At the 1A individual meet, section team champion Chatfield continued its excellent season by qualifying nine guys for state. LARP and FCLMC each got one entrant. In Class AA, Caledonia/Houston qualified two. The Gophers pulled the super-rare feats of getting all 13 of their wrestlers to the semifinals and eleven to the finals. All 13 finished top three. Claiming section championships were Javier Berg (114), Kaisen Johnson (121), Gage Bartels (133), Carson Rowland (152), Ayden Miner (160), and Kail Schott (189). Miner is the only of the group to not re-qualify for state. Schott (senior, 27-2), #1 at 189, grabbed his fourth state bid, his third section title. He won by fall, 7-3 decision over D-E’s Andrew Wendt (32-15) and, in the finals, 9-2 decision over Goodhue’s #5 in A Grant Reed (33-7). Top-ranked Berg (114) and #6 Bartels (133) each qualified a third time, Berg with his third 1A title, Bartels his second. Each had to win just twice. Bartels (senior, 32-7) did so both times by major decision, 13-3 and 8-0 over Goodhue’s Hayden Holm (27-10) in the finals. Berg (junior, 36-4) won by 18-1 tech fall and 7-0 decision over K-W’s #6 Ryan LaCanne (30-14) in the finals. Johnson (sophomore, 29-10) repeated as section champ. Ranked #9 at 121, he won by fall, by 5-2 decision over LARP’s Owen Lange (33-9), and then by 8-5 decision over K-W’s Reed Sommer (35-10) for his title. Sommer beat Johnson 4-2 in the team 1A final. Rowland (junior, 38-8) moved up from section runner-up last year. Ranked #5 at 152, he won his first two matches by fall, then topped K-W’s #4 Dillon Bartel (30-11) by 7-2 decision in the finals. Miner (junior, 29-9), ranked #6 at 160, earned his first state berth via three decisions wins, 7-4, 9-2, and 3-1 over FCLMC’s #7 Kane Larson (41-4) in the finals. Miner beat Larson at the teams’ TRC dual meet. Jack Dornack (145), Ben Carrier (172), and Miles Mulhern (285) each made state as 1A runner-up. Dornack won by fall and 15-5 major to make the finals, only to fall to K-W’s #1 Gavin Johnson (35-2) by 5-2 decision. The senior (34-12), ranked #7, topped St. Charles’ Aidan Olson (25-8) by 17-6 major in a true second match for his berth. Mulhern won by fall and 12-5 decision over K-W’s Charles Koncur, avenging a loss in the team 1A final dual. The senior (36-9), ranked #2, then fell to Goodhue’s Jack Carlson (33-3) by 7-1 decision in the finals before pinning GMLOS’ Colten Gardner (30-16) in a true second to make state. Carrier (30-12) won by fall and 3-1 decision over K-W’s Keifer Olson (32-11) to make the finals, only to fall to D-E’s #3 #3 Landon Lehnertz (31-3) by 9-1 major. The junior did not have to wrestle a true second to make state. Jameson Priebe (107), Hunter Polikowsky (127), Alden Pearson (139), and Will Boelter (215) each took third. Priebe won by fall and 8-2 decision to make the finals, then fell by 5-3 decision to K-W’s #2 Bryan Jacobson (31-11) and by 4-3 decision to LARP’s Christian Zibrowski (36-7) in the true second match. Priebe (8th grader, 33-15), ranked #10, nearly secured match-winning points late versus Zibrowski. He lost to Jacobson 4-3 in the 1A title dual and beat Zibrowski 10-9 in their TRC match. Pearson (junior, 24-13) won two falls to make the finals, then lost to D-E’s #3 Bolton Thesing (40-2) by 8-2 decision and to K-W’s Trent Foss (25-3) by 7-4 decision in a true second. Polikowsky (127 > 24-16) and Boelter (215 > 25-16) each went 3-1 but did not get to wrestle a true second. Overall, Chatfield’s guys went 34-9 collectively. Matt Mauseth was named Section 1A Head Coach of the Year and Travis Bartels’ 1A Assistant Coach of the Year.
