Two Kenyon-Wanamingo wrestlers are on to the Minnesota State High School League Class 1A individual state wrestling semifinals.
Junior Gavin Johnson advanced in the 138-pound weight class and senior Jaedin Johnson advanced at 170.
Gavin Johnson
Gavin Johnson (30-7) never trailed in a 5-1 quarterfinals victory over West Central Area-Ashby junior Solomon Wales (36-12).
It was a matchup of wrestlers both adorned in red and black with the mascot name 'KNIGHTS' emblazoned on their singlets, even down to both featuring a 'T' doubling as a sword.
Johnson was most royal of the two Knights.
He led 2-0 after the first period thanks to a takedown with nine seconds left on the clock.
Johnson made it 3-0 after two periods thanks to an escape with seven seconds left.
Another takedown with 1:42 left in the third made it 5-0 with Wales avoiding the shutout with an escape with seven seconds left.
Johnson advances to the semifinals on Saturday against top seed Jackson County Central senior Thomas Freking (47-7), who is ranked No. 3 in the Feb. 23 Class 1A 138-pound top-10 rankings by TheGuillotine.com. Wales is No. 6 and Johnson is unranked.
Freking won his quarterfinals match via 9-2 decision over Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial's Ryan Palmer (36-11).
Jaedin Johnson
Like Gavin Johnson, Jaedin Johnson (39-4) was in total control through his quarterfinals match.
Johnson won an 11-2 major decision over Kimball Area senior Caden Guggisberg (26-21).
Scoring got started with 49 seconds left in the first period when Johnson got a takedown.
An escape and takedown early in the second period bulged his lead to 5-0 before Guggisberg broke the shutout with an escape with 1:21 on the clock.
Guggisberg got another escape with 23 seconds left in the second, but it was sandwiched by two more Johnson takedowns.
The cherry on top for Johnson was one more takedown with 1:36 left in the third to make it a major decision win.
Not even a bloody nose midway through the match slowed him down.
Johnson advances to the semifinals to face top seed Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted senior Collin Boese (38-3). Boese won his semifinals match in a 12-1 major decision over Holdingford sophomore Luke Bieniek (29-5).
Boese is ranked No. 1 in TheGuillotine.com rankings and Johnson is No. 7.
Ryan LaCanne
K-W freshman at 106 pounds Ryan LaCanne did not earn a wrestleback opportunity, thus ending his state tournament due to his first round opponent, top seeded Osakis sophomore Reggie George (40-2), was upset via 11-3 major decision in the quarterfinals by Pipestone Area seventh-grader Miklo Hernandez (28-4).
Despite just getting one match in his state debut, LaCanne was thinking positively afterward.
"I have nothing to complain about," LaCanne said. "I had a really tough battle. I had a good shot on him in the first, but just couldn’t finish that match."
LaCanne jumped out to a 2-0 lead against the more experienced George but couldn't make it last all six minutes in the 6-2 decision loss.
"I think mentally, I kind of petered down a little bit," LaCanne said. "I should’ve just kept going but it was really cool getting that first shot in against the seeded number one kid."
Just making it to this point was a good building block for LaCanne, who's intent on making a return trip to next March.
"To be honest, I’m actually really proud of myself even getting here," LaCanne said. "Last year, I got hurt halfway through the season. I thought it was a big accomplishment even making this tournament. I’m top 16 out of 65 teams in Class A."
LaCanne credited his parents for helping him get to this moment.
"My dad throughout my whole journey, and my mom, she did everything to prep me for this," LaCanne said. "I took a couple minutes talking to coach before I went out there and just did what I had to do the first time. Next year I’m going to have goals and achieve those goals."
He admitted to feeling some nerves prior to his match, but they were the good kind of butteflies.
"For sure stepping out on that mat the first time was really exciting for me," LaCanne said. "I’m never going to forget that moment I stepped out there."
Will Van Epps
Will Van Epps (35-5) earned a wrestleback opportunity and has a chance to work his way as high as third place at 220 pounds.
Van Epps' opening round opponent, No. 2 seed Jackson County Central senior Caleb Vancura (42-3), won his semifinals match over West Central Area-Ashby junior Will Rustan (29-15) by fall at 46 seconds into the match.
Van Epps beat Rustan by a 12-0 major decision to advance to Saturday morning's consolation quarterfinals.
The junior Van Epps led 2-0 after one period with a takedown 1:20 into the match. He blitzed Rustan in the second period with six more points on an escape with 1:35 on the clock, takedown at 1:00 and three-point near fall before time expired.
Van Epps added to his tally in the third with a takedown at 1:35 and two-point near fall soon before the match ended.
Van Epps will face Barnesville senior Jordan Kroll (32-8) in the consolation semifinals. Kroll defeated Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City senior Terrell Renne (28-13) in round one and lost in the championship quarterfinals to Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa senior Ethan Spanier (39-5) by fall at 2:27.
Kroll is ranked No. 10 at 220 by TheGuillotine.com.
Saturday schedule
There are no set times for the Johnsons' semifinal matches.
Saturday's action features two sessions back at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The first is 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. across eight mats.
Continuous action begins with all classes consolation quarterfinals followed by all classes championship semifinals and concluding with all classes consolation semifinals and girls semifinals.
The second session of the day and final one of the tournament is 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. It begins with all classes third and fifth place matches and continues with championship matches.