Shortly after 8 p.m. tonight, we arrived at our hotel in the cities. We're actually staying a bit away from the Xcel Energy Center and all the crazyiness that's found in our modern era of St. Paul and Minneapolis. After settling in and setting up my mobile office, it's time to get back to work. We have three big, BIG, HUGE days ahead of us!
Dover-Eyota and our No. 2-seeded B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team will square off on Mat 1 at Xcel Energy Center tomorrow (Thursday) at 11 a.m. in the Class 1A state quarterfinals. Dover-Eyota, Section 1A champions with a 19-8 record, is competing in the state team tournament for the first time since 2007. They took seventh place at the Rogers Holiday Matness invitational over the Christmas break. On January 7, they traveled to La Crosse, Wisconsin and went 2-4 in duals at the same tournament that Jackson County Central competed in. On January 29, they took first place at the Lake City invitational. The following Thursday (February 3), Dover-Eyota lost 35-31 in a home triangular to Chatfield in a dual that decided the Three Rivers Conference championship. They took third place at the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown invitational on February 5 before finishing the regular season with three dual wins. To win the Section 1A title, Dover-Eyota beat GMLOS 64-11 in the quarterfinals and then Goodhue 45-30 in the semis. In the Section 1A championship, Dover-Eyota got revenge on Chatfield in a 33-30 win at the Rochester Civic Center in a dual that went down to the wire and was not decided until the outcome of the heavyweight match.
In their section finals, Dover-Eyota junior Jackson Duellman won the deciding match against Chatfield, gutting out an 11-7 decision while wrestling up a weight class against Caden Nolte to break the 30-30 tie. The win was especially exciting considering that Duellman trailed 6-2 at one point in the third period. Last Saturday, Duellman once again had a knack for the dramatic, defeating Goodhue's Cody Lohman by a 5-3 decision with a takedown in the final 13 seconds to capture the Section 1A 220-pound title.
Dover-Eyota head coach Brian Lehnertz was quoted in the Rochester Post Bulletin saying, "Honestly, we’re excited for that matchup with B-B-E. They are a great team. I feel like we have a great team. They’re strong. We’re strong. So we’re really excited for that matchup. Win or lose, I’m proud of the guys."
Dover-Eyota has three seniors on this year's team, and two of them are regular varsity wrestlers: Grady Eaton (138) and Treyton Thesing (160). Their team is bolstered by six juniors.
At last weekend's Section 1A individual tournament, Dover-Eyota placed seven wrestlers to that part of the state tournament: Brodie Kellen (145), Gavin Gust (152) and Jackson Duellman (220) won titles, while Bolton Thesing (126), Grady Eaton (132), Treyton Thesing (160) and Tyler Mix (195) placed second. Kellen placed fifth at 132 last season in Class 1A, while Gust is a two-time state medalist — finishing third at 145 last season. The two are a combined 66-6 with Gust winning 33 of his 34 matches this season.
This is our Jaguars' second straight appearance at state.
