Section 3AA
Entering Saturday’s Section 3AA Individual Wrestling Tournament, the Windom-Mt. Lake Area team faced an uphill battle to prevent something that hasn’t happened before.
Since the Cobra program formed in the 1994-95 season, the team has had at least one individual state qualifier every season.
To keep that streak alive, the Cobras would need to pull off some upsets.
The Cobras finished the day with six placewinners and plenty of highlights, but one stood above the others. Junior Kameron Koerner, who entered the tournament seeded sixth at 139 pounds, pulled off back-to-back upsets to advance to the championship.
Koerner opened the tournament with a fall over Dawson DeCamp of Marshall in 5:03. Then, in the semifinals, Koerner recorded a 7-1 victory over Elijah Reiser of New Ulm.
Koerner was pinned in the finals by Ben Gunlogson of Dawson-Boyd/Lac Qui Parle Valley/Montevideo United, but his semifinal win over Reiser punched Koerner’s ticket to the state tournament and kept the Cobras’ streak intact.
Koerner (34-15) will face Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran sophomore Kaleb Mead (30-5) in the opening round of the state tournament. The opening round of the Class AA portion of the tournament will start Friday at around 1 p.m.
After Koerner, the Cobras were able to capture five more section medals.
Leading the pack was junior Matthew Voehl at 121 pounds. Voehl posted a 3-2 record for the day, ending up in fourth place.
At 114 pounds, sophomore Jacob Lopez finished with a 2-2 record to place fifth. At 127 pounds, eighth-grader Hyatt Hansen went 2-2, finishing fifth. At 133 pounds, sophomore Dagen Hansen went 3-2 to finish fifth. And at 215 pounds, the team’s lone senior, Graycen Hansen, went 1-3 to finish sixth.
Section 3A
Red Rock Central had no state qualifiers, but had three medalists at the Section 3A Individual Tournament, held Saturday in St. James.
RRC had just four wrestlers taking part in the individual tournament.
Leading the way for the Falcons was Marshal Willhite, who posted a 2-2 record and placed fourth at 121 pounds. Willhite won his opening match before falling in the semifinals. He then won in the wrestlebacks before falling in the third-place bout.
Bryson Marsh (114) and Jonah Skarupa (172) each finished the day with a 1-3 record and placed sixth.