LARP had the next best team effort of “Journal-covered” 1A schools. Christian Zibrowski (107 > 36-7) made state as section runner-up. He won by 17-1 tech fall, lost by 5-2 decision to K-W’s #2 Jacobson (31-11), then won by fall, 15-0 tech fall, and 4-3 decision over Chatfield’s #10 Priebe (33-15) in the true second match. The freshman earned his first state berth. Owen Lange (121) and Camdyn Anderson (160) each took third. Lange (freshman, 33-9) won by fall, lost by 5-2 decision to Chatfield’s #9 Johnson (29-10), then won two falls to make a true second match. There, he was downed by K-W’s #8 Sommer (35-10) by 8-5 decision. Anderson (senior, 27-12) lost a 4-3 decision out of the gate to D-E’s Jackson Welsh, only to win 7-0, 5-3, and 6-1 decisions. The latter two wins came over St. Charles’ Greyson Mauskemo (28-20) and GMLOS’ Braxten Wiste (40-10). Anderson fell to FCLMC’s #7 Larson (41-4) by 5-3 decision in a true second. Zach Plank (sophomore, 189) went 3-2, Titan Tekautz (senior, 145) and Carter Cady (junior 152) each 2-2, to take fourth. Tekautz finishes at 23-8, Cady 26-17, Plank 30-12. Larson (sophomore, 160) was FCLMC’s sole state entrant. He won two falls to make the finals, fell to Chatfield’s #6 Miner (29-9) by 3-1 decision, then beat LARP’s Anderson (27-12) in a true second match by 5-3 decision. Only three Wolves competed. GMLOS had five place top four. None made state. Colten Gardner (senior, 285) lost by fall, then won by 8-4 decision, fall, and fall in the wrestle-backs. The last win avenged his loss to D-E’s Aidan Gasper (32-13). Gardner (30-16) was then was pinned by Chatfield’s #2 Mulhern (36-9) in a true second. He took third. Parker Armagost (freshman, 114), Cael Smith (8th grader, 127), Braxten Wiste (senior, 160), and Rowan Sween (junior, 215) each went 2-2 to take fourth. Armagost finishes at 33-15, Smith 38-11, Wiste 40-10, and Sween 22-19.
In Class AA, Caledonia/Houston came away with two section champs. Senior Owen Denstad (145) won by fall, 26-9 tech fall, and 9-3 decision over K-M’s #4 Jonah Coleman (32-9) to claim his title. He earned his fourth state qualification, his third section title. The senior, ranked #2, also holds a unique and lofty distinction. Of all the wrestlers at the 1A, 1AA, and 1AA events, he is only one that is still undefeated (48-0). Fellow senior Isaac Blocker, ranked #7, earned his third state qualification. Blocker (139 > 42-8) won by 4-0 decision, 11-1 major decision, and 3-0 decision over PEM’s Nolan Ford (33-16) to make the finals. There he held off K-M’s #6 Owen Friedrich (38-8) by 5-3 decision. Aiden Burns (107) and Braxton Lange (133) each wrestled to make state. Burns won by 12-0 major before losing to K-M’s Rex Ayshford (34-10) by 4-2 decision in the semis. The sophomore (38-12) then won by fall and 8-0 major only to fall to Z-M’s Jent Beyer (34-16) by 1-0 decision in a true second. Lange (junior) lost by 6-3 decision in the quarters, then won two falls, an injury default over K-M’s #8 Aiden Friedrich (26-17), and a 3-2 decision over Stewartville’s Hunter Karnitz (avenging his earlier loss). Lange (39-12) then fell by 9-3 decision to PEM’s Aiden Graner (35-7) in a true second. Hunter Frank (sophomore, 121) and Cooper Allen (172) each went 3-2 to take fourth. Frank lost twice to PEM’s Carson Rahman (41-11), Allen twice to Z-M’s Wilson Nordquist (30-14).
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