Medford senior 170-pounder Tate Hermes looks to avoid giving up an escape during the Class A individual state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center. (Stephen McDaniel/southernminn.com)
NRHEG senior heavyweight Makota Misgen gets his arm raised during the Class A individual state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center. (Stephen McDaniel/southernminn.com)
Westfield sophomore 132-pounder Bo Zwiener looks to turn his opponent for a pin during the Class A individual state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center. (Stephen McDaniel/southernminn.com)
The Class A individual state tournament was hosted at the Xcel Energy Center during the weekend with several area wrestlers from Medford, New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva and Westfield qualifying.
Medford senior 170-pounder Tate Hermes looks to avoid giving up an escape during the Class A individual state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center. (Stephen McDaniel/southernminn.com)
Following a Class A consolation team title, the Medford Tigers sent seven total wrestlers to the Class A individual tournament and came away with two podium placements.
Senior Tate Hermes was looking to challenge for a potential state title at 170 pounds. He opened with a 23-8 tech fall in the first round and picked up a 13-3 major decision in the quarterfinals before getting sent to the consolations with a loss in sudden victory to Max Hanson of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa.
Hermes earned a 3-0 decision in the consolation semifinals and defeated Kenyon-Wanamingo’s Jaedin Johnson in a 7-2 decision in the third place match.
Tommy Elwood recorded Medford’s other placement finish, which started with Elwood winning by a 6-2 decision over Sibley East’s Josh Sotelo and losing in a 4-0 decision to Gage Bartels of Chatfield in the quarterfinals.
Elwood won by forfeit in the first round of consolations and won by a 7-3 decision in the second round of consolations before falling in the semifinals in a 4-3 decision loss. He was set to rematch Bartels in the fifth place match, but Bartels was forced to medically forfeit prior to the match and gave Elwood the fifth place finish.
Charley Elwood was looking at making history with a potential fourth state title, but things didn’t end up working out.
He won by a 3-2 decision in the first round before losing in an 8-6 decision to Canby’s Lincoln Fink in the quarterfinals. Elwood bounced back with a 15-0 tech fall in the first round of consolations, but medically forfeited in the second round to end his state tournament.
Garron Hoffman (152 pounds) and Dylan Heiderscheidt (195) both won one match during their state runs, but were ultimately knocked out in the consolation rounds. Luis Lopez (113) and Evan Schweisthal (138) also qualified, but faced early losses that knocked them out in the first round.
NRHEG senior heavyweight Makota Misgen gets his arm raised during the Class A individual state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center. (Stephen McDaniel/southernminn.com)
NRHEG’s time at the Xcel Energy Center was highlighted by junior Annabelle Petsinger becoming the Panthers first ever girls state champion, but they also saw Makota Misgen and Reese Routh compete.
Misgen was in the running to challenge for the Class A 285 title and started out strong with a win by fall in the first round and coming out on top in a 1-0 decision over Royalton-Upsala’s Brandon Mugg in the quarterfinals.
In a section finals rematch, Misgen ultimately fell in a tie-breaker to eventual state champion Keegan Kuball of Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton in the semifinal round. He responded by winning by fall in the consolation semifinals and winning the third place match in a 5-1 decision over Cameron Wieneke of Adrian Area.
Routh saw an early end to his tournament after getting knocked out in the first round of the 152 pound bracket with a 20-9 major decision loss to Jackson County Central’s Isaiah Rodriguez.
Westfield sophomore 132-pounder Bo Zwiener looks to turn his opponent for a pin during the Class A individual state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center. (Stephen McDaniel/southernminn.com)
The Razorbacks had two state qualifiers in 132-pounder Bo Zwiener and 145-pounder Cade Christianson.
Zwiener made it to the podium after starting out with a win by fall over Kimball Area’s Mark Schiefelbein in the first round and winning in sudden victory against Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa’s Ryan Jensen.
He ended up finishing in sixth place after losing by fall in the semifinals and the consolation semifinals before Jensen pinned him in a rematch during the fifth place matchup.
Christianson closed out his wrestling career with the Razorbacks by qualifying for the 145 pound bracket, but got eliminated in the first round with a loss by fall to Holdingford’s William Pilarski.
