WILLMAR — Hosting the Section 8AAA individual championship meet Saturday, Willmar head wrestling coach Ed Oehlers figured a handful of Cardinals would head to the state tournament.
True to Oehlers’ word, about a handful of Cardinals qualified for state with section champions Jonas Anez and Kaden Streed along with runners-up Ethan Roux and Conlan Carlson.
“We wrestled really tough,” Oehlers said. “Our section always shows well down at the state tournament, getting placewinners with the guys that qualify.
“I’m happy we’re sending four.”
In total, 12 Cardinals medaled, with Steven Cruze (120 pounds) and Caden Carlson (126) placing third, Braeden Erickson (145) and Taggert Reynolds (285) fourth, Jack Roehl (132) fifth and Ivan Ciriaco-Mares (113), Joe Kallevig (160) and Peter Coverdell (220) sixth.
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“We had quite a few guys battle back for their third-place matches, too and didn’t get some of those true seconds,” Oehlers said. “I’m really proud of how the guys wrestled. We have a young team and (we’re) only graduating three seniors so I have a lot of optimism for the future.”
Coming in at 20-9 on the year, Anez scored a major decision over Sartell’s William Budge (12-3) and a decision over Bemidji’s Darren Roth (8-3) to reach the finals against top-seeded Simon Pantzke of Little Falls. In last year’s section tournament, Pantzke beat Anez in a 5-4 decision in the third-place match at 138.
This time in the 152 finals, Anez fought off a late escape chance from Pantzke to squeeze out a 4-3 decision for his first state berth.
“In the room, Jonas is a goer. He has a motor and has that drive to keep going as hard as he can every single day and he does that in matches,” Oehlers said. “He might make mistakes here and there as everyone does but he’ll keep going and give it his all.
“That’s what got him a championship today.”
Streed, Willmar’s lone ranked wrestler (fourth at 195), dominated his first two matches with pins over Little Falls’ Peyton Carll (3 minutes, 47 seconds) and Brainerd’s Dalton Barrett (1:05). In the finals against Sartell’s Jack Engle, Streed stayed aggressive and made his second straight state tournament with a 6-1 decision in the 195 championship.
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“He’s been coming back lately and is starting to peak again,” Oehlers said of Streed, who placed sixth at state at 182 in 2019.
Roux scored two pins to get into the 170 finals before taking a 10-0 major decision against top-ranked Gabe Nagel of Little Falls. Finishing second in the section, Roux will head to state for the third time.
The third seed at 106, Conlan made the finals after a major decision over Bemidji’s Hunter Heim (27-13) and an injury default against Sartell’s Alex Diederich. In the championship match, 10th-ranked Austin Litke of Little Falls clinched the section’s top spot with an 8-0 major decision, forcing the Cardinals’ seventh-grader into a true second-place match against St. Cloud Tech’s Jaden Dombrovski. With a state berth on the line, Conlan methodically scored point after point against Dombrovski, winning by a 23-8 tech fall in 4:45.
The two-day state individual tournament will begin at 9 a.m. Friday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Section 8AAA
How Willmar fared
Key: (Weight, name, won-loss, place) State entrants in bold
106: Conlan Carlson, 3-1, 2nd … 113: Ivan Ciriaco-Mares, 1-3, 6th … 120: Steven Cruze, 3-1, 3rd … 126: Caden Carlson, 3-1, 3rd … 132: Jack Roehl, 2-2, 5th … 138: N/A … 145: Braeden Erickson, 2-2, 4th … 152: Jonas Anez, 3-0, champion … 160: Joe Kallevig, 1-3, 6th … 170: Ethan Roux, 2-1, 2nd … 182: Blake Lara, 1-2, 8th … 195: Kaden Streed, 3-0, champion … 220: Peter Coverdell, 0-3, 6th … 285: Taggert Reynolds, 2-2, 4th
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