Nevis' Collin Huckbody and United North Central's Taylor Carlson brought home medals from the state Class A wrestling tournament.
Huckbody, who was rated No. 1 at 182 pounds entering the state tournament, finished sixth while Carlson, who was rated No. 2 at 220 pounds, finished fifth during Saturday's finals at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
During Friday's first round, Huckbody pinned Jackson County Central's Tanner Menke in 1:55 and defeated Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale's Dillon Card 7-4 to advance to the semifinals.
Lake City's Will Balow pinned Huckbody in 3:12 in Saturday's semifinals and Wabasha's Porter Secrist pinned the Nevis senior in 2:55 in the wrestlebacks. Huckbody had to settle for sixth place after forfeiting to Card with an injury.
Huckbody, who advanced to state as the Section 8A champion, ended the year with a 35-4 record. Balow defeated Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa's Patrick Rooney 13-4 in the title match while Secrist defeated United South Central's Colten Carlson 5-2 for third place. Rooney was rated No. 2, Card was rated No. 3, Secrist was rated No. 4, Carlson was rated No. 6 and Balow was rated No. 8 entering the state tournament.
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In the 220-pound division, Carlson opened with a 3-0 decision over Sibley East's Miah DuFrane and a 4-2 decision over Goodhue's Ryan Tipcke to advance to Saturday's semifinals.
Atwater's Lucas Damm edged Carlson 4-2 in overtime to advance to the finals. Barnesville's Kyle Johnson defeated Carlson 3-1 in overtime before Carlson was awarded fifth place when Walker-Hackensack-Akeley/Nevis' Christopher Zimmer had to forfeit with an injury default. Carlson ended his junior season with a 37-6 record. Carlson defeated Zimmer in the Section 8A championship match.
Damm pinned Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg's Chase Norton in 2:51 in the title match while Tipcke defeated Johnson 2-1 for third place. Damm was rated No. 3 and Johnson was rated No. 8 at 220 while Zimmer was rated No. 2 at 195 pounds entering the state tournament. Zimmer ended his senior season with a 22-8 record.
United North Central's other two state qualifiers were eliminated Friday.
Jake Malone opened the 126-pound bracket with a 2-1 loss to Sibley East's Jason Meyer and was eliminated when Meyer dropped a 13-6 decision to B-B-E's Tyler Tensen in the quarterfinals. Meyer was rated No. 10 entering state. Malone, who entered state rated No. 6 at 126, ended his senior season with a 35-2 record. Malone qualified for state as the Section 8A champion.
Senior Max Pajari, who entered the state tournament rated No. 9 at 138 pounds, dropped a 10-3 decision to Aitkin's Brian Wold in the first round. When Wold pinned Chatfield's Alex Haffner in 5:56, Pajari was given another match. Pajari's state tournament ended in the wrestlebacks with an 8-5 loss to Haffner, who was rated No. 5. Pajari ended the season with a 35-8 record. Pajari advanced to state as the Section 8A runner-up.
Kyllonen falls in state debut
Park Rapids junior John Kyllonen also had a short stay at the state Class AA wrestling tournament.
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Waconia's Max Bullock defeated Kyllonen 10-4 during Friday's first round in the 182-pound division. Kyllonen was denied another match when Foley's Tyler Midas defeated Bullock 9-2 in the quarterfinals. Midas, who was rated No. 6, went on to finish fourth.
Top-ranked Jamison Evans of Grand Rapids defeated No. 2-rated Christian DuLaney of Benilde-St. Margarets 3-0 in the title match to cap a 40-0 season.
Kyllonen, who qualified for his first state tournament by winning the Section 8AA title at 182 pounds, ended the season with a 29-9 record.
