Five area athletes qualified for state competition over the weekend.
Park Rapids senior Bryce Klasen qualified for the state Class A boys swimming meet in two events during Saturday's finals of the Section 3A meet at Hutchinson. Klasen met the state cut time with a 2:09.18 in the 200-yard individual medley and advanced with a runner-up 1:02.46 in the 100-yard breaststroke. Klasen will swim preliminaries at state on Friday at the University of Minnesota Aquatics Center.
Four area wrestlers qualified for state during Saturday's finals of the Section 8A and Section 8AA tournaments. United North Central's Josh Meech won the Section 8A title at 152 pounds while teammates Jacob Malone (at 112 pounds) and Zach Nevala (at heavyweight) finished second at the Section 8A meet at Dilworth. At the Section 8AA meet at Cass Lake, Walker-Hackensack-Akeley/Nevis' Luke Conger won a true-second match at 119 pounds to qualify for state. The state Class A and Class AA tournaments begin Wednesday and conclude Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center.
Another area athlete - Nevis senior Micah Richards - competed at the state Class A gymnastics meet Friday at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion. Richards finished 25th overall on balance beam with a score of 8.075.
See Wednesday's edition of the Enterprise for complete details from these events.
