•  Five Minnewaska Area wrestlers compete at state meet

Miles Wildman highlighted another great season of Laker wrestling with a fourth-place finish at the State Wrestling Tournament, Friday and Saturday at the Excel Center in Minneapolis.

Wildman was one of five Minnewaska Area wrestlers who qualified to the State Class AA Tourney this season.  He went 3-2 at the state tourney to place fourth after earning fifth last season while also going 3-2.

Also competing at state this year were senior Myles Reichmann and Jayce Kovarik, junior Chase Smith and freshman Landon Schiffler.  Smith, who was appearing in his third-straight state tourney, went 1-2 this year after going 2-3 to place sixth last year and 2-2 as a ninth-grader.

Schiffler also went 1-2 at state this winter, while Kovarik and Reichmann both went 0-2.  Wildman and Reichmann earned their state berths by placing first at the Section 8AA Tourney, while the other three state qualifiers placed second at the section meet.

The Minnewaska Area wrestling team ended the team portion of its season at the Section 8AA Team Tourney one week early at Pequot Lakes Area.  DGF went on to earn the section team title with a 28-21 win over Perham.

Seniors lost to graduation from this year’s team will be Bode DeZelar, Cole Kittelson, Garrett Jungclaus, Jayce Kovarik, Myles Reichmann and Nathan Dell

State Class AA Tourney

Five Minnewaska Area wrestlers competed at the State Class AA Wrestling Tournament, Friday and Saturday, including Miles Wildman, who led the Lakers with a 3-2 record to place fourth overall at 114 pounds.

Landon Schiffler and Chase Smith both went 1-2 to reach the “final eight”, while Myles Reichmann and Jayce Kovarik both went 0-2.

“We’re happy with the way the guys wrestled at the state tourney,” coach Chip Rankin said.  “We knew the Section 8AA Tourney was going to be tough, after moving up from Section 5A, and we knew the Class AA State Tourney would also be much tougher than Class A.

“Still, the guys wrestled hard and we picked up five victories against the best Class AA wrestlers in state.  Overall, I’m very pleased with the way the season went.”

•  Miles Wildman (38-5 final record), back to state for a second-straight year after placing fifth last winter, was seeded third at 114 pounds and won his first two matches by a 15-0 technical fall and pin in 39 seconds.

In the semifinals, he lost to the second seed, Austin Gryzywinski, of Simley, 5-0, to move into the consolation bracket.  Wildman came through with a 9-4 victory in the consolation semifinals before losing in the third-place match to fourth-seeded Bennett Kujawa, of Becker, 6-0.

Wildman has been ranked fourth at state Class AA 114 pounds for most of the season and the rankings followed suit as the top three wrestlers ahead of him placed first through third at state.

•  Landon Schiffler (29-16), seeing his first state tournament action, was pinned by the second seed at 107 pounds in the opener in 1:17, but stayed alive when that wrestler won by another pin in the second round.

Schiffler took advantage of his second chance, winning by a pin in 1:49 before losing to Davey Maldonado of Rocori (37-10) in the next round by a pin in 4:02.  Schiffler ends his ninth-grade season with a 29-16 record.

•  Chase Smith (31-14), at state for the third-straight winter, was unseeded  at 133 pounds but still won his opener, 5-1, over Tate Olson of Delano before losing to the fourth-seeded wrestler from Grand Rapids in the second round by a 12-2 major.  In the consolation round, Smith was edged by Tomas Ochocki, of South St. Paul, 6-5, ending his junior year of wrestling with a 31-14 overall record.

•  Jayce Kovarik (21-12) met the 160-pound second seed in the opener and Kovarik lost by a 17-2 technical fall.  The second seed won his next match, giving Kovarik another chance to wrestle.  In the consolation round, Kovarik lost by a 12-4 major to Byron Getchell, of Maple River-USC.  He ended his final season of high school wrestling with a 21-12 record.

•  Myles Reichmann (26-17), who joined Wildman as section champion from the previous week, went 0-2 at state at 172 pounds.  Reichmann lost to the fourth-seeded wrestler from Rock Ridge in the opener by a 16-1 technical fall.  That wrestler won 3-2 in the next round to give Reichmann another chance, but he lost a 12-5 decision to Virstol Short, of Simley, to end the season with a 26-17 record.

“If you had told me we would have had two state wrestlers, I would have been happy, but to have five going to state is unreal,” coach Rankin said following the section tourney.  “For all the things we’ve dealt with this year and then to have five guys compete at state; I’m so proud of this team.”

State Class AA Tourney

Minnewaska results:

107:  Landon Schiffler (1-2) . . . lost to Kyle Stangl, Pierz pin in 1:17; pin Conner Aspenson, Chisago Lakes 1:49; lost by pin in 4:02 to Davey Maldonado, Rocori

114:  Miles Wildman (3-2) . . . def Aidan Carlson, Mahtomedi, 15-0 tfall; pin Roman McKinney, Pine City-H-F, :39; lost to Austin Gryzywinski, Simley, 5-0; def Tucker Skluzacek, Tri-City, 9-4; lost to Bennett Kujawa, Becker, 6-0

133:  Chase Smith (1-2) . . . def Tate Olson, Delano, 5-1; lost to Alex Lehman, Grand Rapids, 12-2 major; lost to Tomas Ochocki, South St. Paul 6-5

160:  Jayce Kovarik (0-2) . . . lost to Luke Swanson, Kasson-Mantorville, 17-2 tfall; lost to Byron Getchell, Maple River/USC, 12-4 major

172:  Myles Reichmann (0-2) . . . lost to Damian Tapio, Rock Ridge, 16-1 tfall; lost to Vristol Short, Simley, 12-5

Check out more photos in our photo gallery!