Staff photo by Ari Selvey Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Area's Nick Slater celebrates his Class A State Individual Wrestling Tournament Championship at the Xcel Energy Center.

ST. PAUL — After coming up just short with a second-place finish a season ago, Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Area’s Nick Slater picked up a 7-0 decision over Holdingford’s Jaxon Bartkowicz at 189 during the Class A State Individual Wrestling Tournament, earning a first-place finish.

“I knew from when I stepped on the mat before the match that I could kick this kid’s butt,” Slater said. “I took him down, and that’s when I knew I had it for sure. But when I won it, it was sweet. Coming off of a third-place team win, it builds momentum for myself going into the state tournament, so it was great.”

Slater got an early takedown on Bartkowicz and never looked back.

“I’ve never wrestled this kid ever, so I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I knew kind of what he wanted to do,” Slater said. “I didn’t let him do what he wanted to do, and I took a deep shot and took him down. Thought was going to put him to his back, but his arm slipped out, so I didn’t get him to his back.

“I rolled him out the first whole period after I took him down, so it was 3-0 … He chose down [in the second period], and I thought I could turn him, but it didn’t happen that way. I came close, but it didn’t happen. So it was still 3-0 at the end of the second, and it was my choice, and I knew I could get away.”

Slater earned an escape to open the third, then got a takedown with a minute to go in the period.

“I don’t know, I’ve done this move before, but I’m not really sure what it’s called,” Slater said. “But it worked.”

Slater held on for the 7-0 win, got up smiling, then ran to his coaches and his family for hugs.

Slater, a senior at Nicollet High School, now gets to end his high school wrestling career on top.

“It feels great,” Slater said. “Walking into this tournament, I knew I had a not-such fair seed I would say. I knew I was better than anyone in that bracket and I just figured I had to prove all of them wrong, and I did. It’s great to end my career on a win.”

Slater was ranked as the top wrestler in Class A at 189 by the Guillotine coming into the tournament.

LCWMA’s Ryan Palmer also placed, taking third in the tournament.

In the consolation bracket to start off the day, Sibley East’s Julio Alejandro lost his first match of the day by fall to Holdingford’s Wyatt Pilarski at 127, while Sibley East’s Benito Diaz took a 10-7 loss to Minneapolis North’s Johan Alcantara Lund at 145. LCWMA’s Ryder Antony took a close 6-5 loss to Le Sueur-Henderson’s William Osborne at 114.

In the semifinals, Palmer lost in a 10-1 major decision to Canby’s Sam Drietz at 152, but he bounced back in the consolation bracket with a win over Kimball Area’s Mark Schiefelbein. Palmer avoided a single-leg takedown in the first period and scored a reversal in the second. He converted that into a 4-point near fall, a 3-point near fall and another 4-point near fall to go up 13-0. Palmer wrapped up the match with a takedown for a 16-0 technical fall in 3:10.

Slater matched up with Paynesville Area’s Peyton Hemmesch at 189 in the semifinals. Slater scored a takedown in the first, but Hemmesch was able to escape to put the score at 3-1. Slater scored another takedown before the second period to go up 6-1, and Hemmesch again escaped to open the second, then got a takedown on an overly-aggressive Slater to put the score at 6-5 going into the third. Slater escaped to start the period, then got a throw for a takedown to secure the 10-5 decision to advance to the championship round.

In Palmer’s third-place match, Kimball Area’s Mark Schiefelbein grabbed hold of Palmer’s leg in the first, but Palmer flipped that into a takedown for himself. Palmer took two 3-point near falls, then a 4-point near fall to go up 13-0 before the end of the first period. Palmer added one final 2-point near fall in the second to earn the 15-0 technical fall and a third-place finish.