Photo courtesy of Charlie Sorrells/Sentinel Sports Editor New Ulm Area wrestler Winsten Nienhaus (top) prevents Marshall opponent Drew Chandler from escaping during their Section 3AA Individual Meet's 145-pound semifinal match on Saturday in Windom. Nienhaus went on to post a 7-1 win en route to earning a trip to the Class AA state meet.

SECTION 3AA

Johnson, Nienhaus and Thompson each take 2nd for NUA

WINDOM — The New Ulm Area wrestling team will be sending three wrestlers to the state individual tournament next weekend after this past Saturday’s Section 3AA Individual Wrestling Tournament in Windom.

Qualifying for state for the Eagles were Kane Johnson (114), Winsten Nienhaus (145) and Evan Thompson (285).

Nienhaus was the first NUA wrestler to qualify after finishing second at 145. Nienhaus got a bye, a fall and a decision to earn a first-place match with United’s Kameron Sather. Sather won the first-place match by a 7-5 decision. Marshall’s Drew Chandler won a third-place match to qualify for a potential true second-place match, but Nienhaus got the second-place finish by no contest as he defeated Chandler earlier in the day by a 7-1 decision.

Thompson was the next NUA wrestler to earn his trip to state after he opened the tourney with a bye and two falls to earn a first-place heavyweight match with United’s Brady Rhode. Both Thompson and Rhode had a decision over each other earlier in the season, and another decision decided the section title match with Rhode coming out on top with a 5-2 decision to finish as the section’s heavyweight champion. New London-Spicer’s Marshel Johnson won his third-place heavyweight match to qualify for a second-place match, but Thompson finished second by no contest as he defeated Johnson earlier by pin.

Kane Johnson was next to qualify for state for NUA as he got a bye, a fall and a major decision to advance to the first-place match at 114 against Windom/Mountain Lake Area’s Preston Xayachak. Xayachak won a 4-1 decision in that match, but Kane Johnson was awarded a true second-place match and defeated United’s Gavin Mortenson by a 1-0 decision.

NUA head coach Kevin Briggs was also named the Section 3AA Coach of the Year.

SECTION 4A

Sibley East sends 3 to state

KIMBALL — At the Section 4A Individual Wrestling Tournament on Saturday, Sibley East saw three wrestlers qualify for state in Tanner Johnson (114), Julio Alejandro (127) and Benito Diaz (132).

Diaz finished as the section champ at 133 with a bye, two pins and a major decision, the major decision being an 8-0 one in the championship match against Le Sueur-Henderson’s Dalton Wilson. Johnson and Alejandro each finished second for Sibley East, with Johnson picking up a pair of falls and Alejandro earning a pin and a decision.

SECTION 3A

Rabbits send 2 to state

PIPESTONE — Wabasso qualified two wrestlers to the state tournament on Saturday at the Section 3A Individual Wrestling Tournament in Kaysen Harms (133) and Ezekiel Olson (189). Both wrestlers finished second in their respective weight classes, with Harms earning two decision wins and Olson getting a sudden victory and a fall.

SECTION 2A

LCWMA rolls at 2A tourney

BLUE EARTH — At the Section 2A Individual Wrestling Tournament, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Area dominated and qualified 10 individuals to the state tournament.

Brody Herbst (107), Ryder Antony (114), Griffin Gimenez (121), Carson Othoudt (127), Parker Kamm (133), Zach Palmer (139), Talan Osborne (145), Ryan Palmer (152), Nick Slater (189) and Mason Adams (215) all earned state trips for LCWMA, which will also compete in the team state tournament Thursday.

Gimenez, Zach Palmer, Ryan Palmer and Slater each finished as section champions on Saturday for LCWMA. Giminez got a bye, a fall and a decision on the day to win the 121-pound championship, while Zach Palmer got a tech fall, a fall and a decision to take the 139-pound section championship.

Ryan Palmer took first at 152 with a bye, a tech fall and a decision, while Slater went 3-0 with three falls to finish as the 189-pound champ.

OTHER TOP FINISHERS

Section 3AA

NUA also got strong section showings from Alex Portner (121), Regan Johnson (107), Elijah Rieser (127), Lane Ruch (152), Noah Engel (160), Wyatt Pollard (172), Jamisen Frederickson (189) and Ethan Lieb (215).

Portner and Frederickson both had NUA’s next top finishes Saturday as they each finished third. Portner got two byes, a tech fall, a fall and a major decision to take third at 121, while Frederickson took third at 189 with a bye, a major decision and a pair of falls.

Regan Johnson took fifth with two byes, a major decision and a decision, while Rieser took fifth with two major decisions. Ruch took fourth for NUA with two decisions, while Engel took fourth with a decision and a fall. Finally for NUA, Pollard took fifth with a tech fall, a fall and a decision and Lieb took fifth with two falls.

Section 2A

Madelia/Truman’s Noel Davila took third in the section at 133 after a major decision over New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva’s Parker Bunn. Also for Madelia/Truman, Gabriel Gunderson (107) and Nick Firchau (189) each took fifth.

Also for LCWM, Dietrich Rosin (285) took third and Nathan Sickler took fourth (172).

Section 3A

From the area, Springfield’s Easton Johnson took third at 189 with three falls, while Mitchell Streich finished fourth at 215 with two falls and a decision. Tommy Leopold took fifth for the Tigers at heavyweight with two falls on the day.

For Wabasso, Mikale Goblirsch finished third at 127, while Nathan Riley took fourth (114) and Gavin Marotzke took fourth (152).

Section 4A

Also for Sibley East in the Section 4A meet, Dhari Al-Sattam (107) and Josh Miranda (121) each took fifth.