The Northfield Raiders downed top seed Owatonna 36-22 in the Section 1 Class 3A title match Saturday to earn their second trip ever to state team competition.  The last time the Raiders participated at state was 2010.  Guillotine Magazine had Owatonna rated #2 in the state in Class 3A in their latest rankings and Northfield #12.

It was a day of upsets in Section 1 with all the #2 seeds advancing to state.  #12 ranked Class A Goodhue won a thriller 33-27 against upset minded #5 seed Caledonia.  The Warriors began their run Valentines when they traveled to Dover-Eyota and won 38-29.  Caledonia then knocked off two-time defending State Champion #5 ranked Zumbrota-Mazeppa 33-25 to advance to the title match.

Goodhue topped #7 seed Lewiston-Altura 51-20 Thursday and edged #3 seed Chatfield in the semifinals 37-34.  The Gophers were in the lead and mean portion of the state rankings.

Two nationally rated teams hooked up in the Section 1 Class AA title match with #21 Kasson-Mantorville falling to #35 Simley 30-23 (Intermat High School Rankings).   The top seed and top ranked KoMets breezed over # 4 seed Lake City in the semifinals 58-3 while #2 seed and third rated Simley cruised by #3 Plainview-Elgin-Millville 54-18 setting up the title tilt.

The KoMets were State Class AA Champions each of the past three seasons and came into the title match undefeated this season with a 97 consecutive dual meet winning streak.  Simley's only loss happened December 21st when they were nipped 31-30 by Class 3A #4 rated St. Michael-Albertville.

The #9 ranked Kenyon-Wanamingo Knights advanced to State by defeating Blue Earth Area 56-15 in the Section 2 Class A Championship match at LeSueur-Henderson High School Saturday.  Blue Earth Area was listed in the lean and mean category of Guillotine rankings in Class A.

Knights Head Coach Matt Ryan told POWER 96 his team was peaking at the right time and had everybody back just in time for a tournament run.  Coach Ryan said his seniors were very good leaders and he was confident his team would be focused for the three matches they would wrestle due to weather issues Thursday.

Kenyon-Wanamingo started the day with a 71-6 dominance of #8 seed Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial.  The top seed Knights then downed #5 seed New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 62-15 to advance to the title match.

NRHEG beat #4 seed Medford 48-29 to advance.

The State Wrestling Tournament team competition is Thursday, February 28 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Section individual competition is next weekend.

More From KRFO-AM