Eight qualify for state

Blue Earth Area's Jake Wirtjes
Blue Earth Area and United South Central each had four wrestlers compete in the individual portion of the State Meet held March 4-5 in St. Paul.
Qualifying for BEA was senior Jake Wirtjes at 125 pounds; senior Joe Franta (152); sophomore Carter Hanson (160); and junior Josh Johnson (215).
The Rebels’ freshman Dylan Herman qualified at 112 pounds; Dustin Dylla (140); Brady Thisius (189); and heavyweight Tony Willette.
For Wirtjes, it’s his second straight State Meet. Last year, he placed sixth at 119.
At the Section 2 Class A individual meet held Feb. 26 in Blue Earth, Wirtjes pinned his way to the 125-pound title.

Blue Earth Area's Joe Franta
In the finals, he earned a fall in 1:21 over David Lassahn of New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva.
Franta kept his perfect record intact, improving to 36-0.
The No. 6-ranked Franta faced No. 4-rated Bryan Andrews of Martin County West in the title match.
Trailing 7-6 with 1:16 left in the final period, Franta scored a takedown with 45 seconds left to edge Andrews 8-7.
It’s the second time Franta has beaten Andrews this year. He won a close 9-7 decision to claim first place in the Dick Maher Invite last December.

United South Central's Dustin Dylla
“I knew it was going to be a tough match,” says Franta. “I have to give my coaches a lot of credit. They have put in a lot of time this season in getting us ready to compete.”
If qualifying for state for this time as a senior and trying to remain undefeated wasn’t pressure enough, Franta also had an added incentive.
“The whole family was here to watch. I just wanted to wrestle well and put on a good show,” he says. “It’s wild!”
Hanson and Johnson had a tougher time earning a trip to state. Both needed to win a true-second match; beating a wrestler who took third place and they had not yet wrestled.
Hanson pinned Dan Larson of Medford in 1:43, while Johnson registered a fall in 3:33 over Todd Erickson of New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva.

United South Central's Dylan Herman
For Hanson, it’s his second straight state appearance and the first for Johnson.
USC’s No. 5-ranked Dylan Herman also had a battle in his 112-pound championship match. Herman scored a takedown with 11 seconds left in the first-minute overtime period to beat No. 4-ranked Zach Kuhns of Maple River 4-2.
No. 7-rated Dustin Dylla had little trouble in the finals, winning an 11-2 major decision over NRHEG’s Jacob Staloch.
No. 10-rated heavyweight Tony Willette claimed first place with an upset 10-6 win over No.5-ranked Payten Crosby of Martin County West.
BEA results:

