Journal Sports Writer

ST. PAUL — For the second year in a row, Sibley East’s Derek Steele and Drayden Morton wrestled for a state championship.

But unlike last year when Morton took home a first-place medal and Steele finished with a second-place medal, both Wolverines ended this year’s individual state wrestling tournament with their hand raised Saturday at Xcel Energy Center.

Steele, a junior and Class A’s top seed at 113, took on sophomore Ethan Hendrickson, the No. 6 seed from United North Central, in the finals.

Steele scored first with a takedown 1:20 into the first period and led 2-0 after a scoreless second period. After Steele was allowed an escape to start the third period, Hendrickson picked up a takedown to pull within a point.

Steele ended up getting an escape late in the third period, however, and held on for a 4-2 decision.

After the disappointment he had finishing second last season, Steele was glad to be able to achieve his ultimate goal this year.

“Last year, I was glad to be in that [first-place] match even, this year — it definitely motivated me all summer,” Steele said. “I dislocated my elbow this summer, so I didn’t get to do much national competition out of state, but I worked hard in the wrestling room with my teammates, they pushed me. I overcame some difficulties and had some slumps, but last year definitely motivated me for this match today.”

To reach the finals, Steele first had to get past No. 3-seeded Coy Gunderson of Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in the championship semifinals.

Trailing 3-2 heading into the third period of that match, Steele got an escape and a takedown with 13 seconds left to take a 5-3 lead. While

Gunderson was able to get a quick escape and looked for a reversal in the closing seconds, he ran out of time, giving Steele the 5-4 decision.

Steele finishes his junior year with a 50-2 record.

As for Morton, the third seed in Class A at 120, he had to get past Caledonia-Houston sophomore Brandon Ross in his championship match.

Ross, the eighth seed, upset top-seeded Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove’s Ayden Horner Friday afternoon and fourth-seeded Crookston junior Zach Brown on Saturday to earn his championship match with Morton. But the experience in a state title match that Morton had from 2019 was too much for Ross to overcome.

Morton scored first on an escape with 1:25 left to go in the second period and ended up securing a takedown with 40 seconds left in that period for a 3-0 lead after two. In the final period, Morton was able to keep Ross down and hold on for the win.

Morton, while happy in victory, was modest about what this year’s championship win meant to him.

“Each match is important to me,” Morton said.

Morton was last year’s state champion at 106, but this year he jumped up to 120 to win his second state medal. With that jump up in weight, Morton said he has had to strategize more and rely less on overpowering opponents.

“I could definitely tell when I first started wrestling up from 106 to 120, there was definitely a maturity difference in the kids I wrestled,” Morton said. “At 106 I could kind of sometimes muscle kids, where at 120 I can’t really do that as much.”

Morton started his Saturday off defeating No. 2-seeded Kelvin Andrade-Ponce of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in the championship semifinals.

In that match, neither wrestler was able to gain much of an edge in the first two periods, leaving it scoreless heading into the third period.

In that third period, Morton was able to get to a neutral position and then add another point after an escape seconds later for a 2-0 lead.

Morton allowed a late escape but hung on for a 2-1 decision.

Morton added that the goal every year is to win a state title and that he is setting his sights on a three-peat next year.

Morton finishes his sophomore campaign with a 28-3 record.

Also for Sibley East on Saturday, Lincoln Carpenter ended his senior year with a Class A fourth-place medal at 138.

In the third-place match, Carpenter saw a familiar face across from him in the form of Nolan Rommel of Wabasha-Kellogg. Rommel defeated Carpenter on Friday by a 6-1 decision in the championship quarterfinals.

On Saturday, Carpenter was looking for redemption and in a good spot to get it up 1-0 late in the third period before being penalized for locking his hands to make it 1-1. Then with a second left in the third period, Rommel got an escape to pick up the 2-1 decision and third-place medal.

