ST. PAUL -- Nine out of 25 area wrestlers still have a shot at being crowned state champions, as the individual tournament began Thursday afternoon.
Perhaps the most impressive outcome of the day was in the heavyweight class where all three area grapplers moved on to the semifinals; Andy Witzel of Fulda/Murray County Central, Jared Knips of Jackson County Central and Will Lutmer of Adrian. Lutmer will face Knips in the semis.
Witzel beat Jesse Dehmer of St. Michael-Albertville by a score of 6-2, in a match which he thought was a little easier than his preliminary.
"This one was a little easier," Witzel said. "In my first match, May (Mike) was a good wrestler -- he just didn't have the weight. Last year he was great at 215."
Lutmer went to overtime before earning the victory over Andrew Peralta of Thief River Falls, who was penalized in the extra time because of a head-butt.
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"I'll take it anyway it comes," Lutmer said following the match. "I'm just happy to be going to the semifinals."
Adrian's Cody Reverts will make a semifinal appearance in the 215-pound division, after his 10-4 preliminary victory and a 3-2 decision in the quarterfinals. Nick Henning (189) of F/MCC continued his perfect run to a state title with a fall in the prelims and a 12-3 decision over Kasson-Mantorville's Mark Gransee in the quarters.
"It was a close match," Reverts said of his quarterfinal tussle. "But I stayed focused and made the right decisions."
Travis Elg (140) of Windom/Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin also remained perfect, scoring an 11-1 victory before following with a tight 3-0 victory over Steve Hegland of St. Michael-Albertville in the quarterfinals. Adrian's Brandon Bullerman (135) breezed by in the prelims with a 10-0 decision, but found his quarterfinal match with Troy Biermaier of Little Falls a little tougher. Bullerman pulled it out in the final seconds, 10-8.
"That match was a little rough," Elg said. "The guy just didn't do much -- maybe looking to keep it tight and make a move at the end. But he couldn't do much against me."
JCC's Tory Stewart (130) improved to 42-4 on the year with a fall victory in the prelims and a 18-9 decision over Jake Saatzer of Mound Westonka. And after winning his prelim match, JCC's Cole Von Ohlen (103) had to face area foe Josh Falk of W/ML-B-O in the quarterfinals. Von Ohlen got the better of Falk, winning by fall in 3:35. Falk will have to compete in a wrestle-back in the consolation bracket.
Also in the consolation bracket are A.J. Stevens of W/ML-B-O in the 125-pound division, teammate Colt Bergendahl (130), Taylor Evans of Pipestone Area (135), Christ Fast of W/ML-B-O (145), Derek Radtke (160) also of W/ML-B-O, Paul Carlson of Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (171) and Matt Cowdin of Worthington (189).
Unfortunately for some area wrestlers, Thursday was it. While all of these young men have had successful seasons, their 2006 championship dreams ended in the prelims.
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Adrian's Brock Bullerman finishes with a 22-20 record for the year, losing to Chad Henle of New London-Spicer, 14-3. Justin Reinsma (32-8) of F/MCC bowed out to Cillin Pitts of Caledonia 10-2, while Taylor Aaland (23-21) of PA and Luke Prairie (20-12) of T-M-B both lost at 119 pounds. Cole Cooreman (37-5) of T-M-B also lost in the prelims, as he was edged by Kaleb Schmitz of Caledonia, 4-2, at 125.
Jesse Evans (35-6), the PA hopeful at 152, fell to Dustin Horner of Deer River/Northland in 1:10 of their match. And Adrian's Tyler Wagner (29-11) just couldn't figure out Roseau's Mark Przekwas, losing by a score of 14-6.
And Worthington's Bryant Schroeder (215) saw his tournament come to an early end, losing to Alan Lutterman of Minnewaska Area.
Wrestlebacks begin this morning at 9 a.m., while the semifinals will begin at 5:30 p.m.
