Improved times send Fusion to state True Team

The Melrose-Sauk Centre Fusion swimmers and divers finished second to Alexandria Jan. 14 at the Section 5A True Team Meet at the University of Minnesota-Morris pool in Morris.

M-SC finished with 1,199 points, with Alexandria’s 1,226 points earning first place. That finish qualified them as a wild card team in the Jan. 21 Class A True Team Meet at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. 

Improving times brought top finishes to the Fusion. That started in the 200-yard medley relay, where Adam Wilwerding, Sevrin Anderson, Jacob Robischon and Grant Eveslage earned first place. It was one of four firsts earned by the team.

“The 200 medley took first and had their best time of the year and set the tone for the meet,” said Nathan Meyer, co-head coach.  

Adam Wilwerding, Robischon and Eveslage, along with Alex Wilwerding, were part of the final race, the 400 freestyle relay, who impressed with their second-place finish.

“They dropped about 6.5 seconds and are about seven seconds off the state cut,” Meyer said.

Drops in times came throughout the meet, leading to some exciting finishes. Robischon, who won both the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly, lowered his time in both events and had exciting races.

“Jacob Robischon had a nice swim, especially his last 100 (in the 200 IM),” Meyer said. “He set the Sauk Centre school record. In the 100 butterfly, he came back at the end to catch the guy from Alexandria.”

The Fusion’s other first came in the 100 backstroke. Adam Wilwerding remained one of the state’s top backstrokers winning the race by 2.5 seconds.

Diving has emerged as a competitive event for the Fusion, and could be for a few years. Andrue Stalboerger finished second, part of the Fusion trio that placed in the top 10. Spencer Marthaler was ninth and Zaron Olmschenk took 10th.

“Andrue Stalboerger is doing a great job for us,” Meyer said. “Spencer Marthaler just came out this year and Zaron Olmschenk came back about a week ago.”

The top-line swimmers set the pace for the team. Younger swimmers caught that spirit and performed well. 

Sophomores Thatcher Van Beck and Isaiah Zink and eighth graders Anthony Bierschbach and Samuel Stanger earned fifth, ninth, 13th, and 16th in the 50 freestyle. In the 500 freestyle, Van Beck, 10th grader Parker Sorenson, seventh grader Hunter Leslie and eighth grader Sullivan Stumler landed in the top-12 positions. 

“Overall, I’m happy with how they did,” Meyer said. “We were able to fill events. Some are first-year swimmers. It is exciting to see how they did. We saw all step up today.”

200MR: 1. Adam Wilwerding, Anderson, Robischon and Eveslage 1 minute and 44.66 seconds; 5. Alex Wilwerding, Nolan Fleischhacker, Zink and Zaron Olmschenk 1:55.24; 12. Rayden Weber, Zander Olmschenk, Samuel Stangler and Bierschbach 2:09.58; 16. Devin Crawford-Klinnert, Stalboerger, Aiden Felling and Grant Linscheid 2:19.59. 200FS: 5. Van Beck 2:02.67, 11. Sorenson 2:14.96, 12. Leslie 2:19.19 and 16. Stumler 2:26.75. 200IM: 1. Robischon 2:07.15, 4. Anderson 2:19.27, 6. Fleischhacker 2:22.72 and 12. Zander Olmschenk 2:41.47. 50FS: 5. Eveslage 24.55, 9. Zink 25.92, 13. Bierschbach 26.90 and 16. Stangler 27.67. Diving: 2. Stalboerger 349.55, 8. Marthaler 240.30 and 9. Zaron Olmschenk 237.75. 100FLY: 1 Robischon 56.44, 7. Zink 1:08.68, 9. Zaron Olmschenk 1:12.30 and 12. Weber 1:17.69. 100FS: 3. Adam Wilwerding 51.89, 6. Eveslage 55.93, 9. Alex Wilwerding 57.48 and 15. Felling 1:05.61. 500FS: 3. Van Beck 5:33.70, 9. Sorenson 6:18.24, 10. Leslie 6:20.55 and 12 Stumler 6:30.77. 200FSR: 4. Zink, Zander Olmschenk, Fleischhacker and Anderson 1:42.48; 8. Bierschbach, Stangler, Sorenson and Van Beck 1:47.78; 12. Linscheid, Stalboerger, Marthaler and Graham Radjenovich 2:02.24. 100BK: 1. Adam Wilwerding, 54.76, 4. Alex Wilwerding 1:03.15, 15. Weber 1:19.23 and 18. Crawford-Klinnert 1:21.89. 100BT: 3. Anderson 1:06.81, 6. Fleischhacker 1:11.77, 9. Zander Olmschenk 1:15.35 and 14. Bierschbach 1:25.53. 400FSR: 2. Eveslage, Alex Wilwerding, Robischon and Adam Wilwerding 3:32.43; 7. Zander Olmschenk, Stangler, Sorenson and Van Beck 4:00.79; 12. Leslie, Stumler, Weber and Felling 4:20.22; 15. Marthaler, Linscheid, Crawford-Klinnert and Radjenovich 4:44.8.

