Photo by Ari Selvey: Martin County Area wrestler Pierce Rohman eyes Totino-Grace’s Jackson Refsnider during the 133 AA championship bout this past Saturday afternoon.

FAIRMONT – Martin County Area wrestlers Pierce Rohman (133 lbs) and Torrey Paplow (152 lbs) finished the Red Bull season strong this past Saturday afternoon during the final day of the 2026 MSHSL Individual State Tournament.

Rohman fell in his championship match to earn a second-place finish, while Paplow did enough in the consolation bracket to climb on the podium in fourth.

“For Torrey and Pierce to be medalists was awesome,” Red Bull head coach Adam Williamson said. “Just a really good way to top off the whole week.”

Rohman concluded his junior wrestling season with an improvement from the year prior despite not reaching the ending he originally intended.

Last season was Rohman’s second consecutive trip to state. Despite falling to Becker’s Bennett Kujawa in the opening round, Rohman fought his way back through the consolation bracket and earned a chance for third. He faced Kujawa again, winning this time in a 9-2 decision and capping off the four-match win streak.

Rohman’s eyes were set on an even higher finish this time around. That goal seemed possible after he won his three opening matches to earn a spot in the championship bout. Rohman’s semifinal performance was a dominating 7-1 decision victory over Nolan Fettig from Alexandria Area.

“It was really relieving on Friday,” Rohman said. “Friday night felt so good after that [victory over Fettig]. I was just happy and having a bunch of fun.”

The championship match against Totino-Grace’s Jackson Refsnider was played at a slower pace than Rohman would have liked. He credited Refsnider’s ability to avoid shots as the main reason for this tempo.

“It was tough to get to his legs, and even when I did get to his legs, he was just hard to finish on,” Rohman said.

Two periods passed with both opponents still feeling each other out on the mat. Refsnider’s patience proved to be his biggest friend during the final minute of the match, timing up a takedown that proved to be the difference-maker. The whistle blew seconds later with Rohman climbing from his knees after the defeat.

The final result wasn’t there for Rohman. But with motivation from the defeat and an extra year of eligibility, Rohman has plenty of opportunity to finish on top before wrapping up his Red Bull career.

“It’s a step up from last year and another place higher,” Williamson said. “Being state runner-up is a huge accomplishment. He might not be extremely happy with it; it wasn’t his ultimate goal, but getting to be a finalist is huge. His saving grace and the blessing he has is that he has one more run at it.”

Paplow started his final day with a 14-1 decision victory over Tate Olson from Delano. Hours later, the senior fell in the 3rd place match against Simley’s Aiden Mincey. Mincey’s last-minute takedown secured the 4-1 decision victory over the future Augsburg University athlete that prompted his fourth-place finish.

This is the highest Paplow has placed during his three-year stretch competing in the individual state tournament.

Last year, Paplow won his opening match against Gabriel Park before falling to eventual 145-pound state champion Landen Kujawa from Becker in the second round. He picked up one more victory in the wrestlebacks against Landon Bizal before a final defeat at the hands of Owen Friedrich ended all hopes of moving on.

This season, through nearly two days of competing, Paplow was perfect in his approach. He picked up another win over Bizal before passing through Noah Cameron from Little Falls in a 9-7 decision. While Paplow lost to eventual state champion Kaleb Mead in a tight semifinal bout, getting that far into the tournament was an accomplishment in itself.

“One of the first things he said to me when he won that second match was, ‘Finally.’ You could tell he was relieved when knowing he was going to be on the podium,” Williamson said. “To be just two points from a possible state finals appearance was huge. He wrestled Mead tough, probably the toughest anybody wrestled him the whole tournament.”