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ST. PAUL --  The Minnesota State High School wrestling tournament will kick off today at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, and we’re going to take a look at some area wrestlers who will be looking to accomplish the ultimate goal for a high school athlete… the goal of a state championship.

Three area schools will be represented in the team portion of the event tomorrow; here is a look at how they got there, and what lies ahead.

Foley- Class AA

Foley qualified for the state tournament by beating Annandale/ Maple Lake in the section

Photo Courtesy of Jamie Bemboom
Photo Courtesy of Jamie Bemboom
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6AA finals by a score of 26-25. The Falcons were down 25-0 halfway through the dual, but that didn’t faze them. All of Foley’s final 7 wrestlers won their matches, and that scored the team 26 points, propelling them to victory in what was arguably one of the greatest comebacks this wrestling fan has ever seen!

The unseeded Falcons will square off in the first round of Class AA team competition tomorrow at 9am against second seeded Albert Lea Area. Albert Lee comes in with a record of 33-1, and they are loaded with a total of 7 state entrants on their squad. This match just might come down to the 182- pound weight class as 6th ranked Spencer Elwell is scheduled to take on Albert Lea senior, Tim Christianson, who is rated 4th in the state in AA.

Pierz- Class A

The Pioneers punched their ticket to state when they beat Aitkin 33-26. They got big pins from Reese Kapsner, Brandon Ortman, and Kolten Eischens in the section finals giving Pierz 18 of their eventual 33 points. At 11am tomorrow they will step on a state tournament mat for an impressive 5th consecutive season.

Standing in Pierz’s way is the Class A 2nd seed, Frazee. The Hornets are also a frequent competitor at state, and will likely have an individual state entrant at 8 of their 14 weights. Pierz will need a jolt right away if they want to pull the upset, and that responsibility will be given to 8th grader Reese Kapsner. He is slated to wrestle freshman Tanner Schermerhorn, which would give us a matchup between two of the top 10 wrestlers in the single A 106 pound weight class.

Milaca

For the third time in four years the Milaca Wolves won section 7AA. They did so by defeating Mora 37 to 28 in the section finals. Senior 160 pounder Jack Barsody gave the Wolves the lead for good when he pinned his opponent in an impressive 36 seconds. His win started a run for Milaca as they won 4 of the final 6 matches. The wolves will move their den to the Xcel Energy Center at 9am tomorrow for the first round of team competition.

Class AA 3 seed Scott West will be the first opponent for Milaca. They have a state entrant at each of the first 5 weight classes, so the wolves will have to weather the storm early if they want to move on to the championship semi finals. Milaca does have some hammers of their own up top in Josh Otten and Austin Weidner, and they should get big points from both of them. The two seniors have a combined record this year of 71 and 7.

 

On Friday the individual portion of the state tournament will kick off. Let’s take a look at some local kids who will be competing.

St. Cloud Tech- Class AAA

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Cole Schreder- Junior/ 170 pound weight class/ 33-5 record: Cole will be competing in the state tournament for the 2nd consecutive year. He won a section 8AAA title by defeating Bemidji’s Gannon Strain 6-4 in the finals. He will draw White Bear Lake Area’s Joe Dittel in the first round

Austin Brenner- Freshman/ 132 pound weight class/ 30-6 record/ 2nd state tournament appearance

Jacob Johnson- Senior/ 182 pound weight class/ 28-7 record

Tyler Hugg- Sophomore/ 195 pound weight class/ 30-5 record

Alex Kern- Freshman/ 113 pound weight class/ 15-8 record

St. Cloud Apollo- Class AAA

Nick Graham- Senior/ 195 pound weight class/ 18-6 record: This will be Nick’s first state tournament appearance. He punched his ticket to state be defeating his opponent 5-1 in a true second match. Graham will compete against Tyler Berdahl of Coon Rapids in the first round.

Sartell- Class AAA

Rylee Molitor, Photo courtesy of Angie Heckman
Rylee Molitor, Photo courtesy of Angie Heckman
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Rylee Molitor- Sophomore/ 113 pound weight class/ 34-1 record: Rylee is currently the #1 ranked wrestler at 113 pounds in 3A. He placed 2nd last year in his first state tournament appearance, and he is certainly a favorite to reach the finals again this year. Molitor will look to defeat Rosemount’s Jacob Bottem in the first round

Noah Peichel- Freshman/ 145 pound weight class/ 24-10 record

Sauk Rapids- Rice- Class AAA

Photo courtesy of Jodi Spohn
Photo courtesy of Jodi Spohn
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Korey Keske- Junior/ 138 pound weight class/ 33-4 record: By way of an 8-3 victory over Alexandria’s Blake Olhausen, Korey captured his first section 8AAA title, and qualified for his second state tournament. Keske draws Alex Green of Owatonna in round 1 of competition.

