×

Grapplers earn 5 medals at state meet

Red Bulls' Rohman, Steuber & Anderson capture runner-up honors in Class AA

ST. PAUL — Five area high school wrestlers exited the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul as state medalists on Saturday night.

Jaxson Rohman, Payton Anderson and Collin Steuber paced the area contingent by capturing runner-up accolades for the Fairmont/Martin County West Red Bulls, while Blue Earth Area teammates Zach Buseman and Cole Klinkner merited fourth- and sixth-place state medals, respectively, for their efforts during the two-day individual meet.

“You’ve got to be proud of how our area was represented at state this year,” said Fairmont/Martin County West head coach Adam Williamson. “We went up there hoping realistically to win a couple of matches each, but to have three kids place second at state is a pretty big accomplishment.”

The No. 2-ranked and No. 2-seeded Rohman earned his second state medal in as many years of qualifying for the elite event. The Red Bulls’ eighth-grade phenom, who placed sixth a year ago, posted a 9-5 semifinal victory over No. 3-seeded Nathan Garceau of Foley to reach the Class AA 106-pound championship match.

“I think Jaxson really proved that last year wasn’t a fluke and that he belongs up there,” said Williamson.

No. 1-ranked and top-seeded Matt Petersen of Byron, however, capped his perfect 39-0 senior campaign by outdueling Rohman (39-2) by a 3-1 decision in the gold-medal clash.

The No. 3-seeded and No. 6-ranked Steuber reached the 160-pound finals during his third trip to the state meet by generating a 7-2 semifinal victory over No. 2-seeded and No. 2-ranked Sakai Kelly of Henry Sibley.

Steuber (42-5), however, encountered top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Brady Berge of Kasson-Mantorville in the gold-medal match. Berge (45-0), who’s committed to wrestle for Penn State next season, closed out his prolific prep mat career by producing a 25-10 technical fall over Steuber.

“Berge’s an undefeated senior wrestler who’s competing at the Division I level next season, so just to stay on the mat with the guy is quite an accomplishment for Collin,” said Williamson.

Anderson (39-8) also delivered a silver medal for the Red Bulls’ trophy case by following two clutch victories on Friday with a rare semifinal bye on Saturday when South St. Paul opponent Antonio Cortez failed the final weigh-in.

No. 1-seeded and top-ranked Tucker Sjomeling (42-1), a senior from Delano, posted a 9-1 major decision over the Red Bulls’ freshman during the 132-pound championship match.

“I think the bye actually hurt Payton to some degree in the finals. He had to wait for almost 24 hours from his last match Friday to step on the mat for the title Saturday,” said Williamson. “We (coaching staff) had him work on some drills to get prepared, but it’s not the same as having an actual semifinal match.

“Ironically, Payton wasn’t even on our sectional squad last year, so that shows you how hard he worked in the offseason to get to this level. In fact, I think all of our wrestlers have taken a couple of steps forward in improving our program overall.”

Sophomore Zac Ringnell (34-7), who was ranked No. 10 at 126, rounded out the Red Bulls’ state effort by reaching Day 2 via a 1-1 record on Friday. Unfortunately for Ringnell, No. 7-ranked Ezra Kaping of Litchfield squeezed by him via a 5-3 overtime decision in the wrestlebacks to just miss the medal round.

No. 6-ranked 182-pounder Jesus Quintero (29-11) of Blue Earth Area matched Ringnell’s effort by compiling a Day 1 record of 1-1 to earn a spot in Saturday’s Class A wrestlebacks. Unfortunately for the Buc senior, No. 7-ranked Jacob Arends of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton edged Quintero by a 4-2 decision to fall just short of the medal round.

Buseman and Klinkner, however, earned state hardware for Blue Earth Area during Saturday’s final round in St. Paul.

The No. 2-ranked Buseman (40-7) lost a down-to-the-wire 3-2 semifinal decision to No. 6-ranked Keaton Long of West Central Area before rallying for a hard-fought 1-0 wrestleback win over No. 5-ranked and No. 4-seeded Matt Schindler of Eden Valley-Watkins to reach the 152-pound third-place bout. No. 1-ranked Kelby O’Reilly of Goodhue posted a 4-1 decision over Buseman during the Buc junior’s fourth state appearance to take the bronze medal.

Klinkner closed out his senior season with a 31-11 record en route to claiming sixth place in the Class A 145-pound bracket.

No. 4-ranked Maverick Jackson of Zumbrota-Mazeppa downed Klinkner in the semifinals, 6-1, before the Buc senior standout lost a 5-2 wrestleback decision to No. 7-ranked Chandler Mooney of Roseau. West Central Area’s No. 5-ranked Kaden Spindler then avenged his 8-2 quarterfinal loss to Klinkner by edging him by a 6-5 decision in the fifth-place match.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.65/week.

Subscribe Today