Ochsendorf medals at State Tourney
Longhorns’ senior finishes fourth; other area wrestlers do not place
The Minnesota State High School Wrestling Tournament wrapped up on Saturday, March 4, and one local wrestler came home with a medal.
The Maple River/USC Longhorns’Cooper Ochsendorf finished in fourth place at 182 pounds in Class A. Four other local wrestlers, Kade Gaydon and Parker Meyers of Blue Earth Area, along with Wyatt Walters and Byron Getchell of MR/USC, did not finish in the top six and therefore did not medal.
Ochsendorf, who entered the tournament with 40-6 record, won his opening round match by a 6-2 decision over Quentin Wolf of Adrian Area, who came into the tournament with a record of 32 wins and nine losses.
Next, Ochsendorf, a senior, recorded an 8-3 decision over Jaxon Bartkowicz of Holdingford to advance to the semifinals.
Ochsendorf’s opponent in the semifinals was Kail Schott of Chatfield. Schott, who brought a 38-4 record to the tournament, was able to earn an 11-2 major decision victory over Ochsendorf to send the Longhorn wrestler into a match for third place against Peyton Hemmesch of Paynesville Area.
Hemmesch was able to pin Ochsendorf with 14 seconds left in the match, which left the Longhorn wrestler with the fourth-place medal.
Wyatt Walters of the Longhorns competed in the 113-pound category. He was defeated in the first round match 14-2 by Dominick Neisen of Mahnomen/Wauben.
Neisen lost his second round match which eliminated Walters from the tournament.
Gaydon and Getchell both competed at State in the 160-pound weight category.
DJ Rock of Luverne pinned Gaydon in the first round, but then lost his second-round match which eliminated Gaydon from further competition.
Getchell opened the tournament with a 3-2 decision over Trey Rossow of Jackson County Central.
However, in the quarterfinals, Getchell was defeated 4-1 by eventual champion Gaven Gust of Dover-Eyota, who began the day with a record of 49-2.
Now competing in the wrestlebacks, Getchell picked up a 3-1 victory over Hunter Laage of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa to remain in the tournament.
Next, Getchell faced Jevon Williams of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. The 40-4 Williams earned a 10-0 major decision over Getchell to end the Longhorn wrestler’s quest for a medal.
At 170 pounds, Meyers and Luke Bieniek of Holdingford battled to a tie at the end of regulation. Bieniek locked up the victory in the first extra period, winning 5-3.
Unfortunately for Meyers, Bieniek was beaten in the next round which eliminated Meyers from the tournament.
Earlier in the week, on Thursday, March 2, BEA’s Big South Conference rival, Jackson County Central, won the team portion of the Class A competition for the second consecutive year with a 43-19 triumph over Caledonia-Houston.
Medford, the Section 2A winner, finished in fifth place.