STATE BOUND

Steele County’s wrestling programs will be well represented this week at the Minnesota State High School Wrestling Tournament in St. Paul as 22 area wrestlers have qualified for competition.
It’s believed to be the most to qualify for state from this area in recent memory.
Leading the pack for Steele County is Owatonna with eight individual wrestlers, including six boys and two girls. Medford has six wrestlers competing while NRHEG will have five and Westfield rounds out the area teams with three qualifiers.
Capturing first place at this past weekend’s section tournaments include:
Owatonna: Lane Karsten, 113; Cael Robb, 132; Landen Johnson, 160 and Jacob Reinardy, 170. Girls: Rian Grunwald, 114.
Medford: Luis Lopez, 106; Tommy Elwood, 126; Charley Elwood, 138; Garron Hoffman, 152 and Tate Hermes, 160.
Westfield: Bo Zwiener, 120 and Tyler Archer, 170.
NRHEG: Ralph Roesler, 195.
Runner-up finishers at section also qualified for state. They are:
Owatonna: Kanin Hable, 145 and Andrew Nirk, 195.
NRHEG: Nikolas Petsinger, 132; Ben Hagen, 220 and Makota Misgen, 285. Girls: Isabella Townley, 107 and Annabelle Petsinger, 120.
Medford: Dylan Heiderscheidt, 182.
Westfield: Cade Christianson, 138.
All 22 wrestlers will compete for state wrestling titles during the individual tournament Friday and Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
For more on the success of these area athletes, turn to sports in the B Section.