Not only did Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Area make it to the state tourney as a team, but Slater and Kamm both placed second at the individual tournament, Slater at 189 pounds and Kamm at 133.

As a result, Slater and Kamm have been selected as the 2023-2024 All-Journal Co-Wrestlers of the Year.

“[These awards] mean everything to me,” Kamm said. “They mean a lot because it means I’m getting recognized for my accomplishments, and even more for me, it means something to me coming from somewhat recognized to being in the finals now and getting all these awards. It’s huge, it’s something special and honorable.”

Not only are Kamm and Slater not strangers to state success, but they are no strangers to each other either.

File photo by Ari Selvey Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Area’s Nick Slater (standing) faces off against Camden’s Nick Wagner at 189 pounds in the championship round of the Class A State Wrestling Tournament on March 2 at Xcel Energy Center.

The two grew up as friends, wrestling together in youth divisions before eventually going their separate ways as they grew older. However, they were destined to wrestle together once more as both wrestled for the LCWMA varsity team in Kamm’s final prep season.

Kamm and Slater were part of a LCWMA team that sent 10 wrestlers to the individual state tournament, four of whom medaled. LCWMA also took fifth as a team in the team state tournament.

Kamm said that being part of a team that saw so much success helped his own personal success.

“It’s been amazing, because as soon as I transfered, I didn’t really know anybody and they didn’t know me,” Kamm said.

“But they took me in as a family right away. We got along right away, and it’s been something special every since, especially with how good the team works and how good the chemistry is. It’s amazing, because this team, it’s young yet, there’s a lot of good wrestlers, and I see it going for multiple years. It’s been special to be a part of it, especially with our coaches. It means a lot.”

Slater also was appreciative of the team that was put around him to help him find success.

“It felt really good,” Slater said. “There was an expectation to make it to state as a team, and it was a team goal to place. We wanted to send all 13 wrestlers to state, and we sent 10, which is also pretty dang good. But we also had another team goal to place at least three of them and we placed four. It felt good to not be the only one and have other people place too and have another kid in the finals too, that was fun.

Kamm, a senior at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial High School, went to state two other times in his freshman and sophomore seasons. He finished fourth his freshman year and didn’t place his sophomore year, with both appearances coming as a New Ulm Area wrestler. Now with LCWMA, Kamm saw his best season yet in his final year, finishing with a 31-9 record as a captain of the team.

“I think overall, it was a good senior year,” Kamm said. “Coming from sitting JV for last year and half of this year, and finally making the lineup and finishing out the year, especially coming back for my first varsity and taking fourth at rumble, that was pretty big for me. The rest of the year went great, and I got to show what I had at state. I made the finals, and over all it was a super good year.”

Kamm had to wrestle at the JV level due to Minnesota’s high school transfer rules.

Kamm said his improvement came from being more effective on his feet.

“I really think it’s been the team and the coaches,” he said. “They were always there and always wanted to help. I think I’ve been getting super good on my feet. I’ve been moving a lot more, and that’s been one of my biggest improvements, always looking for the next point.”

Some memorable moments from the season for Kamm include time spent with his team and his state semifinals match against Chatfield’s Gage Bartels, who he defeated in a 3-2 decision.

“My favorite memories include hanging out with the team at hotels, messing around with them,” Kamm said. “Always at practices too, they were good, a lot of team bonding. My favorite match was my semifinals match at state, or my quarterfinals match at rumble.”

Leading up to his state semifinals match, Kamm won his first two matches of the state tournament, defeating Goodhues’ Hayden Holm in a 7-0 decision in the opening round before pinning eventual third-place finisher Benito Diaz from Sibley East in 1:57.

While he couldn’t quite come out on top in his last match of his prep career, losing to Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg’s Trey Gunderson, Kamm said reaching the state finals was something he had been anticipating all year.

“It was something I was looking forward to the whole season,” Kamm said. “From me wrestling in JV last year to ending in the finals with my career, it was an exciting point for me.”

Kamm plans on continuing his wrestling career in college and plans on attending the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in the fall. There, he has some solid goals for his college wrestling career.

“A couple of my goals is that I still want to get better,” he said. “I want to crack the lineup for my first year at college, hopefully wrestling 141 my first year. My other goal is to make an All-American and the NCAA tournament.”

Kamm said that being named Co-Wrestler of the year with Slater was an honor, as the two are close friends and have been even before they started wrestling together.

“It’s been huge, because it’s somebody to push you at all times,” Kamm said. “It’s somebody there to have your back. It means a lot that it’s with Nick, because he’s an outstanding wrestler too. He’s always in the room, he’s a hard worker, and he’s another wrestler who likes the team, likes to see it flourish. It’s huge that it’s with him, and I think it’s a huge honor.”

Slater, for his part, went to the state tournament once before last season, winning his first match of the tournament but ultimately failing to place. This season, Slater opened the state wrestling tournament with two wins, getting a technical fall over Frazee’s Jack Graham and another technical fall over Staples-Motley’s Luke Bjerga in the second round.

Slater followed that up with a late pin at 5:31 over Paynesville Area’s Peyton Hemmesch in the semifinals round to advance to the finals before losing a close 6-5 decision to Canby’s Nick Wagner.

Slater said that his experience at the state tournament was surprising but satisfying.

“It felt really good,” Slater said. “I didn’t really know what to expect, I didn’t know what was going to come about, but it felt good.”

A junior at Nicollet High School, Slater sits at 140 career wins after a 47-6 season. Slater also has 92 career pins with one year remaining in his prep career.

“One main goal for me [this season] was to place top three at state,” Slater said. “Once I saw the bracket at state, I thought I could do better than three at least. I figured I could make it to the finals, and I did.”

Much like Kamm, Slater thought he improved on his feet this season, which helped him see more success.

“Just working with the coaches more, getting better on my feet, helped me become a better wrestler overall.”

Slater said the whole season was memorable for him, but his pin over Hemmesch holds a special place in his memory.

“Honestly, all of it was pretty fun,” Slater said. “But the semifinals was a pretty fun match. I didn’t know what to expect against Peyton, because he was ranked second all year long, so he was pretty good. But I pinned him, so that was pretty fun.”

“I want to get at least 175 career wins,” Slater said. “I should reach 100 pins for sure, and I want to win it all.”

When it comes to Kamm, Slater said it was good being on a team with him after being friends for so long.

“He’s probably one of my favorites on the team,” Slater said. “He’s fun to be around, he’s chill, a good person. He knows a lot of stuff about wrestling, he’ll teach you anything you want to know pretty much. I’ve known him since I was a little kid. We wrestled together when we were little, but I transferred schools when I got older, then we got to wrestle together again. It’s fun, since I’ve known him my whole life pretty much. I just like him, he’s a good buddy.”