I'll do my best to post reports here throughout the afternoon. You can also listen to live updates at Smooth Magic 107 FM of Glenwood (both online and on the radio). **NOTE: the finals round is fully updated as of 16:21. We are about halfway through the finals round with true-second matches to follow from Minnewaska Area high school. *This is fully updated in terms of who won in the finals round. The true second matches are also complete. *Two VIDEOS are below.
**Here's a video recorded just before the finals round started today at Minnewaska Area high school:
At 106, Louie Tensen (20-19) had a first-round bye but then lost in the quarterfinals. He won his first wrestleback match by a 20-4 tech fall (4:27) to stay alive. Tensen will face freshman Eli Greenman (34-10) of Canby in the next round.
At 113, Brett DeRoo (31-10) blazed his way into the quarterfinals after a first-round bye and then a win by fall (0:55) in the second round. He lost in the quarterfinals by a 9-1 major decision to Canby's Isaac Guzman. DeRoo awaits matches in the wrestlebacks before he goes again.
At 120, Ethan Mueller (10-10) is alive in the wrestlebacks after losing in the quarterfinals by a 5-2 decision to junior Noah Johnson (24-20) of Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg. He will face * sophomore Preston Welling of Paynesville in his next match. **UPDATE: Mueller won by pin (2:29) to stay alive in wrestlebacks! He needs one more win to get into the third-place match.
At 126, Ryan Jensen (40-3) had a first-round bye and then won two pins in his next two matches. He got a pin in just 23 seconds in the quarterfinals, and he pinned in just 1:23 in the semifinals to get into the championship match.
At 132, Walker Bents (39-1) mirrored the success of Ryan Jensen with a quarterfinal pin with a time of 2:55 and then a semifinal pin with a time of 4:58 to get into the championship.
At 138, Tyler Jensen (14-7) had a first-round bye and then won an 8-4 decision in the quarterfinals. He will face A-C-GC's Jevon Williams in the semifinals. *Update: Tyler Jensen lost a 9-2 decision to Williams in the semifinals. He now faces Minneota's Kade Lozinski (24-13) in the wrestlebacks.
At 145, Tanner Viessman (18-17) lost in the quarterfinals and awaits a wrestleback match where he will face Paynesville's Grant Wendlandt (7-13).
At 152, Blaine Fischer (38-1) had a first-round bye and then won by fall (1:11) in the quarterfinals. He awaits his semifinal match where he'll take on K-M-S's senior Ely Johnson (24-18). **Update!: Fischer pinned Johnson with a time of 3:58 to advance to the championship!
At 160, Maximus Hanson (32-7) is competing in a seven-man bracket and had two byes and awaits the semifinals. **Update: Hanson won with a pin in a time of just 1:07 to get into the championship match! He defeated Benson junior Preston Mcgee (26-21) to get into the championship.
At 170, Talen Kampsen (14-20) had a first-round bye and then lost in the quarterfinals by fall (1:28) to A-C-GC's Jake Mortensen. Kampsen had a bye in the consolation round and now awaits a match with Canby's Alan Malanado (0-2). *Update: Kamspen won by fall (0:44) over Malanado to stay alive in the wrestlebacks!
At 182, Carson Gilbert (33-7) also is competing in a seven-man bracket. He had back-to-back byes and awaits a semifinal match, where he'll take on Benson senior Nathan Bolduc (34-6).
The 195-pound bracket is open for B-B-E.
At 220, Ethan Spanier (30-7) had a first-round bye and then won by fall (1:46) in the quarterfinals. He awaits his semifinal match where he will take on No. 2-seeded junior Spencer Eisenbraun (32-5) of Paynesville Area. *UPDATE: against Eisenbraun in the semis, No. 3-seeded Spanier built a 5-1 lead with a reversal and back points in the third period. He ultimately won by a 6-3 decision to get into the championship!
At 285, Bryce Feuerhake (26-17) had a first-round bye and then won his quarterfinal match by a 5-3 decision over sophomore Gavin Noyes (21-14) of Canby. In the semifinals, Feuerhake will take on No. 1-seeded and No. 10-ranked senior Jackson Esping (8-0) of Minneota. **Update: Feuerhake lost a 4-3 decision to finish in fourth place.
More to come.
**Here's a video that features the 106 and 113 pound matches with Louie Tensen and Brett DeRoo in the finals:
UPDATES from the FINALS:
106: Louie Tensen will go for 5th place against Benson's Max Nygaard. It's time to get ready for the Parade of Champions.
113: Brett DeRoo took third place in his bracket! He won by a 15-0 tech fall late in the second period in the third-place match.
120: Ethan Mueller will go for fifth place.
126: Ryan Jensen won the championship with a 3-0 decision in the finals.
132: Walker Bents won a 5-1 decision in the finals to win the championship.
138: Tyler Jensen is going for third place here. *Update: Tyler Jensen lost an 11-8 decision to finish in fourth place here.
152: Blaine Fischer will face Minnewaska Area senior Jacob Blair (30-5) in the championship. *UPDATE: Fischer won by pin with 42 seconds remaining in the third period to claim the 152-pound title and advance to state.
160: Maximus Hanson will face K-M-S senior Coy Gunderson (42-3) in the championship. Hanson is the No. 1 seed, while Gunderson is the No. 2 seed. *UPDATE: Hanson lost a nailbiter by a 4-3 decision; he will have to win a true second match in order to punch a spot to the state tournament.
170: Talen Kampsen finished in fifth place in this bracket with a final win by injury default. He finishes his junior campaign with a 16-21 overall record.
182: No. 1-seeded Carson Gilbert will wrestle Paynesville Area freshman Peyton Hemmesch (29-5) in the championship. **Update: Gilbert lost a 4-2 decision after three overtime periods. With the first three periods complete, the score was tied at 1-1.
**Gilbert's match ended right at 17:00.
220: No. 3-seeded Ethan Spanier will wrestle top-seeded senior Jaxon Behm (36-4) of A-C-GC in the championship match.
285: Bryce Feuerhake will go for third place in this bracket and will face K-M-S junior Jason Jones (28-19). *UPDATE: in the third-place match, Feuerhake lost by a 4-3 decision to Jones to finish in fourth place at heavyweight.
**True second match updates...
At 160, Maximus Hanson won an 8-0 decision to seal a trip to state!
At 182, Carson Gilbert will wrestle in a true second match for a state trip. *UPDATE: Carson Gilbert won a tech fall in the true second match over A-C-GC's Logan Straumann.
Awards are set to follow at about 18:20 tonight from Minnewaska Area high school.
Now it's time for open gym.
THANK YOU to Paul Gruber Farms and Bucky's Bar of Elrosa for their support of this blog post!