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5 wrestlers perfect at state meet

ST. PAUL — Five of the area’s 10 state-qualifying wrestlers proved perfect on the Xcel Energy Center mats during Day 1 of the Class A and AA state tournament in St. Paul.

Blue Earth Area’s Cole Klinkner and Zach Buseman earned back-to-back spots in today’s Class A state semifinals at 145 and 152 pounds, respectively, while the Fairmont/Martin County West Red Bulls’ trio of Jaxson Rohman (106), Payton Anderson (132) and Collin Steuber (160) remain undefeated heading into Day 2 of the Class AA meet.

In fact, due to a rare forfeit by South St. Paul semifinalist Antonio Cortez – who did not make 132 during a weigh-in later Friday, Anderson already has earned a spot in the state championship match.

The unranked Red Bulls’ 132-pounder marched into the semifinals by first upending No. 2-seeded and No. 2-ranked Reed DeFrang of Plainview-Elgin-Millville in the preliminaries by a 6-3 decision before besting No. 10-ranked Nic Fite of Fridley in the quarterfinals, 7-2.

Trailing 2-0 to DeFrang, Anderson utilized a cradle to score three near-fall points from the ‘top’ position during the second frame before being awarded a penalty point. Anderson then reversed DeFrang to open the third period before allowing a late escape.

After trading a takedown and a reversal with Fite in the opening frame, Anderson produced a late escape to carry a 3-2 lead into the second period. Anderson then reversed Fite for the only two points of the middle segment before recording the lone takedown in the third.

Anderson (39-7) awaits the winner between Delano’s Tucker Sjomeling (40-1) and Scott West’s Tyler Shackle (32-12) in today’s Class AA 132-pound finals at 6:30 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center.

Rohman and Steuber will look to join Anderson in the gold-medal round tonight. The No. 2-ranked and No. 2-seeded Rohman opened Friday by assembling a textbook clinic en route to a 19-4 technical fall over Hibbing’s Francis Fuenffinger in the preliminaries. Rohman exchanged takedowns and escapes with Fuenffinger to build a 9-2 first-period lead before registering a second-period reversal. Rohman closed out the technical fall by piling up three more takedowns and a two-point near-fall in the third period.

The Red Bulls’ eighth-grade phenom then erased a 5-0 first-period deficit by executing the takedown-and-release strategy to close the gap to 7-6 to Simley’s Cael Berg in the 106-pound quarterfinals. Rohman later escaped from the ‘down’ position to open the third frame and netted the match-winning takedown for the 9-7 victory.

Rohman (38-1) faces No. 3-seeded and No. 3-ranked Nathan Garceau of Foley in today’s semifinals, while the No. 6-ranked Steuber (41-4) squares off against No. 2-seeded and No. 2-ranked Sakai Kelly of Henry Sibley in the 160-pound semifinals.

Steuber opened Friday by erasing a 2-1 first-period deficit and 4-3 second-period gap to Watertown-Mayer’s Corey Jobe by recording a third-period escape, followed by a pivotal takedown with 10 seconds remaining. Steuber then dispatched Plainview-Elgin-Millville’s Dustin Dittrich by a 9-5 quarterfinal decision.

In Class A action, Klinkner produced his 145-pound preliminary match’s only takedown of the opening period against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg’s Caleb Collins before locking up in a scoreless second segment. The Blue Earth Area senior standout then notched a third-period escape to earn the 3-0 win.

Klinkner then disposed of No. 2-seeded and No. 5-ranked Kaden Spindler of West Central Area in the quarterfinals by an 8-2 decision.

The No. 6-ranked Klinkner (31-8) squares off against Zumbrota-Mazeppa’s Maverick Jackson (36-8), who’s ranked No. 4, in today’s Class A 145-pound state semifinal, while the No. 2-ranked Buseman (39-5) battles West Central Area’s Keaton Long in today’s 152-pound semifinal clash.

Buseman built a quick 5-0 lead over Preston Desrosier in his preliminary match before pinning the Crookston senior in 1:03 to advance to the quarterfinals. The four-time Blue Earth Area state qualifier then edged Blackduck-Cass Lake-Bena’s Ian Frenzel by a 3-0 decision to remain perfect after Day 1.

In today’s 9 a.m. wrestlebacks, Fairmont/Martin County West 126-pounder Zac Ringnell and Blue Earth Area 182-pounder Jesus Quintero remain in contention for a medal.

Ringnell lost a hard-fought 10-5 preliminary decision to Grand Rapids’ Josh Holm before bouncing back to coast to a 16-0 technical fall over Orono’s Henry Beck in the consolation bracket. Ringnell (34-6) faces Litchfield’s Ezra Kaping in today’s 126-pound wrestleback match. Quintero faces Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton’s Jacob Arends in today’s Class A 182-pound showdown.

Quintero lost a narrow 6-3 preliminary decision to No. 5-ranked Alec Bueltel of Minneota before edging Holdingford’s Nolan Prokott by a 3-2 decision to remain in contention to reach the medal stand.

Unfortunately for Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther senior Jordan Osborne, he was eliminated via two losses during 182-pound Class A action. New London-Spicer’s Josh Soine pinned Osborne in preliminary action in 1:58 before Caledonia’s Austin Werner bested Osborne, 8-6.

Blue Earth Area 195-pound senior Jared Armon and freshman 120-pounder Caden Ochsendorf also were eliminated after Day 1 at St. Paul. No. 2-seeded and No. 1-ranked Mark Buringa of St. Charles posted a 12-3 preliminary major decision over Ochsendorf before Osakis’ Seth Johnson squeezed by the Buc 120-pounder in the wrestlebacks, 6-4.

Badger-Greenbush-Middle River’s Dominik Vacura pinned Armon in 5:28 during their preliminary bout before Armon was eliminated when Vacura lost a 7-0 quarterfinal decision to Zumbrota-Mazeppa’s Jacob Bennett.

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