Six area wrestlers had their tickets punched for the Xcel Energy Center in last Saturday's Section 6A Individual Wrestling Tournament.
Wadena-Deer Creek's Matt Hagen earned his first trip to the Class A state wrestling tournament in St. Paul by winning the 130-pound championship Saturday night in with a 2-1 victory over Staples-Motley's Devin Becker. Hagen earned a first round bye, then pinned West Central's Kyle Martineau in 1:55 before decisioning Otter Tail Central's Brendan Hart 10-5 for a berth in the finals.
Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale's Nate Wiese and Jake Braaten earned runner-up berths at 145 and 152 while teammates Matt Moenkedick, Wade Moenkedick and Colin Turchin claimed titles at 171, 189 and heavyweight.
Wiese nailed down his first trip to state by surviving a true second challenge from Otter Tail Central's Tanner Jorgenson, 11-4. Staples-Motley's Jordan Bendson, Class A's top-ranked 145-pounder, handed Wiese a 6-2 defeat in the section championship match.
Braaten gave himself a return trip to St. Paul by battling his way to the 152 finals. Braaten, a state-ranked wrestler, lost a 3-1 decision to Breckenridge's Stephen Erlandson.
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State-ranked Matt Moenkedick defeated Pelican Rapids' Tyler Wilson 3-2 for the 171-pound title.
Wade Moenkedick lived up to his state ranking by topping West Central Area standout Dayton Sternhagen at the 1:10 mark. Sternhagen survived a challenge by Border West's Billy Connelly to claim the runner-up spot.
Colin Turchin may have been the biggest surprise of the tournament. The Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale freshman pinned OTC's Charles Johnson in just 27 seconds. He then defeated Border West senior Reese Hanson 10-4 to reach the semifinals. Turchin turned the tables on Wadena-Deer Creek senior Eddie Lustila in the semis and scored a pin at the 5:37 mark. Lustila had pinned Turchin at the 3:28 mark in a Section 6A team tournament meeting between the two clubs Feb. 17.
Turchin pinned New York Mills junior Landyn Saewert in just 47 seconds in the championship match.
"Colin wrestled about as well as he could have and was one of the most exciting wrestlers to watch," BHV Head Coach Mike Barthel said.
The Raiders had two third-place finishers in 125-pounder Kody Graba and 215-pounder Amos Schmidt. Graba was de-railed by Pelican Rapids' Alin Bakken 8-4 but rallied in the wrestlebacks to beat WDC's Jared Wegscheid for the first time, 7-2. Schmidt lost a 5-3 decision to Parkers Prairie's Tyler Walsh but came back to pin Border West's Colter Combellick at 5:36 for third.
BHV's Justin Kern took fourth at 160 and Dakota Aeling finished fifth at 140.
Mitch Steffens and Derrick Rude placed third at 103 and 140 for the Wolverines. Steffens, who was ranked in the Class A state poll during the regular season, lost a 2-1 decision to New York Mills' Shane Novak in the second round. Steffens pinned Staples-Motley's Jordan Heldman at the 1:45 mark for third place.
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Rude, who finished the season 16-18 with 13 pins, had a superb section tournament. The sophomore lost to WCA's Jake Long in the 140 semifinals but fought back to earn a true second challenge against Parkers Prairie's Jason Arvidson. The Parkers senior stopped Rude on a fall at the 2:29 mark to earn the state trip. Rude defeated OTC's Tyler Olson at the 3:45 mark for third place.
Rude started at 119 for the Wolverines last year and had to make the difficult transition to a bigger weight class this season.
"About halfway through the year he really started wrestling well and the section was just the icing on the cake," Gallant said. "I think you are going to really see good things from him in the next two years."
Jordan Rentz and Josh Sweere captured fourth place finishes at 119 and 215. Jared and Jacob Wegscheid were fifth at 125 and 135. Isaac Lustila was fifth at 171 while Sweere placed fifth at 215. Eddie Lustila settled for sixth-place honors at heavyweight.
