Wrestler collapses, dies after exercising

A Benson High School wrestler described by a neighbor as "the kid every parent would want to have" died Friday after collapsing during an early morning training run.

The boy, identified by Benson school officials as Miles Staton, 16, was a three-sport athlete who was participating in a summer wrestling program. Miles finished his sophomore year May 30.

Acting Swift County coroner Dr. Richard Horecka said the cause of Miles' death has yet to be determined. Horecka said Miles was finishing a morning run "which was not excessive," when he collapsed.

Horecka said one of the counselors at the program administered CPR to Miles, who was then driven less than a mile to Swift County-Benson Hospital, where he died.

Horecka said the morning was cool. He ruled out dehydration, which can be a killer on hot days when athletes are training hard and not drinking enough water. The wrestling camp Miles was attending was termed "just an agility camp" by wrestling coach Knutson, and wouldn't have involved the kind of regimen where wrestlers must struggle to meet weight limits.

Deaths related directly or indirectly to high school wrestling are extremely rare, according to statistics gathered by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research.

Those figures show three deaths directly attributable to wrestling between 1982 and 2006 nationwide, and 18 deaths that were the indirect result of wrestling during that same time span.

Still, such deaths are not unknown in Minnesota. In 2005, 14-year-old Eli Meyer collapsed and died after a wrestling team practice session at North Branch High School. In 2002, 14-year-old Dennis Kingsbury, from Coittage Grove, died while participating in a tournament at Chaska High School.

But Horecka stressed that, at this point, no one knows what killed Miles Staton. "We'll know more when the lab information comes back," he said.

Miles also played baseball and football, said Benson schools superintendent Lee Westrum. He said the summer wrestling program Staton attended was not connected to the schools, and was run "through a private citizen at his place."

Miles' family could not be reached for comment.

Horecka said he didn't believe the past medical condition, which he would not identify, had anything to do with Miles' death.

"All of us at Benson public schools are shocked and saddened by the tragic and unexpected passing of Miles Staton," Westrum said. "Miles was an outstanding young man who excelled in the classroom and athletics. Miles was a respectful, hard-working and courteous student. Simply put, Miles Staton made Benson High a better place."

The Benson schools have about 1,000 students. The town is located about 125 miles west of the Twin Cities, near the South Dakota border.

Norman Draper • 612-673-4547