Zac Spohn- Freshman/ 106 pound weight class/ 23-4 record

Tony Bemboom- Sophomore/ 126 pound weight class/ 27-7 record

Kolton Farnick- Junior/ Heavyweight/ 19-10 record

Foley- Class AA

Photo courtesy of Shannon Schmit
Photo courtesy of Shannon Schmit
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Carter Nielsen- Senior/ 170 pound weight class/ 41-0 record: Nielsen will be wrestling at the state tournament for the third time in his career. Carter lost in the state finals last year by way of a 7-3 decision. Now this year, he will go back and look to capture the elusive state championship that slipped through his fingers last year.

Spencer Elwell- Junior/ 182 pound weight class/ 37-3 record

Brandon Jackson- Senior/ 160 pound weight class/ 35-6 record

Nathan Goulet- Senior/ 152 weight class/ 29-12 record

Saylor Schmit- Freshman/ 220 pound weight class/ 28-10 record

 

Milaca- Class AA

Austin Weidner- Senior/ 182 pound weight class/ 35-4 record: Austin qualified for his 3rd consecutive state tournament by winning his true second match with a pin in the second period. He will look to place at state for the first time in his career, but he must first get through William Parks of Perham in round one.

Jon Hall- Freshman/ 106 pound weight class/ 30-8 record

Dru Kuchenbacker- Junior/ 138 pound weight class/ 35-3 record/ 2nd state tournament appearance

Jack Barsody- Senior/ 152 pound weight class/ 30-8 record

Aaron Moscho- Senior/ 160 pound weight class/ 29-9 record/ 2nd state tournament appearance

Josh Otten- Senior/ 170 pound weight class/ 36-3 record

Colton Sailor- Senior/ 220 pound weight class/ 27-10 record

Becker- Class AA

Cody Ferris- Senior/ 145 pound weight class/ 32-8 record: This will be Cody’s second trip to the state tournament in as many years. He won his section 6AA title by a 1 point decision over his opponent in the championship. Ferris will compete against Chaska’s Isaac Loosbrock in his first match on Friday.

Josh Lumley- Sophomore/ 113 pound weight class/ 25-9 record/ 2nd state tournament appearance

Caleb Vekved- Senior/ 138 pound weight class/ 33-7 record

Jaylin Hildebrant- Sophomore/ 170 pound weight class/ 20-10 record

Pierz- Class A

Kolton Eischens- Junior/ 152 pound weight class/ 39-0 record: Eischen’s will look to improve on his 2nd place finish from last year’s state tournament. He qualified for state this year for the 3rd time in his career. Kolton is one of the favorites in the Class A 152- pound weight class and his quest for a state title will start by having to get through Barnesville’s Conner Meyer.

Reese Kapsner- 8th grader/ 106 pound weight class/ 30-9 record

Jake Andres- 8th grader/ 113 pound weight class/ 26-12 record

Brandon Ortman- Sophomore/ 120 pound weight class/ 34-2 record

Andrew Tomala- Sophomore/ 132 pound weight class/ 18-14 record

Brett Kapsner- Sophomore/ 170 pound weight class/ 28-3 record/ 2nd state tournament apperance

Austin Gall- Senior/ Heavyweight/ 26-14 record

Kimball- Class A

Quinten Berres- Senior/ 138 pound weight class/ 40-0 record: This 2-time state champion is back at the state tournament for an incredible 5th time, and he will look to capture another title before graduating this spring. Quinten’s quest for a 3rd title will start in the first round on Friday when he’ll square off against Tony Lynn of Adrian.

Blaine Tschida- Senior/ 132 pound weight class/ 41-0 record/ 4th state tournament appearance

Brady Mehr- Junior/ 145 pound weight class/ 32-8 record/ 2nd state tournament appearance

Tanner Schreifels- Senior/ 160 pound weight class/ 28-6 record

Troy Filzen- Senior/ 195 pound weight class/ 22-4 record

Royalton-Class A

Brad Kroll- Junior/ 160 pound weight class/ 27-10 record: Brad qualified for state by winning his section true second match in impressive fashion. He is making his 2nd career state tournament trip, and he’ll look to get to the podium for the first time this year. His first opponent will be Frazee junior, Tanner Bachmann

Kyle Lange- Junior/ 182 pound weight class/ 17-0 record/ 2nd state tournament appearance

Jackson Held- 8th grader/ 126 pound weight class/ 24-12 record

Clint Gadacz- Junior/ Heavyweight/ 18-7 record

Check out the full Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament schedule here: http://theguillotine.com/wp/2015-state-wrestling-tournament-schedule/

 

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