the latter. He also placed 5th at the Southern Scuffle his junior season as well. 

Tommy Thorn 

Another of the Thorns of St. Michael, Tommy Thorn won his Minnesota State titles from 11'-14'. Collegiately he wrestled for Minnesota where he was a four time NCAA qualifier, earning All American honors of 8th in his sophomore season of 2017. Along with these accomplishments he also placed at CKLV twice & The Southern Scuffle twice. 

Cameron Sykora 

Representing Border West, Cameron Sykora won five Minnesota High School State titles from 11'-15'.  Competing for North Dakota State in college, Sykora was a four time NCAA qualifier, winning a BIG 12 title in his senior season of 2020. Along with this accolade he also made the Southern Scuffle finals & took 8th place at the CKLV.  In his junior season he was 5th at Reno. 

Mark Hall 

Minnesota's first and thus far only six time State Champion, Mark Hall of Apple Valley won his Minnesota High School crowns from 11'-16'.  Collegiately he competed for Penn State where he went 117-6 over his illustrious career. An NCAA champion in 2017, he would make the NCAA finals a total of three times. Add in three BIG 10 titles & three Southern Scuffle titles as well. 

Lance Bernick 

A four time State champion from 12'-15' for Totino-Grace, Lance Bernick began his collegiate career at Arizona State before transferring to Augsburg where he won an NCAA Division III title in 2019. 

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Brady Berge of Kasson-Mantorville is at Penn State, a three time NCAA qualifier 

Brent Jones of Shakopee is at Minnesota

Gable Steveson of Apple Valley is at Minnesota, a two time NCAA champion, perhaps the best HWT we've ever seen in collegiate wrestling. He was supposedly finished with this collegiate career last season but now is toying with the idea of giving it one more go. Great marketing strategy to get fans minds wondering and thinking.  

Greg Kerkvliet of Simley is at Penn State, a two time All American 

Patrick Kennedy of Kasson-Mantorville is at Iowa

Reid Ballantane of Stillwater Area, I don't think he's wrestling collegiately but I'm not 100% sure. 

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What's to say about Minnesota that hasn't already been said. I had a feeling that I'd find that most if not all of their four (or more) time state champs competed in college & most of them had pretty high levels of success. As someone once told me years ago, Minnesota boys spend their winters getting slammed, either on the mat or on the ice, if not both.