Thief River Falls wrestling coach Kenny Geiser wasn't concerned when senior Jacoby Bergeron showed up this season two weight classes heavier than his junior year.
As the Prowlers' second-fastest cross country runner this fall, it was safe to assume Bergeron was putting on the right type of weight.
"That's a good mix," Geiser said. "He was running cross country, but he was staying in the weight room, too."
No matter the size, results haven't changed for Bergeron.
At the Grand Forks Sertoma wrestling tournament Friday, Bergeron pinned both Grand Forks Central's Garrett Litzinger at 2 minutes, 54 seconds and Fargo North's Samuel Berntson at 29 seconds.
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The bulked-up size is quite the change for Bergeron, who couldn't wrestle for the varsity team until his sophomore season because he couldn't gain enough weight to qualify for the lowest class of 103 pounds.
But Geiser has been impressed with Bergeron's new look.
"He's really put on muscle, which allows him to be so much more aggressive," Geiser said after the Prowlers defeated Central 52-25 in the first round. "He can push people around a lot more."
Geiser said it was actually Bergeron's improvement in cross country that made the coach believe Bergeron would have a stellar final season of wrestling.
"He really peaked this year in cross country, so we thought that was going to be a good sign for us," Geiser said. "He's just done a lot of work in the offseason."
At 125 pounds this season, Bergeron is ranked second in the state behind Mike Fuenffinger of Hibbing. Bergeron is expected to meet up with Fuenffinger at next weekend's Big Bear tournament in Cass Lake, Minn.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that Bergeron is having such success at 125 pounds. He's already turned in two dominant seasons with the Prowlers.
At 103 pounds as a sophomore, he went 43-2 and took the championship at the Minnesota state tournament. At 112 pounds last season, Bergeron was fifth at state and finished 44-4.
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Geiser said Bergeron plans to wrestle in college. He has taken recruiting visits to Augsburg College and Concordia College.
"I don't think he's going to decide anything until the season's over," Geiser said.
Miller reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1121; (800) 477-6572, ext. 121; or send e-mail to tmiller@gfherald.com .
