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Area wrestlers prepped for state

ST. PAUL – Seeking No. 36.

Four of the area’s nine state-qualifying wrestlers will step onto the Xcel Energy Center’s canvas in St. Paul on Friday with 32 wins on their seasonal resumes.

With four consecutive victories spread over the two-day high school extravaganza, Fairmont/Martin County West’s Jaxson Rohman, Red Bulls teammate Collin Steuber, Blue Earth Area’s Jared Armon and/or Bucs teammate Zach Buseman can reach the above elusive mark and in the process, return home with an even more rare state championship.

“Between our six guys in the (Class) AA portion of the state individual meet, and Blue Earth Area’s three in (Class) A, I’d say our area of southern Minnesota is represented pretty well in St. Paul over the weekend,” said Red Bulls head coach Adam Williamson.

Rohman (32-6), a seventh-grade phenom, literally opens the Class AA individual state competition at 9 a.m. Friday on Mat 7 against Mahtomedi eighth-grader Reid Lawrence (14-23) during 106-pound preliminary action.

Rohman, the Section 3 champion, makes his varsity state debut at the No. 10 spot in the Guillotine’s latest poll.

The winner between Rohman and Lawrence faces either No. 4-ranked Charlie Pickell (36-2) of Mankato West or Benilde-St. Margaret’s Triston Zuniga (30-10) in Friday’s 4:30 p.m. championship quarterfinals.

No. 2-ranked Ben Naddy of Ottertail Central represents the only undefeated 106-pounder in Class AA with a 37-0 record, as the division does not feature a returning medalist.

Fairmont/MCW freshman Jordan Wolter (28-9) will follow Rohman to the Xcel Energy Center mats in the 113-pound bracket.

Wolter, who’s making his second straight state appearance, squares off against No. 1-ranked Garrett Vos (33-2) of Waconia in Friday’s preliminary round. Vos placed sixth at 106 at the 2015 state competition.

The path to the medals stand does not get any easier as the winner between Wolter and Vos will battle either No. 5-ranked Jared Johnson (32-9) or Kasson-Mantorville or unranked Kellen Schauer (35-7) of Grand Rapids in Friday’s 113-pound championship quarterfinals.

Worthington senior Hser Eh Pwae, the Section 3 champion, represents the bracket’s other returning medalist after netting sixth place at 106 a year ago. Pwae (35-1) faces South St. Paul’s Quinn Christoffersen (22-15) in their preliminary clash on Friday.

Freshman Zach Ringnell (23-8) represents the third consecutive Red Bull grappler to stampede to the canvas as he squares off against Beau Hunter (23-4) of Princeton/Carlton/Esko/Cloquet during 120-pound first-round action Friday.

The winner between first-time state entrant Ringnell and Hunter faces either No. 3-ranked Parker Huss (32-7) of Scott West or unranked Reed DeFrang (38-4) of Plainview-Elgin-Millville in the championship quarterfinals later in the day.

Huss, who placed fourth at state in 2015, joins top-ranked Jake Gliva (40-1) of Simley, who earned runner-up honors, and No. 4-ranked Ben Nelson (36-4) of Perham, who placed sixth a year ago, as the division’s three returning medalists.

Steuber (32-7) makes his second consecutive state appearance by locking up with No. 9-ranked Braydon Ortloff (27-7) of Detroit Lakes in the 138-pound Class AA preliminaries today.

The winner between Steuber – the Section 3 champion – and Ortloff then ties up with either No. 4-ranked Anthony Jackson (36-4) of Simley or unranked Brody Nielsen (30-7) of Albert Lea Area in Friday’s championship quarterfinals.

Jackson represents the weight bracket’s only returning state medalist after netting fourth at 126 in 2015.

Red Bulls’ senior Luis Figueroa (26-5) makes his second state appearance in the last three years against No. 2-ranked Joe Harrison (38-2) of Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus in a 195-pound preliminary clash in St. Paul.

Figueroa, the Section 3 champion, also qualified at 195 during the 2014 Class AA state individual meet.

The winner between Figueroa and Harrison will face either No. 7-ranked Zach Moon (36-6) of Simley or unranked Neil Hanson (25-9) of Milaca/Faith Christian in Friday afternoon’s championship quarterfinals at the Xcel Energy Center.

Top-ranked Noah Ryan (39-3) of Kasson-Mantorville is the bracket’s lone returning state medalist after pocketing fifth at 182 a year ago.

Red Bulls’ senior Mark Washa (27-11) rounds out the Class AA preliminaries against No. 7-ranked Casey Vesledahl (31-2) of Becker.

The winner between first-time state entrant Washa and Vesledahl will battle either No. 2-ranked Sam Anderson (18-2) of Totino-Grace or unranked Corey Guenther (32-5) of St. Paul Como Park in Friday’s heavyweight championship quarterfinals.

Anderson, who claimed fourth; No. 1-ranked James Huwe (38-1) of Detroit Lakes, who netted second; and No. 5-rated Josiah Schatz (11-1), who took fifth, top the bracket after reaching the podium in 2015.

In the Class A individual state competition starting at 1 p.m. Friday at the Xcel Energy Center, Blue Earth Area junior Cole Klinkner (29-8) takes on unranked Zach Schneider (17-5) of Caledonia in the 132-pound preliminaries.

If Section 2 champion Klinkner wins his state debut, he would face either No. 1-ranked Thomas Stageberg (30-1) of New London-Spicer or unranked Brady Tweeton (19-6) of Barnesville in Friday’s 6:30 p.m. championship quarterfinals.

No. 6-ranked Jacob Tvinnereim (34-6) of Jackson County Central and No. 2-ranked Brandon Ortman (35-3) of Pierz return to state after each medalled sixth at 113 and 120, respectively, a year ago.

Buseman (32-10) faces unranked Brendon Coyer (33-5) of Osakis during his third trip in a row to the state individual competition.

Buseman qualified at 113 during the 2014 state meet, while netting a spot in the 132-pound bracket a year ago.

A Buseman victory would pit the Blue Earth Area sophomore against either No. 4-ranked Kyle Hennen (25-1) of Minneota or unranked Tyler Bare (27-12) of Aitkin in the 138-pound championship quarterfinals on Friday night.

Hennen captured third at 126 in 2015, and will be joined by returning medalists Coyer, Ryan Keach (34-6) of Dover-Eyota, Jake Mandt (27-3) of Chatfield and Grant Jepson (35-1) of Frazee in the deeply-talented 138-pound bracket.

Coyer placed fifth at 126 a year ago, the No. 2-ranked Keach was the runner-up at 138, the No. 1-rated Mandt finished fifth at 138, while Jepson pocketed sixth at 132.

Armon (32-8) makes his stately debut against unranked Jake Worms (32-5) of Mahnomen/Waubun in the 195-pound Class A prelimins.

The winner between Armon and Worms will clash with either No. 2-ranked Jonah Lange (32-0) of Frazee or No. 9-rated Reid Seelhammer (29-8) of Dover-Eyota in Friday night’s championship quarterfinals in St. Paul.

Lange represents the lone returning state medalist in the bracket after garnering sixth at 182 in 2015.

The Class A, AA and AAA consolation individual bracket starts at 9:30 a.m. Saturday back at the Xcel Energy Center, with all three classes of championship semifinals hitting the mats at 10:45 p.m. that day.

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