Tribune Notebook: Bents makes it back to BBE
· Yahoo Sports
Jul. 21---- Tyler Bents found a passion for coaching in the
wrestling room.
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A 2019 BBE grad, Tyler would help out with the middle-school wrestlers while he was on the varsity team. His dad, Nick, ran the youth program.
"I would go to those practices and help back then," Tyler said. "Really, from when I was young, moving forward I had that in my mind where I'd love to be a wrestling coach one day."
Now, Tyler Bents will be back in the BBE wrestling room as the Jaguars' next head coach.
He replaces Jordan Fester, who spent four seasons as BBE's head coach. In Fester's tenure, the Jaguars went to state as a team in 2023 and '24, continuing a run of four straight state trips from 2021-24. He also coached three state champions, with Maximus Hanson winning twice in '23 and '24 and Carson Gilbert in '25.
"(Back then), I think it would have been a dream to be at BBE," Bents said. "Now knowing that I actually get to be in that position, it's pretty awesome to know that's how the cards got played for me."
He becomes the second BBE alum to take over one of the Jaguars' programs in 2026-27.
, will be the school's head volleyball coach this fall.
Bents was a five-time state entrant for the Jaguars, placing third as a junior and fourth as a senior. He's ninth in school history with 173 career wins.
Following high school, Bents wrestled at Division III Concordia-Moorhead, where he won 48 career matches. That includes 20 in his senior season. He was also a two-time NWCA Scholar All-American.
Starting in the 2024-25 season, Bents became an assistant coach for the Cobbers under his former head coach Quincy Osborn.
"I was really able to watch, even at the DIII level, some high-level wrestlers and some high-level coaches," Bents said. "You see how a lot of different programs operate. It really was a valuable experience for me."
A key lesson Bents learned as a head coach is helping wrestlers not get ahead of themselves.
"It's about focusing on getting that one percent better every day versus just focusing on the end goal," Bents said. "Wrestling is a very brutal sport. It's very competitive. I think if you're only focusing on the end goal, you lose sight of all those little different building blocks along the way to get confidence. That's something Quincy was really big on pushing at Concordia. A piece that I want to have with my wrestling team now is that safe philosophy of taking the little wins and building to that big goal."
Bents worked with some of BBE's current crop of wrestlers during a summer camp he hosted with his brother Walker. Walker is a two-time state champion at BBE (2022, '20) and is going into his senior year on the Minnesota State-Mankato wrestling team.
"It's definitely going to be a priority of mine this summer to try to show face at some local stuff just to catch up with everybody and build some relationships again," said Tyler, who is still lining up work for his return to the area. "Once we get in the room, we'll be back in business."
Last season, the Jaguars were the seventh seed in the highly competitive Section 5A team bracket. BBE sent two wrestlers to the state individual tournament. Noah Jensen made the state finals in the Class A 114-pound bracket. Elizabeth Radermacher qualified in the girls' 130 division.
Bents enjoyed watching the run BBE put together after he graduated. Now, he hopes to help the Jaguars get back into that mix.
"I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to in my career," Bents said, "and I think now as a coach, it's my opportunity to help these guys go chase their goals. I wanna communicate with those guys, build those relationships and understand what they want to get out of the sport. It's my job as a coach to help them be able to go chase those goals down."
Three local tennis plays won their respective divisions at the Waterdays Tennis Tournament on Friday-Sunday in New London.
Willmar's Jameson Dragt won the 16-and-under boys singles division and was part of the champion 18-and-under boys double team with New London's Liam Hanson.
Lillian Skretvedt of Willmar claimed the championship in the 16-and-under girls singles division.
A total of 134 athletes competed from as far away as North Dakota, Iowa and Missouri, according to NLS head tennis coach Steve Barber.
Here are the results from the tournament: