Zierke, Hanson, Phillips advance
Three Blue Earth Area wrestlers and five from United South Central finished in the top two spots to advance to the individual portion of the State Meet held March 1-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
The Bucs 195-pound Kysten Zierke took first place, while Carter Hanson and Gus Phillips took second at 160 and 170, respectively.
For USC, Colten Carlson took first place at 182 pounds and 138-pounder Derek Herman also won gold.
Placing second for the Rebels were Jacob Gonsalez at 120; Dylan Herman, 132; and Logan Sonnek, 220.
“It was an up and down day, like a rollercoaster. We were hoping to send five to State. The three that made it wrestled well,” says Buc head coach Randy Wirtjes.
The Class A No. 4-ranked Zierke needed to go into overtime to win his title.
Leading 1-0 with less than 30 seconds in the match, Tyler Olson of Maple River was awarded a penalty point t0 tie the score.
Zierke scored the winning takedown with 32 seconds left in the first one-minute overtime period.
“I was tired, but I’ve practiced all year and I knew what I had to do,” says Zierke.
“I was more defensive and waited for him to shoot first so I could counter and start pushing it,” he adds.
The Rebels No. 6-ranked Derek Herman and No. 6-ranked Carlson had easier times in their championship matches.
Herman pinned Dylan Boettcher of St. Clair/Loyola in 1 minute, 40 seconds, while Carlson pinned Tanner Menke of Jackson County Central in 1:52.
BEA’s Hanson needed to wrestle a “true second match” to gain his four straight trip to State.
The last three years, the No. 7-ranked Hanson has had to wrestle a third-place finisher to qualify for the state tournament.
So, when he lost in the finals and Nick Von Ruden of Medford won his third-place match there was some time to think about the matchup.
“It was probably the longest 45 minutes of my life. It’s not easy coming off a loss and a lot of things go through your mind,” says Hanson.
Assistant coach Tim Blagg has an idea of what it’s like wrestling a “true second match,” having been in three, himself.
Blagg knew exactly how to calm down the Buc senior standout – they went to the wrestling room and listened to “Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith.
“At this point it’s all mental. You have to chill out,” says Hanson. “It’s do or die and there’s no tomorrow. You either win or go home.”
Taking third for BEA were Mike Ankeny at 132; Jesse Alleven, 138; David Franta, 152; and No. 6-ranked Martin Granados, 285.
Finishing third for the Rebels was No. 4-ranked Dominic Alger at 106.
BEA results:
106: Cordell Peterson (New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva) dec. Zach Buseman, 9-2; Buseman dec. Dylan Rasmussen (St. Clair/Loyola), 6-1; Dalton Wagner (Jackson County Central) dec. Buseman, 9-7 OT; Derek Moore (Maple River) dec. Buseman, 6-0, for 5th place.
113: Dillon Kubiatowicz (NRHEG) pinned Camden Bowers, 3:47; Bowers pinned Noah Eissinger (Southland), 1:24; Adam Knutson (United South Central) pinned Bowers 3:20; Bowers pinned Nathan Miexner (Medford), :31, for 5th place.
120: Jacob Gonsalez (USC) pinned Matt Goodrich, 1:10; Goodrich pinned Prince Bade (Maple River), 1:58; Palmer Peterson (NRHEG) maj. dec. Goodrich, 16-6; Goodrich pinned Brody Carlson (Blooming Prairie), 2:49, for 5th place.
126: Bryce Flowers (St. Clair/Loyola) dec. Jordan Stelter, 4-3; Stelter tech fall Jet Wayne (NRHEG), 17-1, 6:00; Russell Caldwell (Maple River) dec. Stelter, 8-7; Stelter pinned Shawn Redman (USC), 3:00, for 5th place.
Three Blue Earth Area wrestlers and five from United South Central finished in the top two spots to advance to the individual portion of the State Meet held March 1-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
The Bucs 195-pound Kysten Zierke took first place, while Carter Hanson and Gus Phillips took second at 160 and 170, respectively.
For USC, Colten Carlson took first place at 182 pounds and 138-pounder Derek Herman also won gold.
Placing second for the Rebels were Jacob Gonsalez at 120; Dylan Herman, 132; and Logan Sonnek, 220.
“It was an up and down day, like a rollercoaster. We were hoping to send five to State. The three that made it wrestled well,” says Buc head coach Randy Wirtjes.
The Class A No. 4-ranked Zierke needed to go into overtime to win his title.
Leading 1-0 with less than 30 seconds in the match, Tyler Olson of Maple River was awarded a penalty point t0 tie the score.
Zierke scored the winning takedown with 32 seconds left in the first one-minute overtime period.
