BARRING THE ARM — Martin County Red Bull wrestler Carver Rohman (top) bars the arm of Quad County’s Nolan Hildahl during 160-pound quarterfinal action at Saturday’s Section 3AA Individual Meet in Redwood Falls. Rohman went on to earn the sectional crown and a state berth. (Photo by Greg Abel)

REDWOOD FALLS — Five Martin County Red Bulls earned two more days of competing at this week’s Class AA state wrestling tournament at the Xcel Energy Center.

Rylan Cutler, Jesse Potts, Kain Sanders, Carver Rohman and Max Olson each struck gold during Saturday’s Section 3AA Meet to qualify for the individual state tournament Friday and Saturday in St. Paul.

“It’s the first time we’ve held the entire sectional meet on one day, so I’m glad we (coaching staff) focus a lot on overall conditioning,” said Red Bulls head coach Adam Williamson, whose lineup opens the Class AA state team meet against Watertown-Mayer at 9 a.m. Thursday. “It was a long day, but having nine guys place in the top three was very rewarding.”

Cutler became the first Red Bull to earn a spot on the individual canvas at the Xcel Energy Center by reeling off three consecutive falls to gain the 120-pound championship bout.

Cutler kicked off the day with a fall in 1:29 over New London-Spicer’s Caleb Nelson, earned the slap of the mat as time elapsed in the second period over New Ulm’s Elijah Rieser and downed Hutchinson’s Raydon Bipes in the semifinals in 2:51.

The Red Bulls’ sophomore standout then edged top-seeded 120-pounder Zander Clausen of United in the gold-medal bout by a 6-4 decision to earn his first individual state wrestling bid.

Potts improved his record to 45-0 by pinning his way into the 126-pound championship clash. Potts required a mere 28 seconds to dispose of Redwood Valley’s Austin Ourada in the quarterfinals before getting his hand raised after netting a fall in 3:05 over New Ulm’s Logan Lee in the semifinals.

The Red Bull senior stalwart then assembled a textbook 11-2 major decision over New London-Spicer’s Luke Ruter in the 126-pound gold-medal showdown to earn his second state individual appearance.

Sanders later displayed his point-producing skills by coasting to a 13-2 major decision over Hutchinson’s Luke Hoag during the 145-pound title bout to gain a state berth.

Sanders earned the slap of the canvas in 3:28 over Windom/Mountain Lake’s Eagan Maras to net a first-round fall before receiving an injury default during the quarterfinals. The Martin County senior sensation utilized a late reversal in the second period to fuel a hard-fought 6-3 semifinal decision over Morris Area/Hancock/Chokio-Alberta’s Caden Rose.

Rohman captured the 160-pound sectional crown on the strength of two falls and a pair of wide-margin major decisions to qualify for the individual state meet.

Rohman needed 32 seconds to dispose of Worthington’s Mason Schutz in the opening round before the Red Bull junior phenom posted a 19-6 quarterfinal major decision over Quad County’s Nolan Hildahl.

Rohman pressed New Ulm opponent Ryan Wiltscheck’s shoulders to the mat in 1:34 during semifinal action before coasting to an 18-7 major decision over United’s Avery Wittnebel in the gold-medal clash.

Olson then spent less time than a full 6-minute match on the Redwood Valley High School mats to amass three consecutive falls to garner the 220-pound championship.

The Red Bull junior strongman needed a mere 18 seconds to dispose of Windom/Mountain Lake’s Cyrus Bjorklund in the quarterfinals, downed Marshall’s Keiton Walerius in 58 ticks during their semifinal bout and dealt a loss to United’s Keaton Haas in the light heavyweight championship by earning the fall in 3:04.

Gage Cyphers and Aden Welcome each merited spots in the true-second challenge matches at 170 and 152, respectively, for the Red Bulls, while Taylor Austin and Wyatt Williamson joined their teammates on the third step of the medals podium on Saturday.

Cyphers put on a textbook clinic in posting a 12-0 major decision over MAHACA’s Noah Amundson in the quarterfinals before edging New London-Spicer’s Brody Duke by a 3-2 decision in the semifinals. After a scoreless opening period, Cyphers netted the second frame’s only point via an escape. The Red Bull junior, however, recorded the only takedown of the match during the third frame to earn the narrow win.

Marshall’s Tucker Fiene squeezed out a 5-3 win over Cyphers during the 170-pound gold-medal clash before Hutchinson’s Riley Gill shut out Cyphers in the true-second challenge match, 7-0, to close out the sectional.

Welcome took a different path to the 152-pound true-second challenge showdown on Saturday. Welcome opened with a fall in 1:42 over Windom/Mountain Lake’s Montgomery Bjorklund before downing Worthington’s Chase Byrne in the quarterfinals.

Marshall’s Tate Condezo then built a 10-0 lead over Welcome in the semifinals before netting a fall in 3:58 to send the Red Bull junior to the wrestlebacks.

Welcome battled back to edge Hutchinson’s Jay Rickertsen by a 9-7 decision before capturing third place by earning an 11-4 decision over MAHACA’s Hunter Massner.

Since Welcome and United’s Dain Mortenson, who lost to Condezo in the finals, had not tied up in the 152-pound bracket earlier in the day, the two locked up in a true-second challenge, with Mortenson getting the fall in 17 seconds to advance to state.

Austin and Wyatt Williamson earned bronze medals, but did not get the chance for a true-second challenge clash.

Austin upended Windom/Mountain Lake’s Caden Swoboda by an 8-2 quarterfinal decision at 138 before getting pinned by Hutchinson’s Treyton Card in the semifinals, 5:03.

Austin rolled to an 11-2 major decision over Redwood Valley’s Lincoln Ourada in the wrestlebacks before edging New Ulm’s Marqavion Haefner for third place, 6-4. Since Card placed second to MAHACA’s Davin Rose at 138, there was no true-second challenge available to Austin.

Wyatt Williamson needed only 1:29 to generate a fall over Redwood Valley’s Austin Altmann in the 182-pound quarterfinals before losing a 14-7 semifinal decision to Windom/Mountain Lake’s Micah Holmberg.

Williamson wasted no time in pinning Jasen Jansen of Quad County in 3:39 during wrestleback action before assembling a 15-0 technical fall over United’s Nolan Kwilinski in the third-place match. The Red Bulls junior did not get a true-second challenge since Holmberg had defeated him earlier.

Adam Williamson and Dusty Faber capped the sectional individual honors for the Red Bulls by being named as the Section 3AA head coach and assistant coach of the year, respectively.