With a 31-23 win over the Marshall Tigers on Saturday at Fairmont High School, the Eagles captured the Section 3AA championship and earned a trip to the state tournament for the first time since 1999.

The Eagles advanced to the finals after a dominant 64-12 win over United in a semifinals dual earlier in the day.

The Eagles made the Section 3AA final four in both 2024 and 2025, but Saturday showed the third time was truly the charm. Last season, the Eagles fell to Marshall in the section finals, making this year’s rematch even sweeter.

NUA senior Candon Briggs earned a pair of wins on the day for the Eagles at different weight classes, starting with a pin over United’s Adrian Specht at 160 and a 10-1 major decision over Marshall’s Noah Frazee at 172.

For Candon Briggs, getting to the state tournament as a team under his dad and NUA head coach Kevin Briggs, meant a lot to him and it was something that was envisioned.

“It’s super cool,” Candon Briggs said. “When [my dad] took over this program, he told us before this [finals] dual against Marshall, he circled this year and he did it for a reason. He knew what our senior class had, he knew that this was our best chance. It’s also cool for him, too. This is 127 wins in six years [for him]. It’s super cool.”

After rolling through United, the Eagles started its Section 3AA championship dual with a big sudden victory win by Chase Wilson at 107 as he defeated McCoy Marthaler. After Wilson was penalized for stalling late in the third, an overtime period came into play. With 16 seconds left in that overtime period, Wilson put things away with a takedown to give NUA a 3-0 lead.

Regan Johnson kept NUA going with a 5-3 win over Andrew Yang at 114 for a 6-0 NUA lead. Marshall got a win back at 121 when Lincoln Christenson pinned Chael Johnson at 121 and the Tigers took a 9-6 lead after Keynan Coequyt earned a tough 15-11 decision over Alex Portner at 127.

Kane Johnson helped the Eagles pull in front again at 133, defeating Levi Kraft by a 13-5 major decision. That was also Kane Johnson’s 150th career victory.

Senior Tegan Kral continued showing off his big takedowns for the Eagles this season as he took Colton Chandler down five times during a 17-5 major decision at 139 pounds.

Elijah Rieser continued showing NUA’s senior leadership with a 13-3 major decision over Dawson DeCamp at 145.

Rieser said being a part of the team that finally got over the hump this season and punched their state ticket showed off a lot of hard work.

“It just shows the work we’ve been putting in,” Rieser said. “And just taking a step every year, further and further and further, and now to this day to the state tournament.”

Braxton Kiecker, who pinned United’s Lincoln Santjer in 20 seconds during the semifinals, continued his fast-and-furious attack against Marshall, taking down Cole Condezo and pinning him in 1:12 at 152.

Despite his quick takedowns and pins, Kiecker said he was calm entering both matches and that led to the finishes.

“[Had to] stay calm,” Kiecker said. “Keep my head, just try to get it done for the team. Just do my job.”

Kiecker also said he was happy to help the Eagles break through this season and make it back to state for the first time in 27 years.

“It means a lot, we put in a lot of hard work,” Kiecker said. “Early mornings and long practices and finally broke the ice.”

Marshall got a win back at 160 when Tyson Louwagie defeated Spencer Drill by an 11-1 major decision, but Candon Briggs got the Eagles 4 points back with his 10-1 major decision over Frazee to put NUA up 28-13 in the finals.

“This is something we’ve always talked about,” Candon Briggs said. “Our grade especially, just because seniors, we have such a great senior class. To finally do it is cool.”

With a chance to put the finals away, Eagles junior Lane Ruch took the mat to take on Tyler Kraft in a 189-pound matchup.

Ruch had a takedown in the first period and led 3-1 after that period. Leading 4-1 entering the third period, Ruch was reversed but kept his composure and quickly flipped the script with a reversal of his own to lead 6-3. Ruch was able to hang on and win by a 6-5 decision, clinching the finals dual and state berth for the Eagles as he flexed and celebrated with his teammates.

“I kind of knew what I had to do because coach Briggs was telling me before hand,” Ruch said. “He was telling me all I had to do was not get majored. But I knew I was gonna win, so I just gave it my all to win.”

While Ruch got the finals-clinching win, which was also his 100th career varsity win, he credited the NUA seniors for the state tournament berth.

