3AA FINALIST — Martin County Red Bulls wrestler Gage Cyphers (left) tilts New Ulm Area opponent Dylen Carreon during 170-pound semifinal action during Tuesday night’s Section 3AA Individual Meet in Redwood Falls. Cyphers went on to post a 6-2 win to advance to the sectional finals. (Photo by Greg Abel)

REDWOOD FALLS — Seven members of the Class AA No. 3-ranked Martin County lineup stayed undefeated during Day 1 of the Section 3AA individual tournament Tuesday night in Redwood Falls, while four more Red Bulls are still competing in the wrestleback finals for third place.

“Our wrestlers are very focused, they are very aggressive and they are hungry for more,” Martin County head coach Adam Williamson said. “They have pushed themselves and each other to improve and be ready for these moments. Saturday will be extremely tough, but our guys will be ready and give it their all.”

Martin County’s No. 1-ranked 126-pounder Jaxson Rohman spent only 40 seconds on the mat to earn his spot in the championship.

After taking a first-round bye, Rohman matched up with United’s Zander Clausen in the semifinals, earning a slap of the mat in under a minute.

Rohman will face off against Morris Area/Hancock Area/Chokio-Alberta’s No. 3-ranked Ethan Lebrija, the No. 2-seeded 126-pounder, Saturday at Redwood Falls. Rohman enters the finals with a perfect record of 31-0, while Lebrija comes into the matchup with a record of 33-1.

The Red Bulls’ No. 7-ranked 120-pounder Jesse Potts earned a sudden-victory win to claim his finals spot.

Luverne’s Riley Cowell jumped ahead 5-0 in the first period against Potts. Potts then forced a two-point near-fall with Cowell in the down starting position, but Cowell reversed control to take a 7-2 lead.

Potts escaped control, then did it again out of the down starting position and took a stalling point before taking Cowell to the mat with 58 seconds remaining to force sudden-victory overtime, where Potts forced a takedown 27 seconds into the extra period.

Potts pinned Redwood Valley’s Lincoln Ourada in 1:31 to earn his spot in the semifinals. He will match up with New London-Spicer’s No. 2-ranked Ty Bisek in the 120-pound championship Saturday.

Martin County’s No. 3-ranked 138-pounder Lucas Jagodzinske pinned his way to the section championship, shoving Worthington’s Moo Bleh’s shoulders to the mat in 40 seconds, then earning a slap of the mat in 1:36 against New Ulm Area’s Wyatt Pollard.

Jagodzinske will face off with Marshall’s No. 10-ranked Tate Condezo in the 138-pound finals.

The Red Bulls’ No. 2-ranked 145-pounder Connor Simmonds earned his championship spot in similar fashion, forcing a fall over NUA’s Ryan Wiltscheck in 1:08, then another of New London-Spicer’s Brody Duke in 1:09.

Simmonds will match up with Worthington’s No. 2-seeded 145-pounder Damon Schutz in Saturday’s championship.

At 152 pounds, Martin County’s Carver Rohman worked his way to a spot in the finals.

Rohman shoved NUA’s Ty Frederick’s shoulders to the mat in 1:13 during opening-round action. He then earned a slap of the mat in 2:44 against Redwood Valley’s Brayden Reynolds. Rohman earned a matchup with Dawson-Boyd-Lac qui Parle United’s top-seeded Dain Mortenson in Saturday’s championship round.

The Red Bulls’ No. 4-ranked 160-pounder Blake Jagodzinske pinned his way to a championship matchup, shoving Luverne’s Maysn Smith’s shoulders down at the 1:22 mark of the opening round, then ending his matchup with NLS’ Reid Holmquist in 3:16 during semifinal action.

Blake Jagodzinske matches up with Worthington’s No. 2-seeded Jaden Hennings for the 160-pound section title.

The final Red Bull who will hit the mat for a chance at a section championship Saturday is Martin County’s 170-pounder Gage Cyphers.

Cyphers earned a slap of the mat in 31 seconds against United’s Nolan Kwilinski in opening-round action, then used two takedowns and a reversal to build a 6-2 decision over NUA’s Dylen Carreon during the semifinals.

Cyphers will face off with Redwood Valley’s top-seeded Matt Zeug in Saturday’s finals.

Four more Red Bulls will compete for third during Saturday’s individual action.

Martin County’s 106-pounder Rylan Cutler will look for bronze when he faces NUA’s Parker Kamm in wrestleback action.

Cutler started his first section individual tournament with a pin of MAHACA’s Tyce Anderson in 3:07, but matched up with Redwood Valley’s No. 2-ranked Carter Brandt in the second round.

Brandt built a 9-1 major decision to send Cutler to the wrestlebacks, where he faced NLS’ Isaiah Nelson, using four takedowns and a three-point near fall to come back from needing 1:30 of injury time and build an 11-2 major decision.

The Red Bulls’ No. 8-ranked 132-pounder Kain Sanders stayed alive in wrestleback action.

Sanders started his section individual tournament with a pin of NUA’s Marqavian Haefner in 3:20, but Marshall’s No. 5-ranked Dylan Louwagie built a 13-1 major decision to send Sanders to the wrestleback semifinals.

Sanders matched up with United’s Tyler Schickedanz, earning his second slap of the mat on the day when he ended the match at the 3:01 mark. Sanders will meet Haefner once again for the third-place match.

Martin County’s Wyatt Williamson will compete for third in the 182-pound bracket Saturday. Williamson used three takedowns and a three-point near fall to build a 9-1 opening-round major decision over MAHACA’s Asher Malek, but Worthington’s Kent Lais shoved Williamson’s shoulders to the mat in 52 seconds during semifinal action.

Williamson matched up with Marshall’s Kaidin Otto in the wrestleback semifinals, earning a slap of the mat in 3:05 to put him in the third-place matchup with Malek.

Max Olson will be the final Red Bull competing for third when he faces MAHACA’s Hunter Gibson on Saturday.

Olson recieved a first-round bye in the 195-pound bracket, then Worthington’s Tanner Hennings used a momentum shift to shove Olson’s shoulders to the mat in 3:14 during semifinal action.

Olson matched up with Redwood Valley’s Lane Evans in the wrestleback semifinals, earning a slap of the mat in 55 seconds.

Two Red Bulls ended their individual seasons Tuesday.

Cooper Steuber matched up with Marshall’s Drew Chandler in first-round action at 113 pounds, with Chandler shoving Steuber’s shoulders down in 5:32.

Steuber then beat Redwood Valley’s Gavin Brandt by a 9-3 decision before NUA’s Logan Lee used a second-period reversal to score the only points of a 2-0 decision in the wrestleback semifinals.

Alec Thompson faced off with NUA’s Julian Hernandez in the opening round of the 220-pound bracket, with Hernandez building a 6-1 decision.

Thompson then matched up with MAHACA’s Brock Marty in the wrestleback semifinals, with Marty shoving Thompson’s shoulders to the mat in 2:52.

Saturday’s Section 3AA individual action begins at 9 a.m. in Redwood Falls.