LUVERNE -- Four Worthington Trojans got a glimpse of the Minnesota state individual wrestling tournament on Saturday. However, the vision faded.

One of them lost out on a dream. Another fought gamely through an injury. And another almost felt as if he’d won.

The Section 3AA individual tournament went through Luverne High School, and the close-but-not-quite Trojans -- Jaden Hennings at 152 pounds, Juan Guizar at 170, Cole Hennings at 220, and Kyle Mullaney at 285 -- took it right to the wire.

Guizar, a junior, brought a 13-22 record into the tournament. Like many of his teammates, he made great strides during the season. On Saturday, he gave himself a chance to stride to state, but he lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Nathan Simmonds of Fairmont/Martin County West by fall in 2:22. He then pinned Kaiden Otto of Marshall in 5:16 in the wrestlebacks. In his third-place match, he decisioned Colten Wohlers of MAHACA 4-3. Finally, he wrestled a true second match against Cole Ranweiler of New Ulm. Ranweiler won by fall, in 44 seconds, leaving Guizar out of the state tourney.

Afterward, however, Guizar sounded a very positive tone.

“It feels awesome. Going from losing tournaments to placing in them,” he said.

He was asked how he improved from the beginning of the season to the end.

“I slept a lot. And I ate a lot. That helps. I also had some good people in my corner just cheering me on,” he explained. “Yesterday I had a good dinner. I ate spaghetti. And I got about nine hours of sleep. And this morning I had oatmeal. You have to have a positive mindset. If not, just the littlest things are going to get to you.”

Like Guizar, Hennings placed third. And he did it the hard way.

A 19-9 major decision over Dillon Nelson of MAHACA put him in a 220-pound semifinal match with Dawson-Boyd/LQPV/Montevideo’s Ross Kwilinski, who looked like a sure winner while leading 8-1 in the third period. But suddenly, Kwilinski slammed Hennings to the mat, whereupon he was penalized. When it was ruled that Hennings could not continue, Kwilinski was disqualified.

That put Hennings in the championship match, but it was unclear whether he could recover quickly enough to wrestle it. He’d come down hard on his shoulder, and he was in pain.

Minutes later, sitting with his back against the wall in a hallway, Hennings was still unsure. But he decided to give it a try.

“It hurts,” he admitted. “You can’t do much about it. I figure I have a chance to go to state, why not try it?”

Try it, he did. And gamely. But the shoulder did not cooperate, Hennings’ offense just wasn’t there. And he was decisioned 8-3 by Marshall’s Jaiden Bahr.

He had a true second match, however. In that one, he lost 12-2 to Nick McKenzie of New London-Spicer.

Mullaney’s tournament was perhaps the saddest of all. He went into the semifinals at 285 against New Ulm’s Colby Wenninger having beaten the Eagle in all three previous meetings -- including in the section team tournament. But all three matches were closely fought. Mullaney knew he’d have his hands full.

With 1:55 remaining in the second period of Saturday’s semifinal, Mullaney lifted Wenninger high off the mat and slammed him onto his back -- and like Kwilinski, he was penalized. Mullaney said later that he was worried Wenninger couldn’t continue and he’d be disqualified. But fortunately for the Trojan, Wenninger recovered in time.

Unfortunately for the Trojan, however, his New Ulm nemesis won the match, 7-2.

Mullaney’s loss was not for lack of trying. He was the aggressor throughout, but he was never able to gain control. At one point, he threw Wenninger onto his back for possible near fall points, but it was waved off as it occurred too close to the edge of the mat.

The senior Trojan, who will continue his wrestling career with Dakota Wesleyan next year, took the loss hard. He knew that Wenninger would face Redwood Valley’s unbeaten heavyweight Kaleb Haase in the finals, and his chance of a true second opportunity was slim.

“Ever since I was 5 years old it was always my dream to make it (to state). And this year I really thought that if I could make it, I could also end up being on the podium,” he said.

But he was able to look at the bright side -- such as it was. He will get to continue his career at the next level, and he dominated his last two matches, first with a 16-2 major decision over Trey Teichert of D-B/LQPV/M, and finally with a fall in just 18 seconds against Marshall’s Jackson Vierstraete.

“I was working hard (against Wenninger),” he recalled. “I’m just glad I finished my last two matches on a good note. A lot of guys don’t get a win in their last match. I’m thankful for that.”

Jaden Hennings enjoyed a strong tournament while securing third at 152 pounds. He beat Matt Zeug of Redwood Valley 10-4 in his last bout. Prior to that, the Trojan junior put up a strong fight in the semifinals, losing only 7-5 to Marshall’s Noah Jensen.

Other Trojans place

Many other Worthington wrestlers did well in the section individual meet.

Ethan Meyer placed fourth at 106 pounds. Oscar Galvez finished fourth at 113.

Kent Lais was fifth at 160. Damon Schutz was sixth at 132. Jose Alvarez Martinez was sixth at 138. Thomas Lais was sixth at 182. Tanner Hennings was fifth at 195.

The Luverne Cardinals nearly qualified one of its own for the state tournament. Junior Riley Cowell, who edged Galvez 7-5 in the third-place match at 113, got a true second match with Dylan Louwagie of Marshall. Louwagie won it, 5-0.

Luverne’s Noah Mehlhaff (120), Jaden Reisch (145) and Zach Bradley (152) all took sixth place in their weight classes.