“I feel like all the seniors are just close with the whole team and they make it fun,” Ruch said. “Seniors just make it fun for us.”

Marshall took the final two duals of the night as Brayden Chandler pinned Tilken Fruhwirth at 215 and Felix Kelsey earned a 14-2 major decision over Emerson Johnson at 285.

But the Eagles accomplished their mission at the end of the day: remain undefeated and qualify for the state tournament.

“A couple years ago we weren’t even in the final four and then all the work we put in as a team all season, postseason, preseason, all the working going into it, and now we’re the section champs,” Rieser said.

The Eagles are now 24-0 on the season and will look to qualify wrestlers to the state individual tournament also when they head to Hutchinson for the Section 3AA individual tournament on Feb. 21.

FULL RESULTS

Semifinals

New Ulm Area (NUA) 64, Dawson-Boyd – Lac Qui Parle – Montevideo United (DBLQ) 12

107 Chase Wilson (27-9) Fr., NUA over Griffin Johnson (14-13) Fr., DBLQ (F 5:46)

114 Regan Johnson (31-7) Jr., NUA over Collin Rosendahl (8-5) Fr., DBLQ (F 3:16)

121 Brayden Miller (13-14) Sr., NUA over Kayden Enevoldsen (0-3) Fr., DBLQ (F 0:31)

127 Alex Portner (30-7) Jr., NUA over Trent Bothun (3-4) Fr., DBLQ (TF 15-0 (2:16))

133 Kane Johnson (34-5) Jr., NUA over Iver Heinrich (1-5) Fr., DBLQ (F 1:49)

139 Elijah Rieser (31-9) Sr., NUA over Holland Schacherer (26-9) Sr., DBLQ (TF 19-4 (3:34))

145 Benjamin Gunlogson (33-7) Sr., DBLQ over Chase Lee (1-4) So., NUA (F 0:31)

152 Braxton Kiecker (27-12) Sr., NUA over Lincoln Santjer (5-3) Fr., DBLQ (F 0:20)

160 Candon Briggs (29-12) Sr., NUA over Adrian Specht (0-1) So., DBLQ (F 0:46)

172 Dirk Haynes (14-16) Sr., NUA over Bentleigh Bothun (8-8) Jr., DBLQ (F 0:48)

189 Bryan Rhode (21-16) Sr., DBLQ over Cole Voges (7-6) So., NUA (F 5:46)

215 Lane Ruch (26-6) Jr., NUA over Gabe Lowry (16-19) Sr., DBLQ (F 1:02)

285 Emerson Johnson (18-13) Sr., NUA over Forfeit, DBLQ (FF)

Finals

NUA 31, Marshall 23

107 Chase Wilson (27-9) Fr., NUA over McCoy Marthaler (21-10) Fr., MARS (SV 4-1)

114 Regan Johnson (31-7) Jr., NUA over Andrew Yang (18-17) So., MARS (Dec 5-3)

121 Lincoln Christenson (38-2) Sr., MARS over Chael Johnson (14-6) 8th, NUA (F 0:51)

127 Keynan Coequyt (35-10) Jr., MARS over Alex Portner (30-7) Jr., NUA (Dec 15-11)

133 Kane Johnson (34-5) Jr., NUA over Levi Kraft (20-20) So., MARS (MD 13-5)

139 Tegan Kral (23-16) Sr., NUA over Colton Chandler (15-20) Fr., MARS (MD 17-5)

145 Elijah Rieser (31-9) Sr., NUA over Dawson DeCamp (24-14) Sr., MARS (MD 13-3)

152 Braxton Kiecker (27-12) Sr., NUA over Cole Condezo (1-3) Fr., MARS (F 1:12)

160 Tyson Louwagie (34-10) Sr., MARS over Spencer Drill (3-5) Sr., NUA (MD 11-1)

172 Candon Briggs (29-12) Sr., NUA over Noah Frazee (9-7) Jr., MARS (MD 10-1)

189 Lane Ruch (26-6) Jr., NUA over Tyler Kraft (24-10) Jr., MARS (Dec 6-5)

215 Brayden Chandler (38-2) Jr., MARS over Tilken Fruhwirth (11-20) Sr., NUA (F 1:17)

285 Felix Kelsey (13-21) So., MARS over Emerson Johnson (18-13) Sr., NUA (MD 14-2)