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Rohman becomes Red Bulls’ win leader

A new name tops the list of the Class AA No. 2-ranked Martin County Red Bulls’ all-time win charts.

Jaxson Rohman earned the title of Martin County Red Bulls’ all-time wins leader on Dec. 29 during the Rumble on the Red tournament in Fargo, N.D.

Rohman surpassed former Red Bull great Collin Steuber with his 186th career victory during the tournament, on the way to earning gold in the 126-pound tournament bracket and the Rumble on the Red’s most outstanding wrestler award.

Rohman said he knew the record was coming soon, and he had nothing but praise for the Red Bull great he surpassed.

“I kinda knew. I was kind of keeping track in my head,” Rohman said. “Honestly I really forgot about it until the end of the tournament and then I realized and it was pretty cool just thinking about it.

“He (Steuber) was a really good leader, a really good friend. He’s probably one of the best captains we’ve ever had. He helped us a lot and showed us a lot. It was really cool to have him as one of our captains.”

Rohman’s new title adds to a long list of wrestling accomplishments during his five-year career with the Red Bulls.

He has been a key part of the Martin County lineup since joining the varsity team in seventh grade.

As a seventh-grader, Rohman finished the year with a 38-12 individual record and a sixth-place spot on the 106-pound state tournament podium.

Rohman said his early success gave him confidence to fight for a state title.

“It made me realize that I could do really great things, and having success against them (older, more experienced wrestlers) right away was pretty cool,” Rohman said. “Having all the older guys cheering me on and being that little seventh-grader was a little scary right away, but everyone really helped out and it was fun.”

He stayed at 106 pounds as an eighth-grader and improved his state tournament performance to a second-place finish with an individual record of 42-3 for the season.

In his freshman season, Rohman achieved what he said he considers the favorite memory of his career, finishing on top of the 113-pound podium at the Class AA individual state tournament.

“That was a lot of fun,” Rohman said. “Realizing all my hard work had paid off and I was finally where I wanted to be.”

Rohman entered the state tournament with an individual season record of 51-2, then proceeded to pin his first opponent, take a 15-5 major decision over the second and fought to an 11-4 decision in the 113-pound state semifinals.

Rohman faced Park Rapids’ Ashton Clark in the 113-pound finals and controlled his way to a 10-3 decision for the state championship.

Rohman followed his phenomenal freshman season with a 47-4 individual regular-season record as a sophomore. He earned three wins to power his way to the state finals again. Rohman ended second after falling via a hard-fought 7-5 decision.

Through four full seasons, Rohman has medaled at the individual state tournament every year and helped the Red Bulls to a historic second-place finish as a team in 2018, the same year he won the 113-pound individual title.

This year, Rohman is the Class AA No. 2-ranked 126-pounder by The Guillotine’s high school rankings and is undefeated thus far.

Much of Rohman’s success comes from his ‘catch-and-release’ strategy of taking down his opponent, then freely letting them up so he can once again take them to the mat and pile up points quickly.

He said he’s used this strategy since he started on the Red Bulls’ varsity lineup in seventh grade because he already realized his strengths and weaknesses.

“I realized I was the best on my feet,” Rohman said. “I wasn’t really the best at top and bottom, so I just used what I was good at and kept doing it.”

Rohman said he continues to work hard to achieve his seasonal goals of returning to the top of the high school state tournament podium.

He said his long-term goal is to continue his wrestling career after high school.

“I want to wrestle in college so I want to just keep getting better,” Rohman said. “Hopefully I can get some scholarships and wrestle at a D-I school. That’s where I want to get to.”

Rohman said he has visited the campuses and talked to coaches from the University of Minnesota, North Dakota State University and Augustana University to this juncture.

Through his years of success, Rohman has experienced many milestones and titles.

He said he sees the title of Red Bulls’ all-time wins leader as a testament to durability and hard work.

“It’s pretty cool knowing that I’ve come all the way through and I’ve been able to stay healthy and keep winning matches. Collin was really good so it’s really cool to be ahead of him now,” Rohman said. “I just keep working as hard as I can to get better at the positions where I’m not as good as I need to be. I try to be in the best condition I can and just keep working hard.”

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