Snyder, Roberts to compete at state tournament

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

With the sun going down on the horizon, Simon Snyder capped off a busy day at the Wadena-Deer Creek High School gym with his second pin of the tournament to capture his second straight Section 6A championship on Saturday. 

Snyder, who had a bye in the first round of the tournament, secured a pin at the 3:52 mark of his semi-finals match over Gaven Cimbura of Osakis, before pinning Cayden Kimber of Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie in the finals at the 4:46 mark to win the 160 lbs. championship. 

While Snyder was the lone individual champion for the Eagles, he won’t be the only wrestler advancing to the state tournament. 

Bode Roberts took second place at 220 lbs. to also advance to state. Roberts also picked up a pair of wins in the opening two rounds of the tournament to advance to the section finals against Will Rustan of West Central Area. Prior to the finals, Roberts’ longest match lasted just 1:12.

In addition to Snyder and Roberts, eight other Eagle wrestlers placed at the section meet.

Senior Jon Rinerson entered the section meet as the top seed, but was upset at the last second of his semi-finals match against Brody Nachbor of Border West. Rinerson trailed 7-3 with just one minute remaining in the third period when he earned an escape and a takedown just 14 seconds later to pull within a point at 7-6. Rinerson let Nachbor up and tied the match up at 8-8 with just 19 seconds left when he earned a thrilling takedown. Unfortunately, Nachbor earned an escape as time expired to pull off the 9-8 upset. 

Rinerson earned a quick pin in the consolation bracket semi-finals to advance to the third place match. That’s when he found himself in yet another thrilling match as he earned a takedown with just 11 seconds remaining in overtime against Jeremy Blascyk of West Central Area to break a 7-7 tie and come away with the 9-7 overtime win to end his career with a 24-12 record and third place finish. 

In addition to Rinerson, Blake Unger took third place at 182 lbs. when he defeated Elias Valdovines in the opening round of the tournament by a fall. In the semi-finals, Unger came just seconds short of upsetting the eventual second place finisher, Justin Koehn, of Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie when he fell by a score of 3-1. Unger was trailing 1-0 in the third period when he secured an escape with just 49 seconds left in the match to tie the match up at 1-1. Unfortunately, Koehn earned a takedown with 29 seconds left in the match to come away with the 3-1 win. 

In the consolation bracket, Unger won by a major decision over Will Schwartz of Otter Tail Central by a score of 12-4, before securing a dominating 8-1 decision over Brandon Wheeler of Wadena-Deer Creek in the third place match. 

Other place finishers include: Carlyle Tumberg, who took sixth place at 106 lbs.; Creed Mursu, who took fourth place at 120 lbs.; Brandt Malone, who took fourth place at 145 lbs.; Jay Mindermann, who took sixth place at 152 lbs.; Ashton Lehmann, who took fourth place at 195 lbs. and Grady Roberts, who took fourth place at 285 lbs. 

Snyder and Roberts will now advance to the individual state wrestling tournament, which kicks off Friday morning at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. The individual tournament will wrap up on Saturday night. 

Snyder, who is ranked eighth in the state at 152 lbs. and has a record of 36-4 overall, will take on Blake McMullen of Mahnomen/Waubun who has a record of 27-14 overall. 

The winner of the match will take on either Jevon Williams of ACGC, who is 35-3 on the season and is ranked eighth, or Logan Kuseske of Kimball Area, who is 28-14 on the season and ranked ninth, in the quarterfinals. 

Roberts, who enters the state tournament with a record of 28-6 overall, will take on Justin Slater of Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Area in the opening round. Slater enters the state tournament with a record of 14-9 overall.

The winner of the match will take on either top ranked Ethan Boll of Crookston, who has a record of 39-1 overall, or Tyler Mix of Dover-Eyota, who enters the state tournament with a record of 35-8 overall, in the quarterfinals. 

106- 6th place- Quarterfinal – Hudson Truax (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 38-7 won by tech fall over Carlyle Tumberg (New York Mills) 10-16 (TF-1.5 2:43 (17-1)), Cons. Round 1 – Carlyle Tumberg (New York Mills) 10-16 won by decision over Gage Mallak (Wadena-Deer Creek) 3-20 (Dec 5-0), Cons. Semi – Brock Martig (Border West Buccaneers) 15-11 won by tech fall over Carlyle Tumberg (New York Mills) 10-16 (TF-1.5 3:56 (16-0)), 5th Place Match – Isaac Bergren (Pelican Rapids) 21-23 won by decision over Carlyle Tumberg (New York Mills) 10-16 (Dec 7-0)

113- Quarterfinal – Simon Jacobson (Osakis) 26-20 won by major decision over Finn Wallgren (New York Mills) 7-12 (MD 11-1), Cons. Round 1 – Hudson Schultz (Wadena-Deer Creek) 7-15 won by fall over Finn Wallgren (New York Mills) 7-12 (Fall 2:40)

120- 4th place- Quarterfinal – Creed Mursu (New York Mills) 27-17 won by injury default over Zackery Bruder (Osakis) 13-24 (Inj. 4:31), Semifinal – Jed Carlson (Pelican Rapids) 31-12 won by major decision over Creed Mursu (New York Mills) 27-17 (MD 14-2), Cons. Semi – Creed Mursu (New York Mills) 27-17 won by fall over Zach Rikimoto (Border West Buccaneers) 15-19 (Fall 1:32), 3rd Place Match – James Seelhammer (Wadena-Deer Creek) 14-18 won by decision over Creed Mursu (New York Mills) 27-17 (Dec 10-4)