Before his third-place match, Carpenter defeated Jonah Gruenes by a 2-1 decision in the consolation quarterfinals and then picked up a 7-4 decision over No. 2-seeded Taylor DeFrang of Dover-Eyota in the consolation semifinals.

Carpenter ends his senior year with a 46-6 record.

RUMMEL FINISHES SENIOR YEAR WITH 6TH-PLACE MEDAL

Springfield 220-pounder Mason Rummel finished his high school wrestling career at state with a Class A sixth-place medal on Saturday, dropping a close match to seventh-seeded Logan Sherwood of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City in the fifth-place match.

Rummel got an early 2-0 lead in the first 30 seconds with a takedown and led 3-1 in the second period before Sherwood got a takedown and a 2-point near fall to close out the second period. Trailing 6-3 after allowing an escape early in the third period, Rummel got a late takedown before Sherwood got an escape to lead 7-5 with less than 10 seconds left.

After Sherwood allowed Rummel an escape to make the score 7-6, Rummel had just 5 seconds to try to tie it up with a takedown and came up short in the end.

Despite the initial disappointment of running out of time, Rummel said that he was happy with how he wrestled at state this year.

“I’m extremely happy with the way I performed this weekend,” Rummel said. “Going three and three at the state tournament is something to be proud of.”

Rummel started the day with win by a 3-1 decision over Howard Lake-Waverly-Winstead’s Danny Mosford after securing a takedown with a minute left in the match. Mosford was the fourth seed in Class A.

Rummel then moved on to a meeting with Daniel Erlandson of Breckenridge in the consolation semifinals. Erlandson, the third seed, trailed Rummel 5-0 in the second period after Rummel got a takedown and a 3-point near fall. But Erlandson quickly turned things around late in the second period, forcing Rummel to the mat for a pin in 2:40.

Rummel ends his senior campaign with a 35-12 record.

As one of the first Springfield Tigers at state since 1983, Rummel said that he hopes his medaling will set an example for younger wrestlers in Springfield.

“It’s nice knowing that I’m setting an example for the younger kids just to keep working in practice and some day they’ll be up here working to get a medal like I did,” Rummel said.

Owen Bertram also wrestled a consolation quarterfinal match on Saturday, falling to Justin Crandall of Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville by a 9-7 decision.

Crandall, the No. 6-ranked 120-pounder in Class A, found himself trailing 3-0 after a first-period takedown and a second-period escape by Bertram. Crandall got a takedown back in the second period before allowing Bertram to gain another point on an escape for a 4-2 lead.

Crandall tied it with a takedown in the third period before Bertram again took the lead with an escape, but a takedown by Crandall with a minute left put him in the driver’s seat from there out as he gained another 2 points on a near fall and ended up holding off Bertram late for the win.

Bertram ends his senior year with a 44-7 record.

WERNER ENDS SENIOR CAMPAIGN WITH 5TH-PLACE MEDAL

Wabasso/Red Rock Central’s Derek Werner defeated Elliot Mann of New York Mills by an 8-3 decision on Saturday in the 195-pound Class A fifth-place match, finishing his senior year at state with a fifth-place medal.

Werner was taken down midway through the first period to trail 2-0 before getting a point back on an escape with 14 seconds left in the period. In the second period, Werner was able to toss Mann outside of the circle while keeping his feet inside the circle to pick up a 3-point near fall and lead 5-2.

Mann then got an escape late in the second period to trail 5-3. In the third period, Werner managed to get that point back with an escape of his own and got a late takedown to seal the win.

Werner, the fourth seed in Class A, first took on Frazee senior Luke Tweeton, the top seed, in the championship semifinals, falling by an 11-3 decision and dropping to a consolation semifinal match with fifth-seeded Ottertail Central senior Zane Swanson later that afternoon.

Werner then dropped a 7-1 decision to Swanson to fall to the fifth-place match with Mann.

Last year, Werner took home the fourth-place medal at 195.

Werner wraps up his senior season with a 36-6 record.

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