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Five Buc wrestlers qualify for state

BLUE EARTH — Blue Earth Area senior wrestler Jared Armon experienced a positive premonition when he awoke Saturday morning.

“Jared told me he had a good feeling about his chances of winning the (195-pound) section championship,” Ted Armon, Jared’s father, said prior to the Section 2A individual grappling competition in Blue Earth.

Eight hours later, Jared Armon’s skills, strength and endurance had transformed his subconscious feelings into three consecutive victories and a sectional gold medal on Saturday.

Armon and senior teammate Cole Klinkner, who pocketed the 145-pound sectional crown, merited their second consecutive Class A individual state bids, and will have company at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Friday.

Blue Earth Area freshman Caden Ochsendorf claimed his first state appearance by netting second place outright at 120 pounds, while junior 152-pounder Zach Buseman and senior 182-pounder Jesus Quintero fended off true-second challenges to punch their tickets to the Xcel Energy Center. Buseman earned his fourth state appearance, while Quintero pocketed his first trip to St. Paul.

“I’m extremely proud of all of our guys for all of the hard work they’ve put into this sport this season,” said Blue Earth Area mentor Randy Wirtjes. “You especially feel good for a guy like Jesus qualifying for state. After he lost two full wrestling years due to injuries, it’s awesome to see him finally get to state. He put in his time in the wrestling room and his hard work paid off today.”

Quintero, who holds the No. 6 spot at 182 in the latest Class A state rankings, pinned United South Central’s Masyn Elvebak in 3:30 in his quarterfinal match before posting a 4-0 semifinal decision over Westfield’s Tristan Rieken.

No. 2-ranked Noah Decker of Maple River recorded the lone point — a second-period escape — against Quintero in the championship bout to create a true-second challenge match.

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial’s Garrett Gilman, who claimed a 3-1 third-place decision over Kenyon-Wanamingo’s Peyton Hilke, and Quintero battled to a scoreless opening period before Gilman netted a second-period escape. Quintero countered with a third-frame escape before taking down Gilman for a 3-1 victory and a state bid.

Somewhat similar to Quintero’s plight, the No. 5-ranked Armon fought back from injuries during the early portion of this campaign to earn a spot in the Class A individual state meet.

Ironically, Armon achieved a ‘first’ in his outstanding prep wrestling career on Saturday.

“I’ve never won a tournament championship in my home gym as a varsity wrestler,” said Armon, who suffered a rib injury in this season’s Maher Invitational in Dec. 3 in Blue Earth and placed second in the elite invite as a junior. He also placed second at the 2016 Section 2 individual meet at 195 in Blue Earth.

Armon corrected that quandary by opening Saturday’s sectional competition with a fall over New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva’s Alex Buckmeier in 1:25 before coasting to a 4-0 semifinal decision over Westfield’s Dylan Nirk.

Armon recorded a takedown and earned two near-fall points to build a 4-0 first-period lead over K-W’s Logan Quam in the 195-pound championship clash. After holding Quam down for the entire scoreless second frame, Armon tilted Quam for two more back points from the ‘up’ position during the third period to post the 6-0 victory.

“It feels good to finally win one here,” said Armon.

Cole Klinkner, who’s actually ranked No. 6 at 138 pounds, moved to the 145-pound bracket on Saturday and made a near-flawless transition in striking sectional gold.

Klinkner disposed of St. Clair/Mankato Loyola’s Gage Baker in 4:32 in quarterfinal action before pinning USC’s Keenan Biddle with one second remaining in their semifinal’s opening period.

Oddly, Klinkner actually trailed K-W’s Nathan Bauer in the championship clash, 5-0, after one completed period before the Buc senior standout went on the offensive and took Bauer to his back to open the second period. Klinkner earned his second state bid by pinning Bauer in 3:04.

Buseman then earned his fourth state individual berth by recording the only takedown of the first period and a second-period escape to shut out NRHEG’s Cole Staloch by a 3-0 decision in the 152-pound true-second match.

Buseman pinned his way to the championship match, downing LCWM’s Avery Northquest in 1:07 in the quarterfinals and Le Sueur-Henderson’s Trevor Block in the semifinals in 4:48.

