The Longhorns’ Braxton Simon is in complete control of his opponent from Medford. Simon won his match with a pin. The Longhorns will be wrestling in the Section 2AA Individual Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 24.

The season came to an end for both area wrestling teams last week. Both Blue Earth Area and Maple River/United South Central went down to defeat in their respective Section Tournaments.

However, individual wrestlers were set to compete on Saturday, Feb. 24, for the chance to qualify for the State Tournament which will be held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, on Feb. 29-March 2.

The team portion of the State Tournament will be held on Feb. 29. Individuals will begin their quest to become State Champions on March 1 and the championship rounds will be held on March 2.

Westfield 60, BEA 15

The Buccaneers of Blue Earth Area met the Westfield Razorbacks in the opening round of the Section 2A Tournament on Thursday, Feb. 15.

The host Razorbacks were the higher seed and they proved their seed was correct with a 60-15 triumph over the Bucs.

Westfield jumped out to a 6-0 lead on the strength of Bentley Miller’s pin of Cody Tolzmann in the 107-pound match.

Timmy Nagel brought the Bucs within one point of the Razorbacks when he scored a 15-0 technical fall over Derek Miner at 114 pounds.

Nagel scored an opening period takedown and tacked on two 3-point nearfalls before the first two minutes were done for an 8-0 lead heading into the second period.

A reversal and another near fall put Nagel on top 13-0 heading into the final period. Starting from the neutral position, Nagel needed just 18 seconds to secure a takedown and end the match.

Westfield took control of the contest by earning four consecutive falls.

Kevin Hodge pinned Logan Shelstad at 121 pounds, Jaxon Meier pinned Drake Engelby at 127, Bo Zwiener won by a fall over Wyatt Holland at 133 and Gage Mullenback put Colton Tolzmann’s shoulders to the mat at 139.

Trailing 30-5, BEA’s 145-pounder Cooper Peterson built up a 9-0 lead over Chase Kiser in the first period with a takedown, two 2-point near falls and a 3-point near fall. Peterson would go on to earn a 19-8 major decision and make the team score 30-9 in favor of Westfield.

At 152 pounds, David Clennon of the Razorbacks won by a fall over Ethan Oppedal.

Westfield’s Kael Steele added six more points to his team’s total when he pinned Tristan Tungland at 160 pounds. The Razorbacks’ lead was now 42-9.

Kade Gaydon recorded the final six points for the Bucs when he needed just 23 seconds to pin Chris Niemann in the 172-pound match.

Alex Lea made the score 48-15 in favor of the Razorbacks when he won the 189-pound match by pinning BEA’s Johnathan Nelson.

The score became 54-15 when the Bucs forfeited the 215-pound match.

Westfield’s final six points came in the 285-pound match when Wyatt Arndt won by a fall over Chase Gambell.

Westfield went on to win their semifinal match against Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 43-27.

In the match for the Section Championship, Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial earned the right to go to State with a 63-2 victory over Westfield.

MR/USC 53, Rockford 15

The Longhorns won their first-round match against the Rockford Rockets 53-13 to advance to the quarterfinal round of the Section 2AA Tournament.

The Longhorns’ Noah Gonzalez took a 7-1 lead over Isaac Staggeneyer in the first period on his way to a 15-2 major decision in the 107-pound match.

Leading 4-0, MR/USC increased its lead to 10-0 when Bebo Getchell won by a fall in 35 seconds over Hunter Fitch at 114 pounds.

The Rockets got on the board when Jesse Broen won by an 8-5 decision over Jace Ignaszewski at 121 pounds. MR/USC’s lead was now 10-3.

The score became 16-3 in favor of the Longhorns when Rockford forfeited the 127-pound match to Isaiah Gonzalez.

MR/USC increased their advantage to 20-3 with Brayden Mithun’s 9-1 major decision victory over Roman Morgan at 133 pounds.

Braxton Simon of the Longhorns received a forfeit at 139 pounds to make the score 26-3.

Waylon Simon’s close 9-8 decision over River Freshour at 145 pounds tacked on three more points to MR/USC’s score to put them on top 29-3.

The momentum continued for the Longhorns when Wyatt Walters won by a pin over Sage Tolsma at 152 pounds and Garrett Bollman received a forfeit at 160 pounds. Those two victories pushed MR/USC’s lead to 41-3.

Bradley Graunke tallied six points for the Rockets when he pinned Kolt Bullerman in the 172-pound match but the Longhorns’ Byron Getchell responded by pinning William Graunke at 189 pounds to make the score 47-9 in MR/USC’s favor.

The Longhorns scored their final six points when Max Fuller pinned Marcus Dietman with seven seconds to go in the 215-pound match.

Nathan Woodward added six more points to Rockford’s score when he pinned Dizel Butler at 285 pounds to make the final score 53-15 in the Longhorns’ favor and send them into the quarterfinal round against the Mound-Westonka White Hawks.

Mound Westonka 37,

MR/USC 24

The Longhorns tried but came up short in their bid to upset the Mound Westonka White Hawks in the quarterfinal round of the Section 2AA Tournament.

The score was tied 9-9 after the first four matches.

Noah Gonzalez won by a 5-2 decision over Deacon Ramthun at 107 pounds to give MR/USC a 3-0 lead.

The White Hawks made it 9-3 in their favor when Brady Kirkpatrick pinned Bebo Getchell at 114 pounds and Levi Hays won by a 3-2 decision over Jace Ignaszewski at 121 pounds.

Isaiah Gonzalez’s pin of Carson Crandall at 127 pounds knotted the score at 9-9.

The White Hawks took the lead for good when Cole Munsterteiger pinned Brayden Mithun at 133 pounds.

Shaun Peterson’s 9-4 decision over Gabe Brown at 139 pounds gave the Longhorns three more team points and narrowed Mound Westonka’s lead to 15-12.

Jack Nelson of the White Hawks won by a 12-2 major decision over Braxton Simon at 145 pounds to extend Mound Westonka’s advantage to 19-12.

In the 152-pound match, MR/USC’s Wyatt Walters built up an 8-4 lead before pinning Rafiqullah Tauhid in the second period to reduce the White Hawks’ lead to 19-18.

Mound Westonka picked up a win at 160 pounds when Cooper Rowe pinned Garrett Bollman. Then Eric von Holtz of the Whitehawks won by a 6-1 decision over Kolt Bullerman at 172 pounds. That made the score 28-18 in Mound Westonka’s favor.

The Longhorns’ Byron Getchell moved up a weight class to wrestle at 189 pounds and earned a fall in 49 seconds over Jace Dovokis to cut the Rebels’ deficit to four points at 28-24.

John Seemann secured the victory for the White Hawks when he pinned Max Fuller at 215 pounds. With one match yet to be decided, Mound Westonka was on top 34-24.

The White Hawks’ Phillip Pisarchuk won the final match by a 7-3 decision over Dizel Butler to make the final score 37-24.

Mound Westonka was defeated in the semifinal round 53-15 by Scott West. In the contest to determine the State qualifier, Watertown Mayer/Mayer Lutheran defeated Scott West 34-30.