I used to make trips to the old St. Paul Civic Center for this. I covered Tiger wrestling when Al Hendrickson was at the helm. You can occasionally reminisce with Al and his wife Dolora at the Morris McDonald's restaurant.
Fast-forward to the present: We're in the ranks of Section 3AA. Luverne hosted the section tourney. Two Tigers finished second at their respective weights. Thus they have the privilege of vying in state. This smoothly-executing pair: Travis Ostby at 132 pounds and Myles Smith at 145.
Ostby is a sophomore and Smith a senior. Smith survived a "true second" challenge.
Seven Tigers total placed at their weights including Jordan Thooft who took fourth.
The site for state is the Excel Energy Center, St. Paul.
The headline in the Hancock paper: "MAHACA send two to state tourney." Shouldn't it be "sends?" Also on that page I see the word "halftime" with a hyphen: "half-time?" If I had been responsible for this, I would face some serious criticism over my alleged lack of brainpower.
Ostby owned the No. 3 seed. He was awarded a bye at the start. He wrestled in the quarters against Christopher Krenz of Fairmont and won by fall. Then he faced a nemesis of his, Spencer Suflow of "United," and turned the tables, winning by fall in the second period.
Now Ostby is in the championship bout for 132. He didn't fare so well this time, getting pinned (2:27) by Logan Axford of Tracy-Milroy.
Myles Smith like Ostby was seeded third at his weight. He came on like gangbusters at the start, pinning Cooper Olson of Tracy in 1:20. The quarters saw Smith matched against Cody Michelson from down south: Worthington. Smith fought to a 13-11 decision win in OT. Bring on the semis!
Smith gamely squared off vs. Elijah Gronewold of Fairmont, the second seed. Smith upset Gronewold 8-3. The finals saw Smith on the short end by fall, in 2:59 vs. the top seed, Dylan Johnson of Quad County. But Smith's work wasn't done. He faced Solomon Nielsen of Luverne for "true second." Smith wrapped up his state qualification by prevailing 14-5 over Nielsen.
Tiger Jordan Thooft had the No. 3 seed at 170. He got a bye at the start. He won in the quarters over River Zvorak of Tracy: a fall in 1:19. Thooft lost by a 9-3 decision to Joe Weeding of United in the semis. The consolations saw him beat Harley Luhmann, Fairmont, by fall in 1:48.
Thooft was matched against Sam Hoppe of New Ulm in the match to determine third place. Thooft dropped a 6-4 decision. Jordan would not have gotten a true second match anyway.
Jacob Sperr, the Tigers' "big guy" at 285 pounds, upset the No. 4 seed, Trevor Wietzema of Worthington, by fall in 5:02 in the quarters. Sperr then fell to the top seed, Jake Lehmann of United, by fall in 1:12. The consolations saw Sperr lose by fall in overtime to a Tracy grappler, Lane Anderson.
Then in the match to determine fifth among these "big guys," Sperr lost by fall in 2:48 to Adrian Moscoffian, a Fairmont grappler.
Other Tigers:
Matt Munsterman placed sixth at 106 pounds. Clint Messner had an 0-2 tourney at 113. Jared Rohloff went 1-2 as the Tigers' 120-pounder. The 126-pound class was open.
Trenton Nelson at 138 pounds had a 2-2 tourney and did not place. Max Feuchtenberger went 0-2 at 152 pounds. Steven Koehl came up shy of placing with his 1-2 showing at 160. Aaron Nelson placed fifth at 182 pounds.
Matt Vinson was the No. 6 grappler at 95. The 220-pound class was open.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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