United South Central's Tony Willette
103: Alec Huber maj. dec. Bryce Flowers (St. Clair/Loyola), 9-0; Tyler Keller (Medford) tech. fall Huber, 15-0, 4:11; Huber pinned Jet Wayne (New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva), 2:45; Russell Caldwell pinned Huber, 2:17, for 3rd place.
112: Jordan Biehn (Jackson County Central) maj. dec. Jesse Alleven, 15-4; Alleven pinned Cameron Brown (Blooming Prairie), 2:33; Alleven dec. Tyler Logan, 3-1; Biehn (JCC) dec. Alleven, 6-4 in overtime, for 3rd place.
119: Travis Hagedorn dec. Jake Gonzalez (United South Central), 8-6; Dustin Esplan (NRHEG) dec. Hagedorn, 9-4; Hagedorn pinned Nick Von Ruden (Medford), 2:33; Eliot Jurries (JCC) tech. fall Hagedorn, 18-3, 5:29, for 3rd place.
125: Jake Wirtjes pinned Brock Burmeister (Martin County West), 3:28; Wirtjes pinned Keegan Moore (JCC), 4:37; Wirtjes pinned David Lassahn (NRHEG), 4:37, for 1st place.
130: Nathan Krohn (NRHEG) pinned Mike Ankeny, 1:51; Ankeny dec. Dane Elwood (Medford), 12-5; Badger Flowers (St. Clair/Loyola) pinned Ankeny, 1:53; Ben Johnson (USC) maj. dec. Ankeny, 16-4, for 5th place.
135: Brandon LeBlanc (NRHEG) maj. dec. Isaac Vasquez, 11-0; Vasquez pinned Dylan Prokopec (Blooming Prairie), 4:51; Seth Olson (USC) pinned Vasquez, 5:54; John Goebel (St. Clair/Loyola) dec. Vasquez, 7-3, for 5th place.
140: Dustin Dylla (USC) pinned Mitch Hieronimus, 2:53; Ben Johnson (St. Clair/Loyola) pinned Hieronimus, 2:58.
145: Cody Ripka (NRHEG) dec. Dylan Johnsrud, 10-4; Johnsrud pinned Gage Thom (St. Clair/Loyola), :20; Seth Barkosky (Maple River) pinned Johnsrud, 1:38; Logan Sonnek (USC) pinned Johnsrud, 5:25, for 5th place.
152: Joe Franta tech. fall Derek Kruse (St. Clair/Loyola), 20-5, 3:39; Franta dec. Bryan Andrews (MCW), 8-7, for 1st place.
160: Carter Hanson pinned Derek Drees (Blooming Prairie), :20; Hanson wins by injury default Scott Schoneck (MR); Cooper Moore pinned Hanson, 3:14, for 1st place; Hanson pinned Dan Larson (Medford), 1:43, for true 2nd place.
171: Levi Ringnell (Martin County West) dec. Devon Jahnke, 3-0; Jahnke pinned Adam Wanous (Blooming Prairie), 1:50; Pat Hanson (JCC) dec. Jahnke, 9-4; Matt Dahle (NRHEG) dec. Jahnke, 6-3, for 5th place.
189: Kysten Zierke dec. Jarrod Grunklee (Blooming Prairie), 10-8; Seth Petranek (NRHEG) dec. Zierke, 8-2; Zierke dec. Alec Schauer (Medford), 9-2; Alex Tewes (JCC) maj. dec. Zierke, 17-5, for 3rd place.
215: Josh Johnson dec. Blake Arret (Blooming Prairie), 9-2; Jordan Phibbs (JCC) dec. Johnson, 3-0, for 1st place; Johnson pinned Todd Erickson (NRHEG), 3:33, for true 2nd place.
285: Cody Root (NRHEG) dec. Martin Granados, 4-2; Brandon Pygman (JCC) pinned Granados, 4:43; Granados dec. Paul Sonnek (Maple River), 3-2, for 5th place.
USC results:
112: Dylan Herman pinned Cameron Brown (Blooming Prairie), 3:51; Herman pinned Jordan Biehn (JCC), 3:14; Herman dec. Zack Kuhns (Maple River), 4-2 OT, for 1st place.
119: Travis Hagedorn (BEA) dec. Jake Gonzalez, 8-6; Gonzalez tech. fall Tanner Lange (MCW), 22-5; Eliot Jurries (JCC) pinned Gonzalez, 5:51; Gonzalez pinned Nick Von Ruden (Medford), 4:39, for 5th place.
125: David Lassahn (NRHEG) dec. Derek Herman, 6-0; Herman pinned Keegan Moore (JCC), 3:01; Chance Offedahl (St. Clair Loyola) dec. Herman, 7-6, for 3rd place.
130: Seth Johnson (Blooming Prairie) pinned Ben Johnson, 1:26; Johnson dec. Dylan Dietz (Maple river), 9-2; Nathan Krohn (NRHEG) maj. dec. Johnson, 9-0; Johnson maj. dec. Mike Ankeny, 16-4, for 5th place.
135: Seth Olson dec. John Goebel (St. Clair/Loyola), 6-2; Bronson Steuber (JCC) tech. fall Olson, 16-0, 3:07; Olson pinned Isaac Vasquez (BEA) 5:54; Mitch Stoltzman (Maple River) pinned Olson, 1:12, for 3rd place.
140: Dustin Dylla pinned Mitch Hieronimus (BEA), 2:53; Dylla pinned Tyler Olson (Maple River), :51; Dylla maj. dec. Jacob Staloch (NRHEG), 11-2, for 1st place.
145: Darick Vancura (JCC) pinned Logan Sonnek, :48; Sonnek dec. Tyler Cozine (Blooming Prairie), 7-2; Cody Ripka (NRHEG) dec. Sonnek, 2-0; Sonnek pinned Johnsrud (BEA), 5:25, for 5th place.
152: No entry.
160: Scott Schoneck (Maple River) pinned Travis Brown, 1:40; Brown pinned Derek Drees (Blooming Prairie), :36; Dan Larson (Medford) pinned Brown, 2:41; Brown wins by injury default, for 5th place.
171: Colten Carlson pinned Adam Wanous (Blooming Prairie), 1:54; Levi Ringnell (MCW) maj. dec. Carlson, 8-0; Carlson pinned Matt Dahle (NRHEG), 3:43; Carlson tech. fall Pat Hanson (JCC), 20-4, 4:47, for 3rd place.
189: Brady Thisius pinned Alec Schauer (Medford), 3:24; Thisius dec. Alex Tewes (JCC), 5-2; Seth Petranek (NRHEG) dec. Thisius, 5-0, for 1st place.
215: No entry.
285: Tony Willette pinned Zach Nirk (Blooming Prairie), 1:35; Willette dec. Brandon Pygman (JCC), 6-4; Willette dec. Payten Crosby (MCW), 10-6, for 1st place.
- Blue Earth Area’s Jake Wirtjes
- Blue Earth Area’s Joe Franta
- United South Central’s Dustin Dylla
- United South Central’s Dylan Herman
- United South Central’s Tony Willette