MSC-117, Montevideo 

Robischon was up to the challenge when the Fusion defeated Montevideo 117-67 Jan. 12 at Sauk Centre High School in Sauk Centre.

Robischon, whose talents have earned him marks in the 200 medley relay, 200 individual medley, 100 butterfly and freestyle relays, was asked to swim the 50 freestyle sprint

“We usually swim Jacob in the IM, but had good swims in the 200 freestyle relay,” said Nathan Meyer, co-head coach. “We are strong in the 200IM and had Sevrin Anderson there.”

The move worked. Anderson led M-SC to a 1-3-5 finish in the 200 individual medley and Robischon won the 50 freestyle right after that. Those finishes helped the Fusion take the match against a key rival.

The Fusion finished first in every event but the 200 freestyle relay. Throughout the match, they had drops in times. 

Anderson led the team to their best finish of the night. In the 100 breaststroke, he, Fleischhacker and Zander Olmschenk finished first, second and third. Finishing in top spots beside first was key to the Fusion win.

“We talked about first and third,” Meyer said. “If you take first and they take second and third, you lead 10-8. If you take first and third, you lead 10-6. It’s two points, but it is a four-point swing.”

M-SC took a number of first and thirds. In both the 500 freestyle and the 100 backstroke, they took first and second. The 500 race was particularly impressive, as both Van Beck and Eveslage dropped times. The 100 backstroke was a 1-2 finish by Adam and Alex Wilwerding. 

The diving corps continued to improve. Stalboerger had a season best 211.80 to take first, Olmschenk was third and Spencer Marthaler came in fourth.

M-SC started and ended the meet winning relays. The 200 medley relay team of Adam Wilwerding, Anderson, Robischon and Eveslage finished first to start the night.

“They’ve been starting off meets well all year,” Meyer said. “Things started to roll from there.”

The final race, the 400 freestyle relay, saw Eveslage, Alex Wilwerding, Robischon and Adam Wilwerding take first. 

200MR: 1. Adam Wilwerding, Anderson, Robischon and Eveslage 1:46.80; 5. Alex Wilwerding, Fleischhacker, Zink and Zaron Olmschenk 1:55.68. 200FS: 1. Van Beck 2:02.28, 3. Sorenson 2:14.93 and 5. Stumler 2:22.99.  200IM: 1. Anderson 2:17.89, 3. Fleischhacker 2:22.72 and 5. Zander Olmschenk 2:39.21. 50FS: 1. Robischon 23.39 and 3. Eveslage 24.72. Diving: 1. Stalboerger 211.8, 3. Zaron Olmschenk 141.35 and 4. Spencer Marthaler 132.45. 100FLY: 1. Robischon 57.97, 4. Zink 1:08.85 and 5. Zaron Olmschenk 1;13.59. 100FS: 1. Adam Wilwerding 51.53, 4. Alex Wilwerding 57.52 and 5. Stangler 1:01.74. 500FS: 1. Van Beck 5:29.80, 2. Eveslage 5:51.71 and 4. Sorenson 6:16.00. 200FSR: 2. Zink, Zaron Olmschenk, Fleischhacker and Anderson 1:41.96; 4. Zander Olmschenk, Bierschbach, Sorenson and Van Beck 1:48.80. 100BK: 1. Adam Wilwerding 55.37 and 2. Alex Wilwerding 1:04.76. 100BR: 3. Anderson 1:07.97, 2. Fleischhacker 1:10.97 and 3. Zander Olmschenk 1:13.51.  400FSR: 1. Eveslage, Alex Wilwerding, Robischon and Adam Wilwerding 3:37.00; 3. Van Beck, Sorenson, Stangler and Zink 4:00.74.