Four Huskies boys qualify for state
Owatonna sophomore Jacob Wilson holds his Albert Lea Area opponent down. Wilson lost the championship match, but won his bout for true second via fall to earn another trip to state. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
Four Owatonna Huskies boys wrestlers qualified for the state individual tournament at the Section 1AAA meet in Rochester last weekend as Miles Aase, Marcus Sorensen, Jacob Wilson and Carter Flatland all punched their ticket to the Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul.
The Huskies will join three girls – Kayla Pastika, Lucinda Ornelas and Aliah Fischer – at the state individual tournament beginning on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 9 a.m.
Section action began with Aase, who earned his way to state by finishing as runner-up at 107 pounds with a 3-1 record.
The sophomore had two byes to begin his bracket before beating Northfield’s Liam Maley by fall in the second period to make his way to the championship match.
Aase was unable to overpower Rochester Century’s Lane Royston in a 7-4 decision loss for the section title, but his win over Maley in the semifinals proved crucial.
Maley went on to take third place, and in a format where wrestle back opportunities are not awarded to previous opponents, Aase was given the win by rule to secure second place.
Owatonna didn’t have to wait long for its second state qualifier as 114-pounder Mason Sorensen won the section title by pinning Northfield’s Easton Johnston in the second period.
Sorensen was awarded a first-round bye but then went to work by pinning Rochester John Marshall’s (RJM) Ezra Ladewig in 30 seconds and beating Austin’s Cameron Riedl by fall to advance to the section finals.
Sorensen found himself in some trouble early against Johnston in the title match, but eventually turned his opponent and earned the pin, much to the excitement of the large Huskies’ fan base in attendance.
The next man up was Owatonna’s Wilson at 121 pounds and the sophomore made it a perfect three-straight state qualifiers by finishing as a runner-up.
Wilson was given a first-round bye before beating RJM’s Cy Churchill and Austin’s Jaydn Xiquita both by fall to earn his way to the championship.
The sophomore stumbled in a 6-2 decision loss to Albert Lea Area’s Devon Groess in the finals, but he came in clutch by pinning Rochester Mayo’s Kaleb Oleson with four seconds left in the first period of the true-second match to punch his ticket to state.
Owatonna took a small breather during the middle weights before senior 189-pounder Flatland took the mat for his title match.
Flatland was given an opening-round bye before earning two wins by fall over Rochester Century’s Danny Hernandez-Orellana and Rochester Mayo’s Jayce Verna for a spot in the finals.
He squared off with Albert Lea Area’s Trent Ignaszewski for the 189-pound championship, but found himself on the wrong side of a 14-6 major decision.
Much like Aase, Flatland was still able to secure second place automatically by rule as his previous opponent, Verna, had won the third place match.
The Huskies had two close misses on the day as well with senior Riley Kreeger and freshman Gabe Robb falling just short of qualifying in third place.
Kreeger began his day with a quick 49-second pin against Albert Lea Area’s Noel Yanes, but lost his semifinal matchup against Rochester Mayo’s Kellen Burger to be sent to the consolation bracket.
The senior rebounded well with a pin in the consolation semifinals and another in the third-place match, but received bad news when Burger was beaten in the finals and given the automatic win over Kreeger for second place.
Robb’s season ended in heartbreaking fashion soon after Kreeger’s when the freshman was bested in his match for second place.
After securing a win by fall in the quarterfinals and a technical fall in the semifinals, Robb wrestled Albert Lea Area’s Malakai Olson for the section title, but came up short in a 10-7 sudden victory loss.
Robb was relegated to the second-place match against Rochester Mayo’s Andrew Trimble and saw his season end with the sound of the referee’s hand slapping the mat after Trimble pinned him in the first period.
