At noon, here's my first update from the Section 5A wrestling tournament at Minnewaska Area.
Blaine Fischer, Canon Swanson and Tyler Bents are all in their respective championship matches.
*Update: also winning in the semifinals were Adam Jaeger and Isaiah Gilbert! B-B-E has five of 14 wrestlers all competing in the championship matches later this afternoon.
The finals should start between 14:30-15:00 this afternoon. The last round of consolation matches is starting at 13:10.
*Update: here are the other Jaguars who are still alive in the section tournament: Walker Bents, Tyler Jensen, Dylan Kampsen, Mark Jenniges, Trevor Kern and Seth Roering. Walker Bents just won his second consolation match of the day by a 3-1 decision.
If you tune into Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood today (107.1, also found online at their website or on TuneIn) you can hear other updates throughout the afternoon courtesy of sports broadcaster Brady Erdmann. Thanks, Brady!
*Here's the official list of the 11 Jaguars who will compete in the finals: Walker Bents, Blaine Fischer, Canon Swanson, Tyler Jensen, Dylan Kampsen, Tyler Bents, Isaiah Gilbert, Adam Jaeger, Mark Jenniges, Trevor Kern and Seth Roering. The finals are starting at 14:34.
**UPDATE at 15:15: winning their championship and finals matches so far are sophomore Canon Swanson (champion) and eighth-grader Tyler Jensen (third place). At 113, eighth-grader Blaine Fischer lost in the championship but will get a true-second match to compete for the state tournament. Jensen, wrestling at 126, will also get a true-second match to compete for state.
At 132, Tyler Bents won a sudden-victory overtime 3-1 decision over Paynesville Area's Shawn Rue to claim a section title! Both are juniors. It was just the second time in his career that Tyler Bents has beaten Rue. Tyler Bents will be a four-time state entrant. (SEE VIDEO)
**Here's video from the overtime session of Bents v. Rue:
Also, at 138, sophomore Dylan Kampsen won by pin in the first period to finish with a fifth-place medal. He is a sophomore.
At 152, senior Adam Jaeger won a 3-2 decision against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg's Dylan Rudningen to claim a section title and punch B-B-E's third ticket of the day to the state tournament. Jaeger (28-0) will be a four-time state tournament entrant with 167 career wins to date.
At 160, senior Isaiah Gilbert lost a 5-4 decision to a Minnewaska wrestler; he will not need to wrestle in a true-second match and has punched his ticket to the state tournament. This will be the second state tournament of his career.
At 170, freshmen Mark Jenniges lost by pin to finish with a fourth-place medal.
At 182, senior Trevor Kern lost an 8-2 decision to finish with a fourth-place medal. He has been a strong, steady, key part of this team during his varsity career. Leadership like that will be missed!!
At 195, senior Seth Roering won by pin to take fifth place. It was a terrific ending to his two-year wrestling career!
I will try posting another update after the true-second matches are complete. As it stands right now, B-B-E will send four Jaguars to the Class 1A state tournament!! (Swanson, Tyler Bents, Jaeger and Gilbert) And hopefully a total of six!!! Overall, B-B-E will put 11 of their 14 wrestlers on the medals stand today. That is awesome!!!
The true-second matches will begin shortly before 17:00.
It is snowing like mad outside by the way!!!! Be safe today!
**Update! Both Blaine Fischer and Tyler Jensen won their true-second matches tonight! They will both advance to the state tournament for the first times in their careers. Both are eighth graders.
...a late update from last night: the B-B-E Jaguars girls' basketball team suffered an upset 58-52 loss at Holdingford to fall to 19-7 overall heading into the playoffs. They will host a quarterfinal-round match on Thursday, March 1 with a 7 o'clock tip-off.
It was a difficult loss to swallow. Holdingford is a .500 team, and while they are good, losing to a .500 team is not how you want to head into the playoffs. The Jaguars will now share second place in the Central Minnesota Conference with Maple Lake, both teams 10-4 each. Holdingford (13-13 overall) then tied Kimball Area (12-14) for fourth place with 7-7 records. Eden Valley-Watkins (23-3) went unblemished through the CMC schedule this season to win the title for the sixth straight season. Two years ago, they went 12-2 and tied Kimball Area for first place.
