By Jim Rueda
Free Press Sports Editor
ST. PAUL — It’s probably safe to say the Le Sueur-Henderson wrestlers peaked at the right time.
The Giants came to the Class A tournament at Xcel Energy Center with four individual qualifiers, and all four are assured of medals.
Brett Pfarr (140 pounds) and Josh Willaert (171) will be wrestling for championships today while Brett Schwartz (130) and Sam Lindgren (152) will be looking to place.
“That’s pretty cool to have all of us medal,” Pfarr said. “I think that’s a pretty big accomplishment for our team.”
Pfarr took on Skyler Quamme of Kenyon-Wanamingo in a semifinal match Friday, and after a feeling-out process the first two periods, he came through with a pin in 4:39.
“He was a little tough to figure out because he’s so tall,” Pfarr said. “I finally got to him when we got down on the mat for awhile.”
Pfarr is matched up against top-ranked Tony Vaske of River Valley in today’s championship. Vaske won the first two meetings between the two, but Pfarr beat him in their most recent match at the section finals.
Willaert had to wrestle Nick Dorschner of Martin County West in his 171-pound semifinal. The two traded tosses and nearfall points for most of two periods before Willaert got a pin in 3:39.
“It was a little wild out there at the beginning,” Willaert said. “I just kept working and working, and it felt like he was gassed right when I pinned him.
“I had a lot of butterflies on the first day of the tournament, but I wrestled a lot better in the second and third rounds. My goal was to wrestle (Ben) McPhail so we’ll see what happens.”
McPhail is Class A’s No. 1-ranked 171-pounder from Pine Island. He reached the final with an 8-5 win over third-rated Brock Claeys of Canby.
Madelia-Truman/Martin Luther’s Alex Cooling nearly played the role of giant killer Friday, pushing No. 1-rated Jake Long of West Central Area before losing a 6-5 decision in the 145-pound semifinals.
The rest of the area’s Class A semifinalists also came up short in their opening matches Friday. Maple River’s Zach Kuhns (103 pounds) was shut out 9-0 by No. 1-rated Isaac Novacek of Badger/Greenbush-Middle River at 103; Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial’s Taner Trembley (112) dropped a 13-1 major decision to top-rated Hayden Zillmer of Crosby-Ironton; LSH’s Schwartz (130) was pinned in 4:38 by second-rated Alex Anderson of Martin County West; and New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva’s top-ranked David Lindell gave up a takedown in the final second to lose to Jon Gorter of Pipestone Area 4-3.