“I was tired, but I’ve practiced all year and I knew what I had to do,” says Zierke.
“I was more defensive and waited for him to shoot first so I could counter and start pushing it,” he adds.
The Rebels No. 6-ranked Derek Herman and No. 6-ranked Carlson had easier times in their championship matches.
Herman pinned Dylan Boettcher of St. Clair/Loyola in 1 minute, 40 seconds, while Carlson pinned Tanner Menke of Jackson County Central in 1:52.
BEA’s Hanson needed to wrestle a “true second match” to gain his four straight trip to State.
The last three years, the No. 7-ranked Hanson has had to wrestle a third-place finisher to qualify for the state tournament.
So, when he lost in the finals and Nick Von Ruden of Medford won his third-place match there was some time to think about the matchup.
“It was probably the longest 45 minutes of my life. It’s not easy coming off a loss and a lot of things go through your mind,” says Hanson.
Assistant coach Tim Blagg has an idea of what it’s like wrestling a “true second match,” having been in three, himself.
Blagg knew exactly how to calm down the Buc senior standout – they went to the wrestling room and listened to “Sweet Emotion” by Aerosmith.
“At this point it’s all mental. You have to chill out,” says Hanson. “It’s do or die and there’s no tomorrow. You either win or go home.”
Taking third for BEA were Mike Ankeny at 132; Jesse Alleven, 138; David Franta, 152; and No. 6-ranked Martin Granados, 285.
Finishing third for the Rebels was No. 4-ranked Dominic Alger at 106.
BEA results:
106: Cordell Peterson (New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva) dec. Zach Buseman, 9-2; Buseman dec. Dylan Rasmussen (St. Clair/Loyola), 6-1; Dalton Wagner (Jackson County Central) dec. Buseman, 9-7 OT; Derek Moore (Maple River) dec. Buseman, 6-0, for 5th place.
113: Dillon Kubiatowicz (NRHEG) pinned Camden Bowers, 3:47; Bowers pinned Noah Eissinger (Southland), 1:24; Adam Knutson (United South Central) pinned Bowers 3:20; Bowers pinned Nathan Miexner (Medford), :31, for 5th place.
120: Jacob Gonsalez (USC) pinned Matt Goodrich, 1:10; Goodrich pinned Prince Bade (Maple River), 1:58; Palmer Peterson (NRHEG) maj. dec. Goodrich, 16-6; Goodrich pinned Brody Carlson (Blooming Prairie), 2:49, for 5th place.
126: Bryce Flowers (St. Clair/Loyola) dec. Jordan Stelter, 4-3; Stelter tech fall Jet Wayne (NRHEG), 17-1, 6:00; Russell Caldwell (Maple River) dec. Stelter, 8-7; Stelter pinned Shawn Redman (USC), 3:00, for 5th place.
132: Dylan Herman pinned Ankeny (BEA), 1:23; Eliot Jurries dec. Herman, 8-2, for 1st place. Jurries is rated No. 1 and Herman No. 4.
138: Derek Herman pinned Nick Masso (Medford), 1:03; Herman pinned Allen Zimmerman (NRHEG), 1:57; Herman pinned Dylan Boettcher (St. Clair/Loyola), 1:40, for 1st place. Herman is ranked No. 6.
145: Tyler Logan (NRHEG) pinned Matt Harpestad, 2:57; Schavey (BEA) maj. dec. Harpestad, 13-0; Kyle Williamson (Blooming Prairie) dec. Harpestad, 9-4, for 5th place.
152: Kyle Schoneck (Maple River) dec. Seth Olson, 3-2; Franta (BEA) tech fall Olson, 20-5, 5:14; Olson maj. dec. Trey Hoppe (NRHEG), 9-1, for 5th place.
160: Andrew Beck (Maple River) pinned Cory Ehlert, 1:37; Luke Stephens (Southland) pinned Ehlert, :24.
170: Darick Vancura (JCC) pinned Travis Brown, :28; Trevor Grems (Medford) pinned Brown, :59. Vancura is rated No. 1.
182: Colten Carlson pinned Ramos (BEA), 3:42; Carlson pinned Tanner Menke (JCC), 1.:52, for 1st place. Carlson is rated No. 6.
195: Nate Guggisberg (JCC) pinned Isaac Hernandez, 1:59; Keith Maxon (NRHEG) pinned Hernandez, 1:34; Hernandez dec. Braden Reuter (Southland), 12-11, for 5th place.
220: Logan Sonnek pinned Tanner Hauser (St. Clair/Loyola), 1:48; Sonnek dec. Todd Erickson (NRHEG), 6-3; Nathan Elzen (Medford) dec. Sonnek, 9-4, for 1st place.
285: No entry.