TWISTED UP — Martin County Red Bulls wrestler Aden Welcome (top) attempts to arm-bar over Minneapolis Edison opponent Cyrus Jones during their Class AA 145-pound preliminary match on Friday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Welcome went on to post an 18-2 technical fall over Jones. (Photo courtesy of Travis Rosenau/New Ulm Journal)

ST. PAUL — Martin County Red Bulls’ 220-pound senior Max Olson proved the last man standing of the area’s five qualifiers during Friday’s individual state wrestling competition at the Xcel Energy Center.

The No. 5-ranked Olson puts his 36-7 seasonal record on the St. Paul-based facility’s canvas against unranked Nathan Klatt (36-10) of Annandale/Maple Lake in today’s 9 a.m. Class AA wrestlebacks.

Olson kicked off the 220-pound preliminaries by disposing of unranked Matthew Veroeven of Waseca in a mere 1:11 to advance to the quarterfinals against No. 4-ranked Marco Reyes of Tri-City United.

Reyes, who experienced a 6-2 regular-season loss to Olson at the TCU Invitational, recorded the opening period’s initial takedown before Olson rallied for an escape and a countering takedown.

Olson then maintained his 3-2 match lead by holding Reyes down for the entire scoreless second period.

The Martin County light heavyweight escaped from the down position during the third frame and notched a takedown for a 6-2 lead only to have Reyes duplicate the accomplishment to inch with one at 6-5.

Reyes managed to net two near-fall points for a 7-6 lead before Olson escaped with 10 seconds remaining in regulation to knot the clash.

Olson shot for a takedown, but the wrestlers were ruled off the mat, creating a neutral restart with 7 seconds to go. Reyes managed to hit a takedown out of the tie-up to produce a 9-7 victory.

Olson then reached Day 2 of the state meet by bouncing back to flatten No. 10-ranked Colbee Zens of Milaca/Faith Christian in 2:03 during the first round of the 220-pound wrestlebacks Friday night.

No. 10-ranked senior 145-pounder Aden Welcome, Olson’s teammate, coasted to an 18-2 technical fall during his preliminary dual against unranked Cyrus Jones of Minneapolis Edison on Friday morning at the Xcel Energy Center.

Welcome amassed a 9-1 first-period lead over Jones before duplicating the performance during the second frame to exit the canvas in 2:38.

No. 4-ranked Joseph Kennedy of Kasson-Mantorville then fended off Welcome during their quarterfinal battle by a 6-4 decision to send the Red Bull senior into the wrestlebacks.

After a scoreless opening period, Kennedy produced two takedowns to claim a narrow 4-3 lead over Welcome, who recorded three escapes during the middle 2-minute segment. Kennedy gained the semifinals by netting a third-period takedown before allowing an escape with 30 seconds to go.

Welcome then battled No. 5-ranked Landon Church of Scott West to a scoreless opening period in their wrestleback match before Church combined an escape with a stalling point on Welcome and a takedown with 4 seconds left to build a 4-0 lead.

Welcome managed an escape to start the third period, but Church sealed his 6-1 win by recording a late takedown to eliminate the Red Bull wrestler.

Welcome closed out his stellar prep wrestling career with a 37-6 seasonal record.

Unfortunately, three area individual state qualifiers fell short during their preliminary matches on Friday and then were eliminated without stepping onto the Xcel Energy Center mats for a second time.

In Class AA, Martin County senior standout Carver Rohman ended his prolific prep grappling career with a 42-2 overall record this season.

Unranked Colten Black of Cannon Falls squeezed out an 11-10 opening-round decision over the No. 5-ranked Rohman during action at 160 pounds.

Black built an early 5-0 first-period lead on the strength of a takedown and a three-point near-fall before Rohman rallied with a frenetic comeback.

The Red Bull captain reeled off three takedowns to eventually knot the match at 7-all.

Black then combined two escapes with one takedown during the second period to cling to an 11-10 edge on the scoreboard.

Unfortunately for Rohman, Black did not allow a third-period escape to exit the canvas with the one-point decision.

Rohman then was eliminated when No. 4-ranked Evan Farley of New Prague pinned Black in 3:11 during their 160-pound quarterfinal match.

In Class A, both Blue Earth Area wrestlers — senior Parker Meyers and junior Kade Gaydon — experienced the same fate as Rohman.

No. 6-ranked Luke Bieniek of Holdingford edged Meyers by a 5-3 overtime decision during their 170-pound preliminary clash on Friday.

Meyers then closed out his outstanding high school wrestling career with a 36-6 seasonal record when No. 1-ranked Collin Boese of Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted produced a 12-1 major decision over Bieniek during their quarterfinal showdown.

Gaydon ended his junior campaign with an overall record of 27-16 during 160-pound state action.

No. 7-ranked DJ Rock of Luverne pinned Gaydon in their preliminary match in 1:04, and Gaydon was eliminated when No. 4-ranked Tucker Zigan produced a quarterfinal fall over Rock in 1:02.