Alexandria’s Nolan Fettig missed the last month of wrestling with an injury but was healthy enough to compete in the MSHSL Section 8-2A Individual Tournament on Friday and Saturday in Park Rapids.

Fettig, a junior, made the most of opportunities as he went 3-0 at the tournament to win the 127-pound section title.

After an opening round by a pin against United Clay Becker’s Trevor Whipple (fall 1:08) in the quarterfinals, Fettig had a tough battle with Brian Berg of Thief River Falls in the semifinals. Fettig beat Berg by a 7-5 decision in the semifinals. Fettig defeated Perham’s Peyton Trout by a 13-7 decision in the championship match to punch his ticket to the 2025 MSHSL Class 2A Individual State Tournament.

Fettig isn’t the only Alexandria Cardinal who is headed to the state wrestling tournament.

With a second place finish in the 172-pound bracket, Alexandria senior Landon Day qualified for the state tournament. Day earned a 15-0 technical fall (3:11) win over Roseau’s Owen Cummings, then defeated Brennen Johnson by a 12-9 decision to get to the championship match.

Perham’s Tiegan Detloff earned a 19-4 win by technical fall (1:07) in the championship match.

Day had to wrestle a true second place match to earn his spot in the state tournament. Day pinned Dllworth-Glyndon-Felton’s TJ Fuller (fall 0:38) in the true second place match to earn his spot in the state tournament.

Minnewaska has a trio of wrestlers heading to the state tournament as well. Sophomore Miles Wildman won the 121-pound Section 8-2A bracket, while sophomore Landon Schiffler placed second at 107 pounds and senior Chase Smith placed second at 133 pounds.

Wildman pinned Fergus Falls’ Casey Cole (fall 1:53), and Detroit Lakes’ Jared Ohm Mehrer in the semifinals (fall 4:38). Wildman beat Perham’s Dresdan Wegscheid by a 10-7 decision in the championship match at 107 pounds.

Schiffler pinned Park Rapids’ Kaiden Dykhoff (fall 0:41), and United Clay Becker’s Finnian Obermoller (fall 1:04) to get into the finals. DGF’s Kayleb Kosen earned a 7-3 decision over Schiffler in the championship match at 107 pounds. Schiffler pinned Alexandria’s Brock Manderschied in the true second place match (fall 0:56) to secure a spot in the state tournament.

Smith earned a 22-6 technical fall (3:30) over Pequot Lakes-Pine River-Backus’ Owen Dabill and a 4-0 decision over Detroit Lakes’ Talan Baker to get to the championship match at 133 pounds. DGF’s Jacob Luepke pinned Smith (fall 5:29) in the championship match, but Smith bounced back by pinning Fergus Falls’ Kaasten Hartwell (fall 1:36) in the true second place match.

The MSHSL Class 2A Championships are set to begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The placement and championship matches begin at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, 2025.

2025 Section 8-2A Individual Tournament

ALEXANDRIA INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Name, Weight, Place, Record at Tournament) – Brock Manderschied, 107, 3rd, 5-2; Logan Becker, 114, 4th, 2-2; Connor Malone, 121, 5th, 2-3; Nolan Fettig, 127, 1st, 3-0; Connor Zirbes, 133, 5th, 4-2; Mason Evjen, 139, 5th, 2-2; Luke Kelly, 145, 8th, 1-2; Zachary Richards, 152, 4th, 2-2; Zachary Brezina, 160, 5th, 4-2; Landon Day, 172, 2nd, 3-1; Grayson Timm, 189, 6th, 3-3; Luke Maanum, 215, 6th, 2-2; Jaxon Werder, 285, 0-2

MINNEWASKA INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Name, Weight, Place, Record at Tournament) – Landon Schiffler, 107, 2nd, 3-1; Alex Adams, 114, 3rd, 4-2; Miles Wildman, 121, 1st, 3-0; Austin Schuler, 127, 8th, 2-2; Chase Smith, 133, 2nd, 3-1; Isaiah Rosario, 139, 3rd, 4-2; Jude Bailer, 152, 0-2; Jack Payne, 160, 0-2; Tate Anderson, 172, 0-2; Braylen Scharmer, 189, 8th, 1-2; Riley Dell, 215, 3rd, 3-1; Noah Jensen, 285, 3rd, 3-1

15 area athletes qualify for Class A state tournament

Wrestlers from Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale-Parkers Prairie, Osakis, and West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville are headed to the 2025 MSHSL Class A State Championships, after earning top two finishes at the Section 6A Tournament in Wadena on Friday, Feb. 21.

WCA-A-B-E, who is competing in the team state tournament at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, qualified eight wrestlers to the individual state tournament.

WCA-A-B-E freshman Nathan Brethorst won the 114-pound Section 6A title, while sophomore Owen Gruchow earned first at 139, senior Hunter Gruchow earned first at 152, junior Ezekiel Sieckert earned first at 189, and senior Jeremy Blascyk earned first at 215.

Brethorst pinned Wadena-Deer Creek’s Rylan Wegscheid (fall 3:32) then beat Osakis sophomore Blake Fischer by a 6-5 decision to get to the finals. Brehorst pinned Pelican Rapids’ Danny Salazar in the 114-pound championship match (fall 2:20).

Fischer qualified for state by beating Salazar by 12-4 major decision in the true second place match. Fischer beat B-H-V-PP’s Mason Hoffman by a 2-0 decision, and Border West’s Mason Tomschin by pin (fall 1:01) earlier in the tournament.

Owen Gruchow earned a 16-9 decision over Pelican Rapids’ Jackson Presley in the semifinals and Border West’s Gunner Hennessy by a 10-4 decision in the 139-pound championship match.

