Wrestling: Willmar Cardinals senior closes this family chapter
· Yahoo Sports
Feb. 24---- Cavin Carlson is the last in line in a generational run for the
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team.
Since the 2010-11 season, a Carlson has been in the lineup for the Cardinals. It started with Cavin's older brothers, Colten and Clay. Colten graduated in 2016 and Clay in '18. Then there were Cavin's cousins, with Cael graduating in 2019, Caden in '21 and Conlan in '25.
The six have combined for 1,190 wins and 200 losses. That's a win percentage of 85.6%. There's a total of 25 state appearances, 16 medals and five state championships in that group. Colten, Clay and Conlan all went on to wrestle at South Dakota State University. Cavin is committed to wrestle for the Jackrabbits. Cael wrestled at the University of Minnesota and the University of Oklahoma.
Cavin is in his senior season. He's making his fifth state trip where he placed third as a sophomore and second as a junior. Cavin's prep finale gets underway when the three-day state westling individual tournament kicks off at 9 a.m. Thursday at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. He goes into state with a 40-4 record this season.
Cavin is one of five Cardinals — four boys and one girl — competing in the field.
Cavin. competing in the Class AAA 160-pound bracket, wants to add another title to his family's lineage and to the wall of champions in Willmar's Big Red Gym.
But Cavin also keeps that high level of success in perspective.
"There's some pressure there," Cavin said. "I definitely want to do good and I wanna add to that list (of state champions). But at the same time, regardless of results or how everything ends up, I know my family's still gonna love me. I know everything's going to be the same. It's not going to reflect how good of a wrestler I am and how good our family is at wrestling."
The Carlson name was already synonymous with Willmar.
Chad Carlson was a two-time state champion in 1989 and '90, compiling a career record of 167-25 and going on to wrestle at the University of Minnesota. He's the father of Cael, Caden and Conlan.
Carl Carlson won a state championship in 1992, had a record of 152-32 and also went to the U of M to wrestle. He's Colten, Clay and Cavin's father.
Chad and Carl's father, Curtney, is a 1957 WHS grad and wrestled for the Cardinals.
Cavin's early wrestling memories are hazy. He recalls messing around with his brothers and cousins in his grandparents' living room and grappling with the Anez boys, another Willmar wrestling family.
A core memory for Cavin was seeing Colten wrestle in the state finals as a freshman.
"He wrestled Mark Hall in the finals and got second that year," Cavin said. Competing for Apple Valley, Hall is Minnesota's only six-time state champion. Hall beat Colten by 21-2 tech fall.
Fast-forward to Colten's senior year and he was back in the finals. One problem: Colten's headgear broke before the championship match against Tartan's Justin Burg.
Cavin was in kindergarten at the time. And he brought his headgear to St. Paul.
Why did Cavin bring his headgear? "I couldn't tell you, man. I was a little kid. I probably thought I might need it just in case. ... Maybe I was gonna get signatures."
With a child's headgear, Colten became a state champion.
"I didn't have to adjust it at all," Colten said. He won by 23-15 major decision.
Does Colten have a small head or did Cavin have a giant head?
"I think it's both," Colten said. "My first memory of Cavin wrestling is probably wearing his headgear in the state finals and then seeing him wear that headgear at his first state tournament for NYWA as well."
Clay went on to win a state title as a senior. Then it was the cousins' turn, with Cael winning back-to-back titles as a junior and senior. Last season, Cavin and Conlan both made the state finals. Cavin was the runner-up at 139 while Conlan was the champion at 152.
Cavin's opponent in last year's 139 final, Stillwater's Grayson Eggum, is the top seed in the 160 bracket. Cavin is the third seed.
"I think it's one of the toughest brackets in the whole (tournament)," Cavin said. The No. 2 seed is Shakopee's Jackson Barron, who is 2-0 against Cavin this season. "Those are some matches I'm excited to get back. I've been making improvements and I've been getting better step-by-step. I'm excited to go out there, let it fly and do some damage."
Colten has been an assistant coach for the Cardinals for five seasons after competing for South Dakota State University. After he graduated from SDSU in 2021, Colten thought that may be it for wrestling.
Turns out, coaching reinvigorated Colten.
"I thought I needed a break and what I actually found out was a new love for it by coming back and coaching and being able to do that with my brother," Colten said. "I worked with him and I had Conlan at the time, too.
"It's been special to start out my coaching career with my brothers and cousins still involved."
The way Cavin wrestles is completely different from how Colten performed.
"The move he was doing in first grade — that cross-wrist where he rolls through — I didn't start doing that until I was in college," Colten said. "I would pick up things from him. I think it's kind of funny."
Colten's take: Cavin is a thinking wrestler that is looking for the perfect match. Their opposite approaches became clear to the brothers when looking back at Colten's championship match in '16.
"I was known for making guys really tired in high school and he asked me earlier this year how I did that," Colten said. "So we found my state finals match from my senior year and we both laughed. We were almost crying from laughing so hard at how bad of a technical wrestler I was."
Said Cavin, "No one knows how I wrestle better than my family. They know how they're going to push me. They know how they're going to beat me. They know what my weaknesses are and what I need to work on. It's awesome having all those people to look up to who can help me and show me the things I need to work on."
In Willmar head coach Ed Oehlers' experience, Cavin is the laid-back Carlson.
"He goes with the flow of things and he's a very smart wrestler," Oehlers said. "Sometimes it's almost like he's looking for how can I do this the most efficient way? Many of his other cousins were like, 'I'm going to go out and hammer my opponent and make this happen.' He's looking at a strategy of, well, how can I make that happen the easiest (way)? He's kind of a mastermind in that way and very strategic."
Cavin also keeps things loose in the wrestling room. He recalled Carlson and his teammates were making TikToks reviewing foods after last year's state tournament.
"You always like intensity but you also have to remember to have fun and he brings a lot of that with his personality and character," Oehlers said.
After 16 years, it'll be weird for everyone around Willmar wrestling to not have a Carlson in the lineup.
"Even other teams have mentioned it all year," Oehlers said. "They're like, 'Oh, is this your last one?'"
"It'll be a little strange," Cavin said, "but I've been enjoying every minute of it. This is my last year, so I just remember all the memories I've made and have fun. I'm just trying to make the most of it."
When Cavin goes to SDSU, he'll have another brother coaching him. Clay was a two-time All-American and is now an assistant coach for the Jackrabbits.
The Carlson boys will be gone, but the family's name will remain in Willmar sports. Kylie Carlson is a freshman at Willmar and is Cavin, Colten and Clay's little sister. She competed in the Class A state gymnastics meet last weekend. She helped the Cardinals finish eighth in the team championships. In the individual championships, Kylie was seventh in the all-around and eighth on balance beam.
"Me, Colten and Trent (Molacek, an assistant coach) were all watching it on his phone and we got to watch all of her events," Cavin said. "It was fun to watch."
Colten has a 14-month-old son at home named Camden.
"Hopefully he'll be a wrestler," Colten said. "We are already rolling around on the living-room floor. I brought him to practice a few times and he actually started walking on the wrestling mat. He took a few (steps) at home first but when he got in (the practice room), it was like, 'OK, I can do this a little bit more.'"
Cavin is hoping for another crack at the state finals. It'd be a fitting end to his generation of Carlsons.
"Being in the finals is one really cool experience," Cavin said. "I wouldn't want to miss it. So we'll make it happen, I guess."