Three county guys had aspirations of a return trip to state. Roughly ten had legitimate hopes of making it there. The Section 1A individual wrestling tournament saw county-squads LARP (3) and Chatfield (2) each get multiple state entrants. Ross Herber, Gable Speltz, Noah Herber, Seth Goetzinger, and Cael Bartels have qualified for the 2019 state tourney. The 126-pound weight class sees both 1A representatives come from county squads. Chatfield’s Goetzinger (#3 at 126) repeats as Section Champ and as state qualifier. Two pins (including over SC’s 31-13 Tyler Mathison in the semis) put the sophomore in the finals. LARP sophomore Gable Speltz came from the other side of the bracket (won 14-2 MD in quarters, beat D-E’s 38-10 Gavin Gust by 11-7 D in semis). Goetzinger (27-7), last year’s 106-pound section champ, edged Speltz 4-3 to claim 126. Speltz (29-13) didn’t have to wrestle a true second to make state. He took third last year (120). Gopher Cael Bartels (#9 at 113) also claimed a section title. The junior went pin, 10-1 MD, and an 8-5 decision (over Cal/Hou’s Tucker Ginther) in the finals. Bartels (30-8), who took third last year, claimed 113 pounds. At 120, LARP got its Section Champ. Ross Herber (120) won three matches (10-1 MD, pin, 9-1 MD) to make the finals. There, he beat Z-M’s John Poulin by 4-1 decision. Herber (#5 at 113) was state ranked entering last year’s meet, but took fourth. Also representing LARP is a second Herber, Noah (cousin to Ross). The #5 guy at 182 went pin and 9-3 decision to make the 195-pound finals. He got pinned by D-E’s #1 Michael Nelson (2018 state third place finisher). Herber (25-6) didn’t have to win a true second to qualify for state. He took third last year. Getting close to state for LARP was Dominic Jenkins (#6 at 145). The senior lost to Goodhue’s Baxter O’Reilly (#7 at 152, dropped a weight) 8-7 in the semis. O’Reilly took second to Cal/Hou’s top-ranked Kyle Cavanaugh, leaving Jenkins (3rd place, 33-11) two points short of St. Paul. His three losses at sections the past two years have been by six total points. For Chatfield, Nathan Goldsmith (#5 at 145, 25-11) and Davontae Goldsmith (170, 21-14) each wrestled to go to state. D-Goldsmith rode three wins (two pins, 5-1 decision over Sense) to the finals, but fell 5-1 to Goodhue’s 40-4 #2 Kaleb O’Reilly. Devo then fell 4-2 to Cal/Hou’s Payton Schott in a true second. He lost a true second last year too. N-Goldsmith bumped up a weight (152), won a quarterfinal (pin), and then lost in the semis (3-2 decision to D-E’s #5 Marcus Otomo). After two wins (11-2 MD, 2-1 D), he fell to Cal/Hou’s Isaac Denstad 6-5 in a true second. A.J. Karver (220 > 26-10) also took third, wrestling thrice (pinned, 14-0 MD, pin), with no true second. FCLMC had no state qualifiers. Last year’s entrant (120), Caden Anderson (23-17) took fourth at 132. Stefan Nikoloski (15-24) also took fourth (285). LARP’s Ethan Sense (10-3) took fourth (170). LARP’s 2018 state qualifier (113) Carter Jonsgaard (26-12) took eighth at 132.
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