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3 New Ulm wrestlers survive 1st day

New Ulm Area’s Tanner Stark locks onto Nate Kujawa of Mahtomedi as he plans his next move.

ST. PAUL — New Ulm Area’s Hunter Ranweiler, Cole Ranweiler and Tanner Stark will all live to wrestle another day in the Class AA state wrestling individuals at Xcel Energy Center after Friday’s matches. NUA’s Sean Howk was eliminated after two losses on the first day.

Seeing success on the day right off the bat were Howk (138) and Stark (152). Howk picked up a 6-3 decision over Jack Fudge of Perham in the first round, while Stark won his first-round match with a 5-0 decision over Nate Kujawa of Mahtomedi.

Howk fell to John Dierkes (Foley) by a 3-1 decision in the quarterfinals, though, and Stark was defeated by Joe Morris (Big Lake) by a 6-5 decision in his quarterfinals appearance.

Both wrestlers had a shot to redeem themselves in wrestlebacks later that night. Howk lost a close 4-3 decision to Kellen Schauer (Grand Rapids), but Stark defeated Connor Dehn (Totino-Grace) 9-8 after a back-and-forth battle in an ultimate tie breaker.

“First overtime he got a reversal and then I got a reversal back,” Stark said of his battle with Dehn. “Then he rode me out second overtime, and then third overtime I chose down again. We both kind of fell on our hips and I just kind of scooted out of it and I stood up.”

New Ulm Area’s Sean Howk attempts to wrap up and pull Jack Fudge to the ground in the first round of state wrestling individuals at Xcel Energy Center. Howk won the match by a 6-3 decision.

Thus leading to Stark’s win in the ultimate tie breaker.

Stark also said he was grateful for a shot to come back and thinks he just has to be a little more agile on his feet Saturday.

Both freshman Cole (132) and senior Hunter (145) Ranweiler, however, fell in their first round matches. Cole lost to Jake Gliva of Simley by an 18-2 technical fall, while Hunter fell to Gage Thomas-Ferry of Milaca-Faith Christian.

Thomas-Ferry received a 3-2 decision in what could certainly be looked at as an upset, considering Hunter Ranweiler was the No. 1 seed. With time ticking away in the third period, Hunter Ranweiler increased pressure on Thomas-Ferry but failed to secure a late takedown for a come-from-behind win.

First-time state entrant Cole Ranweiler, without question, had a tall task ahead of him, as he took on last year’s champion at 126.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Area’s Cole Ranweiler attempts to scramble to his feet as Jake Gliva, last year’s champion at 126, tries to secure a takedown on Friday at the Class AA state wrestling tournament at Xcel Energy Center.

The experience Gliva had paid dividends in the end.

The Ranweilers each got another match later on in the night with wrestlebacks. Cole took on Jake Davis of Thief River Falls and won by pin at 2:49, while Hunter matched up with Adam Sylvester (Totino-Grace) and won by fall at 2:38.

With the wrestleback wins by the Ranweiler brothers and Stark, three NUA wrestlers will go on to compete in the consolation quarterfinals on Saturday.

Hunter Ranweiler will take on Antonio Cortez of South St. Paul, while Cole Ranweiler wrestles Afton Kaping (Litchfield). Stark wrestles Carter Marx (Plainview-Elgin-Millville).

Hunter Ranweiler said that after dropping his first match, it was difficult to get his head back in the game. He said he relaxed and when he found out he had another chance in wrestlebacks, he was ready to move on and win.

“To get that opportunity up here at the state tournament, sometimes it’s not just skill, it’s a little bit of luck in there too,” he said. “And luckily I got that second match opportunity. Going into that, I knew I had a solid chance with him [Sylvester] coming off of a match and me having a little bit to look back on my match and focus back up. He had a shorter time turnaround than I did, but out of today — just take out the best of it — making it to the second day. Can’t look back on the first match anymore, just gotta move on from there.”

Cole Ranweiler remains focused on his opponent Saturday and isn’t planning on changing much.

“I’m looking forward to winning the next match and wrestling as hard as I can to do that,” Cole Ranweiler said. “I’m just going in looking to win. I’ve lost to him [Kaping] before in seventh grade, so I’m kind of looking to turn the tables.”

Despite the results not quite being what the Eagles had hoped for in the end, there’s still a lot to be proud of for each individual the team brought to state for all four wrestlers. There’s also still more work to be done on Saturday.

Hunter Ranweiler sits at 41-3 after Saturday, while Cole Ranweiler has a 30-16 record. Tanner Stark is currently 32-11.

Howk wrapped up his junior season with a 36-9 record.

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