Ranweiler first had to take on the No. 3-seeded Class AA wrestler at 170 pounds in St. Peter senior Eli Hunt, while Wenninger had a first-round matchup against No. 2-seeded heavyweight Dustin Portales of Fergus Falls.

Ranweiler was up first for the Eagles on Friday. Unfortunately for Ranweiler, he fell to Hunt by a 12-8 decision and his day ended with one match after Hunt dropped a narrow 2-0 decision to Becker’s Caden DeWall later that day, denying Ranweiler a wrestleback as a result.

Trailing 7-2 heading into the second period against Hunt, Ranweiler gained some momentum and tied it up at 7-all after a takedown and 3-point near fall. Hunt was able to flip positions with Ranweiler, however, ending the period ahead 9-7 after the reversal.

Hunt got an escape and a takedown to lead 12-7 early in the third period before Ranweiler earned his final point of the match on an escape with 33 seconds left.

“I thought Cole — unfortunately he got tossed for 5 right away — but after that, he came back, battled, got a takedown, put the kid on his back and wrestled well,” NUA head coach John Rieser said. “Unfortunately he was on the wrong side of the scoreboard, but he battled well against the No. 3-seeded kid.”

Ranweiler ends his junior year with a 38-8 record.

In Wenninger’s first match of the day on Friday, he ended up being pinned in 58 seconds, dropping him to a wrestleback later in the day after Portales won his next match.

In the wrestleback match, Wenninger took on Kessel Kenning of Annandale.

Early into the first period, Kenning was able to toss Wenninger to his back. While Wenninger kept both shoulders off the mat for several seconds, Kenning eventually got both down for a pin in 45 seconds, ending Wenninger’s time at state.

Although Wenninger ended his senior year with the loss and a 32-15 record, Rieser said he was proud of the steps Wenninger made over the years.

“Colby’s grown a lot over the last few years,” Rieser said. “Making it to state last year was a good accomplishment for him, I knew that was one of his goals was to get back here again this year. Obviously didn’t finish how we wanted to, and he had a tough draw, too. Both those kids he wrestled I think were ranked in the top 10. Colby started a little slow this year, but all the kids he lost to were really good, a lot of them are still wrestling in the state tournament. So I’m not going to take anything away from him, he’s been a good kid for us and we’re definitely going to miss him next year.”

SPRINGFIELD’S BERTRAM AND RUMMEL MOVE ON TO SATURDAY

Despite being pinned in 3:13 in a quarterfinal loss to top-seeded Dominik Vacura of Badger-Greenbush-Middle River on Friday, Springfield senior Mason Rummel ended his night with a 3-2 ultimate tiebreaker win.

Rummel won his first match of the day against No. 8-seeded Tim Peppel of BOLD by pin in 4:59, which moved him on to the quarterfinal match with Vacura.

In the win over Peppel, Rummel came from behind to secure the pin.

“I thought that my first match, I wrestled my best,” Rummel said. “I was losing and I still stayed focused and kept working my moves and stayed calm, which really helped. So I’m pretty proud of that.

While the quarterfinal match with Vacura wasn’t the result Rummel wanted, he still had another chance in a wrestleback match with Brennon Hoffman of Medford later on that night in the consolation bracket.

Both wrestlers were tied at 1-all after three periods and a sudden-victory period, prompting a tiebreaker.

In the tiebreaker, Hoffman scored an escape in the first 30 seconds of the tiebreaker to lead 2-1, but Rummel got an escape back during the next 30 seconds to force an ultimate tiebreaker, where Rummel started down and got a quick escape to win 3-2.

“Just [need to] stay focused, the one goal is to place now,” Rummel said. “I just need to stay focused and work as hard as I can.”

Rummel will next take on Danny Mosford of Howard Lake-Waverly-Winstead on Saturday morning in a consolation quarterfinal match.

Also in action for the Tigers on Friday was 120-pound senior Owen Bertram and 170-pound junior Kadin Johnson.

Bertram first suffered a 9-1 major decision loss to No. 2-seeded Kelvin Andrade-Ponce of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, while Johnson was pinned by No. 3-seeded Wyatt Simon of Maple River in 3:06. Both wrestlers earned a wrestleback match later in the day after Andrade-Ponce and Simon won their next matches.

In his wrestleback match with BOLD’s Austin Kiecker, Bertram trailed 2-0 after the first period. He was able to get an escape and then stuff a takedown in the second period, however, gaining the back of Kiecker for a 3-2 lead. He then cradled Kiecker for a pin in 2:38.