Hunter Gruchow pinned Ottertail Central’s Anthony Rousu (fall 0:25) and Long Prairie-Grey Eagle-Browerville’s Dylan Recknor (fall 1:00) to get to the 152-pound championship match. Hunter Gruchow pinned Pelican Rapids’ Calvin Norton in the 152-pound championship match.

Sieckert pinned Border West’s Dylan Groebner (fall 2:43) in the semifinals, then pinned Wadena-Deer Creek’s Ettore Pinnella (fall 3:58) in the 189-pound championship match.

Blascyk beat Pelican Rapids’ Elia Valdovines by 16-0 technical fall (2:39) and then pinned Ottertail Central’s Will Schwartz (fall 3:28) in the semifinals to get to the 215-pound championship match. Blascyk pinned LPGE-B’s Tommy Miron (fall 1:13) in the championship match.

WCA-A-B-E junior Brody Brunkow (107) , freshman Evan Dingwall (127) , and sophomore Freddi Munoz (285) are also heading to the state championship with second place finishes in their respective brackets.

Brunkow pinned WDC’s Braxton Moore (fall 1:38) and beat LPGE-B’s Hayden Hiebert by a 16-10 decision in the semifinals. B-H-V-PP junior Adam Grabow defeated Brunkow by 11-0 major decision in the 107-pound championship match. Brunkow defeated New York Mills’ Oakley Kern by a 13-0 major decision in the true second place match. Grabow pinned OTC’s Colton Dolezal (fall 0:26) and Kern (fall 1:21) earlier in the tournament.

Dingwall pinned B-H-V-PP’s Logan Becker (fall 1:39), then beat Border West’s Brock Martig by 17-1 technical fall (fall 2:50) to get to the 127-pound championship match. Dingwall was defeated by LPGE-B’s Brodie Pachan in the championship match by a 16-5 major decision, but Dingwall beat NYM’s Creed Mursu by a 16-1 technical fall in the true second place match.

Along with Grabow and Shamp, B-H-V-PP senior Orran Hart (145) and junior Hudson Truax (133), are also headed to the state tournament.

Hart won the Section 6A 145-pound title and Truax placed second in the 133-pound bracket.

Hart beat Pelican Rapids’ Jaxn Heintzelman by a 17-1 technical fall (2:37), then Osakis’ Simon Jacobson by a 5-0 decision to get to the 145-pound championship match. Hart beat Border West’s Jude Olson by a 3-2 decision in the championship match.

Truax defeated LPGE-B’s John Paul Buntjer by a 19-4 technical fall (5:35) then WDC’s Hudson Schultz to get to the 133-pound finals. Osakis senior Reggie George defeated Truax by a 7-2 decision in the 133-pound championship match. Truax beat Border West’s Tucker Hennessy by a 1-0 in the true second place match. George pinned WCA-A-B-E’s Cristian Ponce (fall 1:57) and Tucker Hennessy by a 10-1 major decision in the semifinals.

Along with George and Fischer, Osakis sophomore Ashton Pastian (121) secured a spot in the state tournament. Pastian pinned WDC’s Logan Seelhammer (fall 3:38) and beat B-H-V-PP’s Merrick Hoffman by a 13-2 major decision to get to the 121-pound championship match. Pastian pinned Border West’s Tryg Olson (fall 3:20) in the 121-pound championship match.

The MSHSL Class A State Championship begins at 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The placement matches for the Class A State Championship begin at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, 2025.

2025 Section 6A Individual Tournament

BERTHA-HEWITT-VERNDALE-PARKERS PRAIRIE RESULTS (Name, Weight, Place, Record at Tournament) – Adam Grabow, 107, 1st, 3-0; Mason Hoffman, 114, 4th, 2-2; Merrick Hoffman, 121, 5th, 2-2; Logan Becker, 127, 8th, 0-2; Hudson Truax, 133, 2nd, 3-1; Justin Olson, 139, 7th, 0-2; Orran Hart, 145, 1st, 3-0; Evan Jares, 152, 3rd, 3-1; Tanner Schulke, 160, 5th, 2-2; David Veronen, 172, 8th, 1-2; Braden Shamp, 285, 1st, 3-0

OSAKIS RESULTS (Name, Weight, Place, Record at Tournament) – Guy Steinbeisser, 107, 4th, 2-2; Blake Fischer, 114, 2nd, 3-1; Ashton Pastian, 121, 1st, 3-0; Zackery Bruder, 127, 5th, 2-2; Reggie George, 133, 1st, 3-0; Christian Nathe, 139, 6th, 1-3; Simon Jacobson, 145, 3rd, 3-1; Lukas Duchene, 152, 4th, 2-2; Tucker Hagen, 160, 4th, 2-2; Hunter Buffington, 172, 0-2; Harold Anderson, 189, 6th, 0-3; Caleb Karnes, 6th, 1-3; Gavin Muenzhuber, 285, 8th, 0-2

WEST CENTRAL AREA-ASHBY-BRANDON-EVANSVILLE RESULTS (Name, Weight, Place, Record at Tournament) – Brody Brunkow, 107, 2nd, 3-1; Nathan Brethorst, 114, 1st, 3-0; Keiran Gehrke, 121, 4th, 3-2; Evan Dingwall, 127, 2nd, 3-1; Christian Ponce, 133, 8th, 1-2; Owen Gruchow, 139, 1st, 3-0; Cody Krafthefer, 145, 8th, 0-2; Hunter Gruchow, 152, 1st, 3-0; Logon Long, 160, 6th, 1-3; Sam Olson, 172, 4th, 2-2; Ezekiel Sieckert, 189, 1st, 2-0; Jeremy Blascyk, 215, 1st, 3-0; Freddi Munoz, 285, 2nd, 2-1