‘XCELLING’ — Members of the Martin County Red Bulls wrestling program opening the Class AA state team meet quarterfinals against Watertown-Mayer at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul include, front row (l-r): Kole Hanson, Taylor Austin, Torrey Paplow, Pierce Rohman, Rylan Cutler, Gage Cyphers, Berent Kosbab, Nathan Maldonado and assistant coach Derek Sanders. Second row: Statistician/manager Lilly Krogman-Gibson, statistician/manager Paige Anderson, Maddex Faber, Joseph Forsberg, Brice Enter, Kain Sanders, Aden Welcome, Jesse Potts, Cooper Steuber and assistant coach Adam Schorn. Third row: Assistant coach Brandon Greiner, Wyatt Williamson, Carver Rohman, Riley Allen and assistant coach Dusty Faber. Back row: Assistant coach Mike Steuber, Max Olson, David Miller, head coach Adam Williamson and Alec Thompson. (Photo by Greg Abel)

ST. PAUL — The Martin County Red Bulls hope to continue their mathematical pattern of success during Thursday’s 9 a.m. Class AA state team wrestling quarterfinal against the Watertown-Mayer Royals at the Xcel Energy Center.

The Red Bulls, a co-operative program between Martin County West and Fairmont High Schools, will make their fourth state appearance in the last five seasons, highlighted by second-place showings in the last two even-numbered years — 2018 and 2020.

“We’re happy with our draw in the first round. Watertown-Mayer’s a quality opponent, and I thought fifth was probably the best we could do from a seeding process perspective,” said Martin County head coach Adam Williamson, whose program finished the regular season ranked No. 7. “Our guys believe we can compete strongly with them, and that’s what we’re focusing on going into state.

“If we move forward with a win, we’ll take it as it comes.”

If the No. 5-seeded Red Bulls (26-1) outpoint No. 4-seeded Watertown-Mayer in the team quarterfinals, they would most likely square off with a familiar foe in the No. 1-ranked, No. 1-seeded and three-time defending Class AA state champion Simley Spartans in a 1 p.m. championship semifinal clash at the Xcel Energy Center later Thursday.

“Simley is definitely No. 1 for a reason — they have an impressive track record,” Williamson said in reference the Spartans, who are making their 27th overall state team appearance, highlighted by 14 Class AA championships.

Simley squares off against unseeded Totino-Grace, No. 2-seeded Kasson-Mantorville ties up with unseeded Mora and No. 3-seeded Becker clashes with unseeded Thief River Falls — all 9 a.m. quarterfinals on Thursday.

The consolation semifinals are scheduled for 11 a.m., the third-place and consolation finals will return to the mats in St. Paul at 5 p.m., while the Class AA state championship dual meet is set for 7 p.m. at the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.

“Each year is a different group of wrestlers and each team is unique. As coaches, we have to feel out what they need to motivate them and how hard to push them so that we’re at the best efficiency at this time of the season,” said Williamson. “Beside taking care of bumps and bruises here and there, we’re conditioned as best as we can be at this point. We’re working on perfecting our technique and keeping them focused on the task at hand.

“I think one of our advantages is we’ve got a number of kids who have been a part of the state experience and are not overwhelmed by stepping onto the floor at the Xcel Energy Center.”

The Red Bulls’ three state-ranked grapplers — No. 3 126-pounder Jesse Potts, No. 5 145-pounder Kain Sanders and No. 4 220-pounder Max Olson — all have been a part of the program’s previous state qualifiers.

“We’re leaning on them to be our ‘go-to’ guys for leadership in St. Paul,” said Williamson. “Cooper Steuber, Aden Welcome and Joseph Forsberg also have been part of that (state) atmosphere, and of course, we also have two sectional champions in Carver Rohman and Rylan Cutler to add to the mix in leading the charge at the Xcel Energy Center.”

The Red Bulls will face six state-ranked opponents when they hit the canvas against Watertown-Mayer at 9 a.m. Thursday. Titan Friedrichs holds the No. 5 spot at 106 pounds for the Royals, Bryce Burkett is No. 2 at 160, Tanner Burmeister enters at No. 8 at 182, Jackson Drahos holds down No. 9 at 195, Ashton Congdon moved a spot to No. 8 at 220, while Hunter Stein rounds out the elite core ranked No. 9 at heavyweight.

Simley’s top-ranked roster features 10 ranked grapplers, including No. 1s in Brandon Morvari (113), Chase DeBlaere (132) and Gavin Nelson (220) to complement No. 2-ranked Soren Herzog at 195.

In the opposite half of the quarterfinals, Kasson-Mantorville boasts eight in the final Guillotine poll, including three top-ranked grapplers in Logan Vaughan (152), Cole Glazier (170) and Bennett Berge (195), in addition to No. 2-ranked 182-pounder Kail Wynia.