The No. 3-ranked Tyler Ryan of K-W transformed a pivotal five-point move in the opening period into an eventual 6-1 triumph over the No. 2-ranked Buseman in the 152-pound finals.

Ochsendorf merited his state debut by generating a fall over LCWM’s Brennen Magers in 3:56 in their 120-pound sectional quarterfinal before earning the slap of the canvas in 5:21 over Maple River’s Reise Hanson in the semifinals.

LSH’s Jorge Hernandez outpointed the No. 10-ranked Ochsendorf in the 120-pound sectional showdown, 9-6, on the strength of a 6-2 first-period lead. Both grapplers exchanged reversals in the second frame before Ochsendorf tallied a third-period reversal before allowing Hernandez to escape.

Ochsendorf earned the second sectional spot to state when Hanson pinned Westfield’s Riley Schultz in 4:56 to collect third place. Ochsendorf’s semifinal win over Hanson denied the Maple River junior of a true-second challenge.

Max Ehrich (113), Wyatt Tungland (170) and heavyweight Trevor Oppedal each earned bronze medals for Blue Earth Area during Section 2A individual action Saturday.

Ehrich pinned St. Clair/Loyola’s Jack Klinder in 3:39 in the quarterfinals before getting pinned by No. 1-ranked 113-pounder Jeron Matson of K-W in 42 seconds in semifinal action.

Ehrich displayed his mettle by pinning NRHEG’s Andrew Bailey in 2:30 in the wrestlebacks before earning the slap of the mat in 1:13 over Westfield’s Wyatt Brennan in the third-place match.

Tungland opened the meet with a first-round bye before losing a hard-fought 11-7 semifinal decision to No. 6-ranked Jeremiah Colon of LCWM.

Tungland showed his resiliency by rolling up a 16-6 major decision over LSH’s Tucker Colling in 170-pound wrestleback action before outdueling K-W’s Matthew Houglum in the third-place clash, 7-4.

The 6-foot-8 Oppedal flattened NRHEG’s Quinten Arndt in 3:28 during quarterfinal action before getting pinned by K-W’s Jesse Jackson in the semifinals in 1:29.

The Blue Earth Area junior heavyweight rallied for a fall in 2:49 over USC’s Ethan Morales in wrestleback action before edging Maple River’s Connor Thorn for third place, 5-1.

Jordan Huse claimed fourth place at 220, Dalton Nagel netted fourth at 132, Jaxon Klinkner posted a fifth-place showing at 138, while Davis Sunken (106) and Koby Nagel (126) captured sixth-place medals for Blue Earth Area.

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Section 3A Meet

Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther senior Jordan Osborne captured second-place honors during Saturday’s Section 3A individual wrestling meet in Jackson to qualify for the state tournament.

Osborne, who holds the No. 8 spot at 182 pounds in the final Class A state rankings of the regular season, opens individual state competition at 9 a.m. Friday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Osborne opened the sectional quarterfinals by pinning Canby’s Anthony Nemitz in 1:53 before posting a 6-1 decision over Windom/Mountain Lake’s Jacob Suess in the 182-pound semifinals.

Minneota’s Alec Bueltel, who’s ranked No. 5 at 170, proved his mettle by pinning Osborne in 5:29 during the championship match to earn a Class A individual state bid. Osborne averted a true-second challenge since he had already defeated Suess, who pinned Pipestone’s Steven Czech for third place.

Bueltel pinned his way to the gold medal, needing only 40 seconds to dispose of St. James Area’s Peyton Engelking in the quarterfinals before pinning Jackson County Central’s Eli Edlin in 1:25 in the semifinals.

MTML heavyweight Derek Firchau just missed advancing to the state meet during Saturday’s sectional competition in Jackson.

Firchau received a first-round bye in the five-wrestler bracket before Canby’s Josh Hansen pinned him in the semifinals in 3:44. Firchau then coasted to a 19-4 technical fall over Adrian Area’s Scot Edwards in wrestleback action before needing only 51 seconds to flatten Pipestone’s Dylan Arndt for third place.

Minneota’s Trent Esping edged Hansen by a 3-2 decision to win the 285-pound sectional bracket, therefore, preventing Firchau a true-second challenge.

Gach Mar (113), William Castro (138) and Grant Koehler (152) each placed sixth for MTML during the Section 3A individual competition Saturday in Jackson.

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