Congratulations to the 94 State Entrants, 52 State Placers, and 17 State Champions at the 2015 Minnesota State High School League Tournament. An amazing amount of hard work goes into being a state champ, and these guys paid the price! Full Results are at the end of the article.
Some of my highlights-
Going out to the mat for the quarterfinals at 106 I watched a fist bump between Patrick McKee(STMA) and Sam Webster(Shakopee). Guys from different teams that are now great friends! Throughout the tournament we had many guys that had to wrestle their PINnacle teammate, and it always ended with an extra pat on the back, or "man hug". These guys all have great respect for each other, and many of them will be life long friends.
Watching seniors win that first state title including Josh Tarum who became St. Thomas Academy's first state champion.
James Berg coming back for 3rd in some of the toughest matches he has had to wrestle. He is a guy I have the utmost respect for; practices hard, lives right, respectful, and continues to learn. He didn't get what he wanted, but he will be successful in life and won't have any regrets as he gave it everything. I will miss many of the Seniors next year(yes even Logan Kass), but can't wait to coach many of them this spring and summer for some freestyle and greco fun!
TVenz dominating in the wrestlebacks after a first round loss. He may have been one of the most impressive out there this weekend to me.
It was awesome to see the positions that we preach that were used to win. Underhooks, 2on1's, controlling ties was very evident in the guys that are having the most success.
I can't mention all the state champs, but a few that were very impressive to me;
Peyton Robb had an extremely tough weight(when you have 11 PINnacle kids in your weight, it has to be tough) and he went out and scored points and really had a dominant state tourney. The best I have ever seen him wrestle.
Ethan Cota made a commitment to become stronger and faster, and it showed. Our strength director, Travis Rutt, calls him the strongest lb for lb wrestler we have. 15-1 finals, love it!
Brent Jones was aggressive on his feet, whether getting to his 2on1, or to his single leg. As always, a monster on top, he performed very well.
Ben Brancale- 15 points? Did you see those shots in the finals? I thought Allar may have been the favorite, but Ben came out of his shell and found his offense. Jake's time will come!
The quiet scrambler Adam Hedin- Down 4 to 1 at one point in the semis, Adam showed incredible heart in his comeback win. Good in all positions, wrestles hard, and is frustrating to wrestle. Hardly says a word, but maybe now we can open him up.
Congrats to all the Champions- Guys that trained with us from Spring '14 to Winter '15
By the numbers(since I am a numbers guys)
94 entrants(I missed 3 the first time including 2 state champions)
17 Champions (25 finalist)
52 Placers
33 in the top 3
Champions by Season - 12 in 2014 Post Season, 13 in 2014 Pre-Season, 13 in 2014-2015 During Season
Swept 106 A, AA, AAA
All 4 semifinalist in 138 AAA
Had a champion at every weight in AAA 106 through 160 except 145.
High School Individual State Qualifiers | |||
Name | Weight | School | Place |
Ethan Cota | 106A | Kenyon-Wanamingo | 1st |
Josh Tarum | 106AA | St. Thomas Academy | 1st |
Peyton Robb | 106AAA | Owatonna | 1st |
Rylee Molitor | 113AAA | Sartell-St.Stephen | 1st |
Sam Stuhl | 120 D2 | Prescott, WI | 1st |
Brent Jones | 120AAA | Shakopee | 1st |
Hunter Marko | 126 D2 | Amery, WI | 1st |
Cameron Sykora | 126A | Border West | 1st |
Mitchell Mckee | 126AAA | STMA | 1st |