“It’ll be a long day on Thursday, but I think we’re up to the challenge,” said Williamson.

Cutler, Potts, Sanders, Rohman and Olson — along with Blue Earth Area’s Adam Schavey, Kean Hicks and Cory Kitchel — will comprise the area’s contingency competing in the Class AA and A individual state tournaments starting at 9 a.m. both Friday and Saturday at the St. Paul-based facility.

In the Class A individual meet, Hicks will lead off the Bucs’ back-to-back-to-back trio’s efforts by facing No. 10-ranked Ethan Waage of Badger-Greenbush-Middle River in a 170-pound first-round match. Hicks, a senior, pits his 31-6 seasonal record against Waage, a senior who sports a near mirror-image mark of 31-5.

The winner between Hicks and Waage will battle either No. 2-ranked Jonah Gruenes (37-1) of Minneota or No. 4-ranked Collin Boese (38-8) of Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted in a quarterfinal clash.

No. 1-ranked Kimball Area senior Ashton Hanan (28-3) will lock up with No. 8-ranked Matthew Haley (39-8) of Jackson County Central in the top half of the 170-pound Class A bracket.

Adam Schavey, a senior who captured the Section 2 gold medal at 182, opens the individual state competition against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville junior Tate Twardowski. Schavey enters the 16-grappler bracket with a 33-9 record, while Twardowski is nearly identical with a 33-10 mark.

The winner between Schavey and Twardowski will tangle with either No. 2-ranked Grady Schott (37-1) of Chatfield or unranked Beau Robinson (29-12) of West Central Area in the quarterfinals.

No. 3-ranked Caleb Vancura (44-4) of Jackson County Central will clash with unranked Hunter Novitzki (26-17) of Royalton/Upsala in the 182-pound half opposite of Schavey. Ironically, in Schavey’s portion of the bracket, Badger-Greenbush-Middle River senior Caleb Vacura — not to be confused with JCC’s grappler — is ranked fourth and sports a 38-3 record.

Cory Kitchel will be the final Buc to step on the mat during Friday’s Class A first-round matches when he faces No. 4-ranked William Freking of Jackson County Central in the 195-pound division. Kitchel, a sophomore, sports a 19-13 mark, while Freking enters with a 38-10 record.

Defending Class A state champion and top-ranked Thomas Dineen, who’s a perfect 43-0, will face No. 6-ranked Sam Harren of Holdingford in the same half of the 195-pound bracket as Kitchel and Freking.

In the Class AA individual state meet, Rylan Cutler will lead off the Red Bulls’ five qualifiers by going toe-to-toe with No. 7-ranked Noah Gindele of Annandale/Maple River in an opening-round 120-pound match on Friday at the Xcel Energy Center. Cutler, a sophomore, carries a 34-6 record into his state debut, while Gindele — a junior — sports a similar mark of 36-4.

The winner between Cutler and Gindele will likely face No. 1-ranked Matt Randolph (39-2) of Scott West in the quarterfinals.

In the opposite side of the Class AA 120-pound bracket, No. 2-ranked Mound-Westonka sophomore Jack Nelson (41-3) appears to be a top contender after capturing the 106-pound state crown a year ago.

The Red Bulls’ No. 3-ranked Jesse Potts will carry a perfect 45-0 record into his Class AA 126-pound first-round clash with No. 8-ranked J.J. Salas (30-10) of Simley. Potts will be making the second individual state appearance of his esteemed prep wrestling career after qualifying as a sophomore two seasons ago.

No. 1-ranked Christian Noble (45-1) of Big Lake will represent a challenge for Potts’ side of the bracket after capturing the 120-pound state championship in 2021.

Moving to 145 pounds, Martin County’s No. 5-ranked Kain Sanders will put his 44-5 record on the line against unranked Harold Born (25-16) of St. Peter.

No. 1-ranked Maxwell Peterson, a senior at Byron High School, sports a perfect 46-0 record and will be one of the top challengers in the Sanders-Born side of the 145-pound bracket.

Martin County junior Carver Rohman will look to collect his 42nd win out of 48 matches when he locks up with No. 3-ranked Brandt Bombard (25-3) of North Branch in Friday’s 160-pound opener.

No. 1-ranked Jude Link (30-3) of Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield will represent one of the Class AA 160-pound bracket’s top challengers during the two-day individual event.

The Red Bulls’ No. 4-ranked Max Olson (41-3) will lock up with unranked Ian Larrabee (21-11) of Hibbing in their 220-pound opening-round match.

No. 1-ranked and defending 220-pound state champion Gavin Nelson (47-2) will be the top challenger on the side of the bracket opposite of Olson and Larrabee.