Rieser, who was ranked seventh at 139 coming into the tournament, earned a 12-5 decision over Minneapolis Edison’s Vicente Lopez-Marsh, ranked fourth at 139, to advance from the quarterfinals.

“It means the world,” Rieser said. “My first time at the state tournament, and two big wins the first two rounds. It just shows all the hard work that I’ve put in paying off finally.

Lopez-Marsh took the initial lead with a takedown in the first period, but Rieser turned that into a quick reversal just before the end of the period.

“That’s still first period,” Rieser said. “I don’t think I’m ever out of a match until the final whistle blows. Not letting that get to my head or anything and just continue wrestling. That’s a big part of it.”

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Area's Mason Adams celebrates a victory during the State Individual Class AA Wrestling Tournament Friday at Grand Casino Arena.

Rieser evened the score with an escape to start the second period, then earned a takedown of his own for a 6-3 lead. Lopez-Marsh escaped, but another Rieser takedown made it a 9-4 match going into the third period. While Lopez-Marsh scored another escape, Rieser scored one final takedown and held on for the 12-5 decision.

Rieser now faces off against second-ranked Bennett Kujawa of Becker, but Rieser is unintimidated by the quality of wrestler he faces.

“Just keeping my nose down, working, grinding every match,” he said. “Every match at the state tournament is hard, so he’s not going to do anything I haven’t seen all year. He just might be a little better at it. But don’t let that get to my head and wrestle my match, don’t wrestle his.”

Dake, meanwhile, secured a pin over Stewartville’s Morgyn Manion in 2:57 at 170.

“I’ve pinned her before with a half,” Dake said. “I didn’t want to pin her with the same move, so I ran my bar, and as soon I got it sinked in, I knew I was going to pin her.”

Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm Area's Elijah Rieser looks to his coaches for advice during aClass AA State Individual Wrestling Tournament quarterfinals match against Minneapolis Edison’s Vicente Lopez-Marsh Friday at the Grand Casino Arena on Friday.

Dake, who finished fourth in the 2023 state individual tournament, said she is focused on winning her next two matchups.

“It’s a pretty good feeling, but I’m trying to suppress those emotions because I want to win it all,” she said. “It means a lot, but I’ve still got a job to do … It’s going to take a lot. It’s going to be a dogfight, but I know we can win it.”

Dake will wrestle White Bear Lake Area’s Jinet Demanou in the semifinals later today. Demanou is ranked second in the state, while Dake is ranked third.

Adams advanced to the semifinals with a 10-2 decision over top-ranked Milaca-Faith Christian’s Sawyer Schendel at 285, earning three takedowns and an escape on his way to a strong victory. Adams, ranked third, will face Waseca’s Matthew Veroeven, ranked second, in the next round.

Also from the area, NUA’s Alex Portner took a 16-1 technical fall to Simley’s Damir Safronov at 127 and will face the winner of Brayden Fobbe and Gauge Johnson in wrestlebacks.