The big difference between this year and last year, aside from his weight, is that he finished runner-up last year at 113. This year was his time to shine as he took home a first-place medal at 120 pounds after defeating Canon Swanson (Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa) by a 4-0 decision at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.

Morton turned in quite the impressive performance on Friday and Saturday and showed, without a doubt, exactly why he deserved to be there.

“It’s a relief that I got one,” Morton said of his first-place medal. “All the hard work paid off, and now I need to just keep working hard to achieve the next goal.”

Morton will be wrestling in college next season with Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Earlier in the day, Morton defeated Jace Geving (Deer River) by a 3-0 decision in the semifinals to advance to his finals matchup with Swanson.

Morton closed out an impressive high school wrestling career with a 44-3 season, and he had plenty of people to thank after his state chapter came to an end.

“I want to thank my family,” Morton said. “My dad and mom and brother especially. My dad for always coaching me throughout youth and high school and through all that. My brother — wrestling with him and just always me being in his corner and him being in mine and just helping each other warm up. Then all the coaches at Sibley East and the coaches at Minnesota Elite, a club I go to. And God — I want to always give the glory to him. That’s where all my strength comes from.”

Altermatt ends wrestling career with third-place finish

Nick Altermatt (170) of Wabasso/Red Rock Central took home a third-place medal on Saturday after defeating Colton Waldvogel (Osakis) by a 3-1 decision in the third-place match.

“It’s not really what I wanted, but I ended my season with two wins [on Day 2 of individuals], so that’s all you can really ask for,” Altermatt said. “Go out with a bang — and not too bad.”

Altermatt got to the third-place match after first dropping his semifinals match to Jaden Kindopp (Canby) by a 4-2 decision.

Kindopp went on to win first place at 170 in Class A.

That loss led him to a bout with Kaleb O’Reilly (Goodhue) in consolation semifinals. He was victorious there with a late come-from-behind 2-1 decision.

Altermatt ended his wrestling career with a 35-2 season.

“You don’t really think about it at the beginning of the year of how much these things fly by so quick, but wrestling’s going to be a big part of my life,” Altermatt said, looking back on his final season. “If you can make it through wrestling, you can make it through a lot of things in life. It’s going to be tough — all these “lasts” are tough — but not much you can do about it.”

Haase takes fifth for RRV

Kaleb Haase (220) of Redwood/River Valley won his first match on Saturday in the consolation bracket against Carson Huls (Pierz) by a 1-0 decision, which led him to a matchup with Nate Schutz (Totino-Grace) in consolation semifinals.

Schutz defeated Haase by a 4-2 decision, which led Haase to a fifth-place match later on in the day against Sam Wamre (United Clay Becker Badgers).

Haase defeated Wamre by a 6-2 decision for fifth place at Class AA. He ended his sophomore year going 41-9.

Sibley East’s Wentzlaff finishes in sixth place

Sibley East’s Drayden Morton (106) fell to Ethan Arett (Westfield Razorbacks) by a 6-0 decision in his first match in consolations and was eliminated from placement contention as a result. Sibley East’s Tim Lewis (170) also dropped his consolation match to Hayden Voxland (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) by pin at 0:55 and was eliminated from placement contention.

Tommy Wentzlaff (152) kept himself alive for Sibley East on Saturday, however, as he eliminated Dylan Rudningen (Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg) by fall at 2:06. Wentzlaff then went on to face Mason Huemann (Goodhue) in consolation semifinals action and fell by an 8-5 decision.

The loss sent Wentzlaff to the fifth-place match against Zach Buseman (Blue Earth Area). Buseman did just enough to beat Wentzlaff as he picked up a 2-1 decision for fifth place, leaving sixth-place honors for Wentzlaff.

Wentzlaff wrapped up his senior year with a 46-5 record.