“I knew I just needed to get on top of him,” Bertram said. “Once I was on top of him, that’s the best part of my wrestling. And I was confident that I’d be able to turn him and get points there.”

The win moves Bertram on to a consolation quarterfinal match Saturday morning with senior Justin Crandall of Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville.

“[The win against Kiecker] starts some momentum,” Bertram said. “It just gives me confidence that at the state tournament, I can win matches and I can compete with these guys.”

Johnson battled Kolbe Booker of All Saints Home in his wrestleback but was pinned in 2:20, ending his junior year with a 22-10 record.

WABASSO/RRC’S WERNER GOES 2-0 ON FRIDAY

Derek Werner, last year’s Class A fourth-place medal winner at 195 pounds and the No. 4-seeded Class A 195-pounder this year, had a perfect first day of the state individuals on Friday as he went 2-0 to guarantee himself a medal on Saturday.

He won his first match of day on Friday by defeating Michael Doubek of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa by a 6-2 decision.

Werner then moved on to take on Zumbrota’s Ethan Kovars in a championship quarterfinals match later on and won by a 5-2 decision.

In the first period, Werner and Kovars were content remaining on their feet and grappling as the period ended with no points on the board.

Werner then fell down 1-0 after two periods after being called for stalling.

In the third period, however, Werner got an escape to tie things at 1-all before dropping Kovars with a big takedown for a 3-1 lead with a little more than a minute left in the match. Kovars got an escape to trail by a point before Werner sealed his win with a takedown in the final seconds, guaranteeing himself a medal on Saturday for the second year in a row.

Werner will next face Frazee senior Luke Tweeton Saturday morning in the championship semifinals.

The Badgers also had 182-pound senior Lance Wagner take on Gideon Ervasti of Bertha in a first-round matchup Friday, with Ervasti getting a pin in 3:45. Wagner was denied a wrestleback later that night and eliminated from the tournament after Ervasti lost his next match, ending Wagner’s senior year with a 31-7 record.

SIBLEY EAST TRIO MOVES ON TO SATURDAY

Two of Class A’s top wrestlers at state a year ago had another strong showing on the first day of state individuals this year as junior Derek Steele (113) and sophomore Drayden Morton (120) moved on to the championship semifinals Saturday after a pair of wins each on Friday.

Steele, the top seed at 113, first defeated Crookston’s Ethan Bowman by a 13-0 major decision, while Morton, the No. 3 seed at 120, first picked up a 5-2 decision over Davis Sunken of Blue Earth Area.

Steele then ended his day by taking down eighth-grader Ryan Jensen of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in a championship quarterfinal match by a 4-1 decision.

Steele shot in for a takedown right after the whistle against Jensen, applying pressure until he got a takedown with 1:18 left in the period.

After a scoreless second period, he gained another takedown early in the third period before giving up a point with an escape to lead to the final score.

Morton’s championship quarterfinal match with LPGE/B’s Crandall saw

Morton dominating from start to finish with a 10-1 decision. The only point surrendered was late in the third when Morton allowed Crandall to his feet just to end the match with another 2 points by gaining control of Crandall’s back.

Steele will face off with Coy Gunderson of Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in a championship semifinal match Saturday morning. Morton will take on Andrade-Ponce of ACGC Saturday morning in his championship semifinal match.

Also wrestling for the Wolverines on Friday was Lincoln Carpenter, the No. 4 seed at 138. He was upset in his first match of the day against Nolan Rommel of Wabasha-Kellogg, dropping the match by a 6-1 decision.

Despite that loss, Carpenter was allowed a wrestleback match later that day after Rommel won his quarterfinal match. In that consolation quarterfinal match, Carpenter took on Jaxen Klinkner of Blue Earth Area, where he picked up a 6-2 decision to move on to a consolation quarterfinal match with Jonah Gruenes of Minneota on Saturday morning.

NICOLLET DUO FAILS TO QUALIFY FOR SATURDAY

Representing the Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Area wrestling team, Nicollet’s Avery Northquest (182) and Trayton Hewitt (126) both dropped their first Class A state matches of the day on Friday, with only Northquest getting a wrestleback match later on in the day.

Hewitt fell to Brady Holien of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City by pin in 4:40 and was denied a wrestleback after Holien dropped his quarterfinal match later that day.

Northquest was pinned by Thomas Dineen of Benson in 4:26 in his first-round Class A matchup but got a wrestleback match later that day when Dineen won his quarterfinal match. Northquest then took on Ethan Boll of Crookston in a consolation quarterfinal match and was eliminated from the tournament after a 11-2 major decision loss.

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