Area wrestlers bring home state medals

     Walker-Hackensack-Akeley/Nevis’ Dillon McGee and United North Central’s Tom Tellers advanced to championship matches while Park Rapids’ Justin Dravis and Ashton Clark also brought home medals from the state Class A wrestling tournament.

     McGee finished second at 106 pounds, Tellers finished second at 145, Dravis finished third at 160 and Clark finished fifth at 106 during Saturday’s finals at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

     Also competing at state were Park Rapids’ Nolan Booge at 132, Jared Sunram at 138 and Cody Dravis at 152.

McGee, Tellers reach finals

     McGee entered Friday’s first round of the state tournament seeded No. 6 at 106 while Tellers was the No. 1 seed at 145.

     McGee, a sophomore at Nevis, opened by pinning Frazee’s Michael Miller in 1:21 and defeating Minneota’s Brant Buysse 8-4 in the quarterfinals. Miller was the No. 11 seed while Buysse was seeded No. 3.

     In Saturday’s semifinals, McGee pinned Lake Crystal-Wellcome’s Caleb Clobes in 3:31. Clobes was the No. 7 seed.

     McGee was denied a state title with a 17-3 major decision loss to top-seeded Jeron Matson of Kenyon-Wanamingo. Matson, a freshman, ended the season with a 44-1 record while McGee finished at 33-7.

     Tellers, who finished fifth at 138 pounds at last year’s state meet, defeated Eden Valley-Watkins’ Tyler Dockendorf 3-0, United South Central’s Adam Knutson 8-3 and Badger-Greenbush-Middle River’s Nick Kaml 7-6 to reach the finals. Dockendorf was the No. 16 seed, Knutson was the No. 8 seed and Kaml (who defeated Tellers for the Section 8A title) was the No. 4 seed.

     In Saturday’s finals, Minneota’s Bryce Bruner edged Tellers 3-0. Bruner was the No. 2 seed and capped off his senior season with a 43-3 record. Tellers capped off his senior season with a 37-6 mark.

Dravis, Clark bring home medals

     Justin Dravis and Clark fulfilled their goals by earning medals from the state tournament.

     Dravis, who placed fourth at 152 at last year’s state meet, entered his third state tournament as the No. 5 seed. The Park Rapids junior opened with a 4-1 decision over Pierz’s Lane Girtz before being thrown into the wrestlebacks with a 7-1 loss to Staples-Motley’s Alex Erpelding in the quarterfinals.

     In the wrestlebacks, Dravis pinned Kenyon-Wanamingo’s Dylan Craig in 1:46, defeated Border West’s Carter Behrens 7-4 and edged Caledonia’s Jacob Winjum 1-0 to advance to the third-place match.

     Dravis, the Section 8A champion, captured his second state medal with an 8-2 decision over Royalton-Upsala’s Brad Kroll. Dravis ended the season with a 41-6 record.

     Aitkin’s Noah Landrus edged Erpelding 8-6 in the title match to cap a 43-1 senior season. Erpelding finished his junior season at 40-3. Landrus was the No. 2 seed while Erpelding was the No. 4 seed. Kroll was the No. 1 seed, Girtz was the No. 12 seed, Craig was the No. 13 seed, Behrens was the No. 16 seed and Winjum was the No. 6 seed.

     In the 106 bracket, Clark was the No. 4 seed and opened with a 12-0 major decision over Deer River’s Trey Fairbanks and a 3-1 decision over Staples-Motley’s Spencer Miller. Clark also defeated both of those wrestlers during the regular season.

     Kenyon-Wanamingo’s Jeron Matson pinned Clark in 1:07 to advance to the finals. Clark rebounded from a 4-0 loss to Sibley East’s Dayne Morton in the wrestlebacks to defeat Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa’s Canon Swanson 6-0 in the fifth-place match. Morton defeated Clobes 10-2 for third place.

     Clark, who won the Section 8A title, ended his freshman season with a 40-4 record. Fairbanks was seeded No. 13, Miller was seeded No. 5, Morton was the No. 2 seed and Swanson was the No. 8 seed.

Booge, Sunram pick up wins

     Booge and Sunram both won matches at the state tournament for the first time.

     Booge, the Section 8A runner-up, pinned Border West’s Tracer Lee in 3:23 in his state debut before dropping an 8-2 decision to Maple River’s Lincoln Arndt in the quarterfinals. Arndt was the No. 14 seed.

     In the wrestlebacks, Booge received a win over Jackson County Central’s Jacob Tvinnereim by injury default before being eliminated with a 6-0 loss to St. Charles’ Alan Spaeth. Booge, who was the No. 11 seed, ended his junior season with a 34-11 record.

     New London-Spicer’s Thomason Stageberg backed up his No. 1 seed with a 5-3 decision over Spectrum’s Ryan Killeen in the finals. Killeen was the No. 10 seed. Frazee’s Ethan Byer, the No. 5 seed, defeated Spaeth, the No. 7 seed, for third place while Adrian’s Ryan Elias, the No. 12 seed, defeated Arndt for fifth place. Lee was the No. 6 seed and Tvinnereim was the No. 3 seed.

     Sunram also won a match in his second state trip.

     The Park Rapids junior received the No. 16 seed and drew No. 1 Ryan Keach of Dover-Eyota in the first round, Keach pinned Sunram in 1:35, but Sunram received another match when Keach defeated Adrian’s Logan Nelson 8-3 in the quarterfinals.

     Sunram stayed alive with a 6-4 overtime win over Nelson before being eliminated with a 12-0 loss to Osakis’ Brendon Coyer. Sunram ended his season with a 30-9 record.

     Keach pinned Frazee’s Grant Jepson in 3:17 in the championship match. Jepson, who defeated Sunram in the Section 8A title match, was the No. 2 seed. Chatfield’s Jake Mandt defeated Coyer 10-7 for third place while Minneota’s Kyle Hennen defeated Norwood-Young America’s Wallace Michels 7-2 for fifth place. Mandt was the No. 6 seed, Coyer was the No. 5 seed, Hennen was the No. 4 seed and Michels was the No. 3 seed.

     Cody Dravis had a tough draw in his second trip to state.

     Dravis received the No. 8 seed and opened against B-B-E’s Colby Schramel, the No. 9 seed. Schramel prevailed 8-4 to advance.

     When Schramel upset No. 1-seeded Dietrich Balsbaugh of Trinity School at River Ridge, Dravis earned another match. However, Dravis was eliminated with a 13-4 loss to Balsbaugh. Dravis ended the season with a 13-4 record.

     Goodhue’s Bailee O’Reilly, the No. 4 seed, defeated Aitkin’s Jeron Novak, the No. 15 seed, 3-1 in the finals, Pierz’s Kolton Eischens, the No. 3 seed, defeated Adrian’s Michael Preuss, the No. 6 seed, 15-7 in the third-place match while Balsbaugh defeated Schramel 5-3 for fifth place.