138- Quarterfinal – Deagen Captain (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 28-7 won by fall over Elijah Geiser (New York Mills) 4-21 (Fall 0:30), Cons. Round 1 – Peyton Forcier (Border West Buccaneers) 25-15 won by major decision over Elijah Geiser (New York Mills) 4-21 (MD 17-6)

145- 4th place- Quarterfinal – Brandt Malone (New York Mills) 13-11 won in tie breaker – 1 over Conner Nelson (OTC) 8-27 (TB-1 7-6), Semifinal – Hunter Gruchow (West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville) 42-6 won by fall over Brandt Malone (New York Mills) 13-11 (Fall 0:33), Cons. Semi – Brandt Malone (New York Mills) 13-11 won by fall over Tucker Hagen (Osakis) 14-19 (Fall 0:21), 3rd Place Match – Kevin Casper (Border West Buccaneers) 14-18 won by decision over Brandt Malone (New York Mills) 13-11 (Dec 2-0)

152- 6th place- Quarterfinal – Jay Mindermann (New York Mills) 18-20 won by fall over Kolby Peters (West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville) 11-20 (Fall 4:18), Semifinal – Kale Drevlow (Osakis) 32-8 won by fall over Jay Mindermann (New York Mills) 18-20 (Fall 3:39), Cons. Semi – Blake Sumstad (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 18-21 won by major decision over Jay Mindermann (New York Mills) 18-20 (MD 8-0), 5th Place Match – Levi Evavold (OTC) 4-15 won by fall over Jay Mindermann (New York Mills) 18-20 (Fall 0:43)

160- 1st place- Quarterfinal – Simon Snyder (New York Mills) 36-4 received a bye () (Bye), Semifinal – Simon Snyder (New York Mills) 36-4 won by fall over Gaven Cimbura (Osakis) 34-11 (Fall 3:52), 1st Place Match – Simon Snyder (New York Mills) 36-4 won by fall over Cayden Kimber (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 26-21 (Fall 4:46)

170- 3rd place- Quarterfinal – Jon Rinerson (New York Mills) 24-12 received a bye () (Bye), Semifinal – Brody Nachbor (Border West Buccaneers) 34-12 won by decision over Jon Rinerson (New York Mills) 24-12 (Dec 9-8), Cons. Semi – Jon Rinerson (New York Mills) 24-12 won by fall over Xavier Lewis (OTC) 1-10 (Fall 0:46), 3rd Place Match – Jon Rinerson (New York Mills) 24-12 won in sudden victory – 1 over Jeremy Blascyk (West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville) 18-25 (SV-1 9-7), 2nd Place Match – Brody Nachbor (Border West Buccaneers) 34-12 won by no contest over Jon Rinerson (New York Mills) 24-12 (NC)

182- 3rd place- Quarterfinal – Blake Unger (New York Mills) 22-17 won by fall over Elias Valdovines (Pelican Rapids) 8-28 (Fall 1:30), Semifinal – Justin Koehn (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 23-19 won by decision over Blake Unger (New York Mills) 22-17 (Dec 3-1), Cons. Semi – Blake Unger (New York Mills) 22-17 won by major decision over William Schwartz (OTC) 5-26 (MD 12-4), 3rd Place Match – Blake Unger (New York Mills) 22-17 won by decision over Brandon Wheeler (Wadena-Deer Creek) 19-18 (Dec 8-1), 2nd Place Match – Justin Koehn (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 23-19 won by no contest over Blake Unger (New York Mills) 22-17 (NC)

195- 4th place- Quarterfinal – Ashton Lehmann (New York Mills) 2-7 won by fall over Carson Sanford (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 1-7 (Fall 0:50), Semifinal – Koby Endres (Wadena-Deer Creek) 37-2 won by fall over Ashton Lehmann (New York Mills) 2-7 (Fall 0:48), Cons. Semi – Ashton Lehmann (New York Mills) 2-7 received a bye () (Bye), 3rd Place Match – Conner Koep (Osakis) 18-21 won by fall over Ashton Lehmann (New York Mills) 2-7 (Fall 2:59)

220- 2nd place- Quarterfinal – Bode Roberts (New York Mills) 28-6 won by fall over Brett Reinke (Wadena-Deer Creek) 5-17 (Fall 1:07), Semifinal – Bode Roberts (New York Mills) 28-6 won by fall over Kaden Holt (Pelican Rapids) 15-7 (Fall 1:12), 1st Place Match – Will Rustan (West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville) 28-14 won by fall over Bode Roberts (New York Mills) 28-6 (Fall 3:45), 2nd Place Match – Bode Roberts (New York Mills) 28-6 won by no contest over Kaden Holt (Pelican Rapids) 15-7 (NC)

285- 4th place- Quarterfinal – Matthew Wegscheid (Wadena-Deer Creek) 24-10 won by fall over Grady Roberts (New York Mills) 21-13 (Fall 1:12), Cons. Round 1 – Grady Roberts (New York Mills) 21-13 received a bye () (Bye), Cons. Semi – Grady Roberts (New York Mills) 21-13 won by fall over Zachary Winkle (Osakis) 15-24 (Fall 1:38), 3rd Place Match – Kale Rich (OTC) 24-16 won by decision over Grady Roberts (New York Mills) 21-13 (Dec 4-1)