Huskies send nine off to state
Owatonna’s Isabelle Townley works to advance her position on her opponent at the Simley Girls Invtiational. Townley recently took second place at sections to qualify for state as a senior. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
Owatonna boys and girls wrestling will be well represented at the state tournament this year with nine Huskies wrestlers qualifying for the individual tournament.
Six boys and three girls will make the trip north to the Xcel Energy Center and all eyes will be on a mixture of veterans and newcomers to bring home a title.
Owatonna’s girls’ team will be led by two experienced state competitors in Aliah Fischer and Isabelle Townley.
The former was a Section 1 girls title winner at 148 pounds who paved her way back to St. Paul by sweeping her competition in a 3-0 weekend at Rochester Century High School.
Fischer is competing in 2024-25 as a freshman and coming off of a fifth-place podium finish at state as an eighth-grader.
She currently holds a 25-5 record and is looking like a top contender for a state title heading into March.
Joining her will be senior teammate Isabelle Townley, who is coming off a second-place finish at the section tournament.
Townley has won a plethora of tournaments this season at her 106-pound weight class and competed at the state tournament two seasons ago.
Joining Fischer and Townley to make her state debut will be 136-pounder Mckayla Selle.
A stellar 5-1 display at the section tournament earned Selle a spot under the bright lights, where she’ll be hoping to be a turn heads and reach a podium spot.
On the boys side, Owatonna will be represented by Kaden Lindquist (107 pounds), Jacob Wilson (114), Gabe Robb (121), Lane Karsten (133), R.J. Reinardy (172) and Blake Fitcher (285.)
Lindquist and Fitcher came into the section tournament as heavy favorites and were able to secure their titles behind 2-0 performances.
Both will be making their return to state and hungry for some revenge after losing their first-round matchups at the Xcel Energy Center last season.
More state veterans include Karsten and Reinardy, who both last competed in the big tournament in 2022-23.
The duo of seniors will be looking to prove themselves one last time in their final meet as Huskies.
Making their state debuts for Owatonna boys’ wrestling will be Wilson and Robb.
Wilson’s enters the tournament as a 21-17 junior while Robb will have plenty of experience to gain as a 20-14 eighth-grader.
The boys state individual tournament will kick off on Friday, Feb. 28 at 9 a.m.
Girls competition will begin the following day on Saturday, March 1 at 9 a.m.