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No. 10 Red Bulls place 8 individuals to net 3rd at East Invite

MANKATO — Eight Martin County wrestlers placed individually to steer the Class AA No. 10-ranked Red Bulls to a third-place showing during the 12-team Mankato East Invitational on Saturday in Mankato.

Class AA No. 5-ranked Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran generated 192 points to capture the team championship, Class AAA No. 2-ranked Waconia scored 163 to pocket runner-up honors, while the Red Bulls took third place with 137.

Aden Welcome won the 145-pound gold medal for the Red Bulls, while No. 4-ranked 160-pounder Carver Rohman, No. 4-rated 220-pounder Max Olson and Maddex Faber (113) contributed second-place finishes to the bronze-medal team showing.

Pierce Rohman (106), Riley Cole (138) and Taylor Austin (152) each garnered third-place showings, respectively, while 170-pounder Gage Cyphers netted fifth place.

Welcome needed a mere 21 seconds to pin Cretin-Derham Hall’s Isaac Andrzejek in their opening match before the Martin County senior earned a 9-1 major decision over Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran’s Steven Duske in the semifinals.

Welcome then improved his seasonal record to 27-4 by pinning Mankato West’s Shafer Ehmke in 1:15 in the 145-pound championship clash.

Rohman kicked off his path to the 160-pound finals by generating back-to-back falls. The Red Bull senior earned the slap of the canvas in 2:19 over WMML’s Benjamin Baumann in first-round action before flattening Waconia’s Wil Goldschmidt in 1:58 during their semifinal bout.

Class AA No. 7-ranked 160-pounder Damian Riewe of Mankato West then edged Rohman by a 5-3 decision to earn the gold medal.

Rohman experienced his first loss of the season, but still holds a 34-1 mark.

Riewe also upended Class AA No. 6-ranked Tate Condezo of Marshall by a 3-1 overtime decision during the 160-pound semifinals.

Olson opened his tournament by receiving a first-round bye before needing just 33 seconds to dispose of Marshall’s Gavin Schaefer in the semifinals.

Class AAA No. 1-ranked 220-pounder Alex Riley of Waconia then outdueled Olson for the weight bracket’s gold medal on the strength of a 16-10 decision.

Faber rounded out the Red Bulls’ trio of second-place finishers during 113-pound action.

The Martin County eighth-grader pinned Waconia’s Preston Graf in 3:33 during their opener before Faber did not surrender a point by besting Mankato West’s Robert Wicks by an 8-0 major decision in the semifinals.

Class AA No. 2-ranked Titan Friedrichs of Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran then pinned Faber in 1:38 to capture the 113-pound championship. Pierce Rohman opened the 106-pound bracket by netting a 9-1 major decision over Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran’s Sully Marx before getting pinned by Pine Island’s Jag Foster in the semifinals in 5:15.

Rohman bounced back by needing only 16 seconds to pin Minnetonka’s Isabella Heaney in the consolation semifinals before doubling up Mankato East’s Jackson Stensrud in the third-place match, 12-6.

Cole displayed his pinning skills by earning the slap of the canvas in 58 seconds over Pine Island’s Zach Schaefer before the Red Bull senior lost a 10-3 semifinal decision to Mankato East’s Luke Scholtes.

Cole received a medical forfeit in the consolation semifinals before doubling back to pin Schaefer again in the bronze-medal match in 3:30.

Austin completed the Red Bulls’ third-place finishers by edging Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran’s Patrick Duske in the bronze-medal clash by collecting a 4-3 decision.

Austin edged Pine Island’s Ben Grabau in first-round 152-pound action, 13-11, before losing a 5-1 semifinal decision to Class AAA No. 8-ranked Alex Torres of Waconia. Austin then posted a 9-3 consolation semifinal decision over Mankato West’s Evan Wiebers.

In 170-pound action, Cyphers opened with an 11-4 decision over St. Thomas Academy’s Sorin Engstrom before getting pinned by Mankato East’s Max Morgan in the quarterfinals in 3:54.

Cyphers flattened Minnetonka’s John Mueller in a mere 12 seconds in the wrestlebacks before losing a 5-2 consolation semifinal to Marshall’s Tucker Fiene. Cyphers rebounded to claim a 6-4 decision over East’s Morgan in the fifth-place match.

The Martin County Red Bulls (13-1) travel to St. Peter tonight for a Big South Conference dual meet, with varsity competition scheduled for 7 p.m.

The Red Bulls then travel to Madelia on Thursday for a nonconference triangular. Martin County faces Tri-City United at 5 p.m. before locking up with host Madelia/Truman in the third dual meet of the night.

Mankato East Invite

Team Standings: 1. Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran 192; 2. Waconia 163; 3. Martin County Red Bulls 137; 4. Marshall 128; 5. Pine Island 122; 6. St. Thomas Academy 90; 7. Mankato East 82; 8. Mankato West 71; 9. Minnetonka 56; 10. Hopkins 53; 11. Cretin-Derham Hall 24; 12. Madelia/Truman 6.5.

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