22 Steele County Wrestlers Advance to State Meet

A big weekend of wrestling leads to another big weekend of wrestling. Twenty-two grapplers from around Steele County have qualified for the Minnesota State High School League state meet at Excel Energy Center. Local competitors include eight from Owatonna, six from Medford, five out of NRHEG and a trio from Westfield.

The state individual tournament is Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5. The first-ever MSHSL-sanctioned girls tournament is Saturday only. Team competition is a one-day event on Thursday, March 3.

Owatonna's qualifiers are seniors Rian Grunwald, Kanin Hable, Landen Johnson, Jacob Reinardy and Andrew Nirk, junior Cael Robb and Freshmen Isabelle Townley and Lane Karsten.

Get the full breakdown on the Huskies' qualifiers and comments from head coach Derek Johnson.

MEDFORD

Three of Medford's qualifiers punched their ticket to state with a pin in the finals of the Section 2A tournament Saturday at Blue Earth. Tommy Elwood (fr, 126 pounds) had two pins sandwiched around a major decision. Charley Elwood (jr, 138 pounds) had three first-period pins to win the title. Garron Hoffman (jr, 152) had a fall in the finals.

The Tigers Luis Lopez (so, 106 pounds) had pins in the quarterfinals and semifinals before a 2-0 win in the final. Tate Hermes (jr, 160 pounds) had two pins before a win by decision in the final. Dylan Heiderscheidt (jr, 182 pounds) won a 9-8 thriller in the semifinals. He lost the final and did not have to wrestle a true second match.

NRHEG

NRHEG senior Ralph Roesler (195 pounds) had two pins to win the section crown. Nikolas Petsigner (sr, 132 pounds) had an overtime win in the semifinals. He lost in the final and did not have to wrestle a true second.

Ben Hagen (fr, 220 pounds) pinned the top seed in the semifinals. He lost in the final but also did not have to wrestle a true second match. Makota Misgen (jr, 285 pounds) had two falls before losing in the final. He pinned his opponent in the true second match to earn a trip to state.

NRHEG's Annabelle Petsigner will compete Saturday in the girls tournament.

WESTFIELD

Westfield had a pair of section champs. Bo Zweiner (fr, 120 pounds) started with a quarterfinal pin and followed up with a pair of wins by decision. Tyler Archer (sr, 170 pounds) had pins in the quarterfinals and final. Cade Christianson (so, 138 pounds) was a runner-up.

Razorbacks co-coach David Lassahn stated, "Today was a good day of wrestling for our program. These guys have a lot to be proud of after this tournament. They competed hard and wrestled with that competitive edge that was missing at times last week. We’re looking forward to the state tournament and planning to get some more guys on the podium up there as well."

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