Adam Hedin | 132AAA | Rosemount | 1st |
Ben Brancale | 138AAA | Eden Prairie | 1st |
Griffin Parriott | 145AA | New Prague | 1st |
Brady Berge | 152AA | Kasson-Mantorville | 1st |
Lucas Jeske | 152AAA | STMA | 1st |
Matt Njos | 160AAA | Anoka | 1st |
Carter Nielsen | 170AA | Foley | 1st |
Lance Benick | 195AA | Totino Grace | 1st |
Victor Gliva | 106AAA | Farmington | 2nd |
Jake Gliva | 113AA | Simley | 2nd |
Tyler Eischens | 113AAA | Anoka | 2nd |
Austin Brenner | 132AAA | St. Cloud Tech | 2nd |
Jake Allar | 138AAA | STMA | 2nd |
Devin Fitzpatrick | 152AA | Mahtomedi | 2nd |
Evan Ronsen | 170AAA | STMA | 2nd |
Jake Briggs | 220AAA | STMA | 2nd |
Zach Glazier | 106AA | Albert Lea Area | 3rd |
Tucker Sjomeling | 113AA | Delano | 3rd |
Thomas Stageberg | 120AA | New London Spicer | 3rd |
Dylan Connell | 132AA | Chisago Lakes | 3rd |
James Berg | 138AA | New Prague | 3rd |
Taylor Venz | 145AAA | Farmington | 3rd |
Logan Kass | 152AA | Benilde St.Margarets | 3rd |
Dylan Anderson | 170 D1 | Hudson | 3rd |
Aaron Cashman | 106AAA | Mound Westonka | 4th |
Alex Crowe | 113AAA | Shakopee | 4th |
Tanner Day | 120AAA | Mounds View | 4th |
Tyler Shilson | 126AAA | Centennial | 4th |
Ryan Epps | 132AA | Cannon Falls | 4th |
Alex Green | 138AAA | Owatonna | 4th |
Jake Pramann | 170AA | Princeton | 4th |
Jonny Zarnke | 182AA | Chaska | 4th |
Max Gierke | 220 D1 | Hudson | 4th |
Sam Anderson | 285AA | Totino Grace | 4th |
Tanner Cole | 126AAA | Owatonna | 5th |
Grant Bolduan | 138AAA | White Bear Lake | 5th |
Joe Dubbels | 152AAA | Eagan | 5th |
Owen Webster | 160AAA | Shakopee | 5th |
Karl Keeler | 126AAA | Mounds View | 6th |
Ryan Reid | 138AAA | Mound Westonka | 6th |
Isaac Loosbrock | 145AA | Chaska | 6th |
Ben Donnelly | 145AAA | Woodbury | 6th |
Corey Flaata | 170AAA | Cottage Grove | 6th |
Patrick Lockwood | 106AA | MPLS Washburn | dnp |
Jake Svihel | 106AA | Totino Grace | dnp |
Dylan Droegenmueller | 106AAA | Champlin Park | dnp |
Zac Spohn | 106AAA | Sauk Rapids-Rice | dnp |
Curtis Lemair | 106AAA | Prior Lake | dnp |
Sam Webster | 106AAA | Shakopee | dnp |
Brett Wilson | 106AAA | Rogers | dnp |
Patrick Mckee | 106AAA | STMA | dnp |
Braden Kramer | 106AAA | Brainerd/Pillager | dnp |
Jacob Anderson | 113 D1 | Hudson | dnp |
Andrew Smith | 113 D2 | Amery | dnp |
Kaden Spindler | 113A | Border West | dnp |
Sean Howk | 113AA | New Ulm | dnp |
Jack Bergeland | 113AAA | Centennial | dnp |
Jacob Bottem | 113AAA | Rosemount | dnp |
Skyler Raymond | 113AAA | Farmington | dnp |
Teddy Pierce | 120AA | Chisago Lakes | dnp |
JJ Veytia | 120AAA | Eden Prairie | dnp |
Jake Bergeland | 120AAA | Centennial | dnp |
Alan Spaeth | 126A | St. Charles | dnp |
Drew Van Vleet | 126AA | Mora | dnp |
Calvin Germinaro | 126AAA | Anoka | dnp |
Zach Bigelbach | 132AA | Benilde St.Margarets | dnp |
Trent Milless | 132AA | Zimmerman | dnp |
Mike Matheson | 132AAA | Centennial | dnp |
Ty Johnson | 138AAA | Woodbury | dnp |
Tyson Leon | 138AAA | Shakopee | dnp |
Alex Coleman | 145AAA | Shakopee | dnp |
Donny Leuer | 145AAA | STMA | dnp |
Nick Knutson | 152AA | New Prague | dnp |
Greg Kerkvliet | 152AA | Simley | dnp |
Justin Burg | 152AAA | Tartan | dnp |
Carson Brolsma | 152AAA | Osseo | dnp |
Emmett Wagner | 152AAA | Shakopee | dnp |
Kyle Schoenecker | 160AA | Chisago Lakes | dnp |
Kyle Benjamin | 160AAA | Farmington | dnp |
Will Suehr | 160AAA | Maple Grove | dnp |
Austin May | 182AA | Zimmerman | dnp |
Jacob Johnson | 182AAA | St. Cloud Tech | dnp |
John Walz | 182AAA | Farmington | dnp |
Justin Mohlin | 195AAA | Centennial | dnp |
Mason Hawkings | 195AAA | Farmington | dnp |