The F/MCC Warriors sent three individuals to the NYWA Youth State Wrestling Tournament held in Rochester, MN on April 4th-7th. In order to qualify for the State Tournament, individuals must first place 1st or 2nd at a district meet. This qualifies the wrestler for the Regional Tournament where the individual must place in the top three to advance to State.
The first wrestler to represent the Warriors was Levi Lewis, who was competing in the Kindergarten 70# weight class. Lewis took 5th in 2018 as a preschooler in this same bracket and he had his eyes set on the top step of the podium this season.
Lewis received a first round bye and then made quick work of Henry Bentson of Redwood Valley in the second round with a :19 Fall. He over-powered his semi-final opponent Isaiah Engels of Chaska/Chanhassen and secured a 13-4 major decision.
In the state championship Levi would face off against a familiar opponent in Levi Bullerman Jr. of Marshall. The two Levi’s have faced off against each other a handful of times throughout the season, most recently the two faced off in the regional finals two weeks prior when Lewis came out on top. This time around Lewis would get on top of Bullerman and use his strength to put him to his back and pin him midway through the 3rd period.
Levi Lewis is the first youth State Champion in many years and the first under the guidance of Head Coach Philip Clarke. Levi is the son of Ben and Olivia Lewis.
The next wrestler to compete for the Warriors would be Truman Olsem in the 1st/2nd Grade 130# weight class. Truman would make quick work of his first two opponents with a 1:11 Fall over Wyatt Hendrickson of NRHEG and a :49 Fall over Gabriel Zwack of Bemidji.
In his semi-final match, Truman would use a pair of perfectly executed take-downs to gain the upper hand on Messiah Vizenor of Foley. In what would turn out to be an exciting back and forth match, the young warrior would come out on top with a 10-7 victory and solidify his place in the state finals.
Like Lewis earlier, Truman would be facing off against the same opponent he wrestled in the regional finals two weeks prior. His opponent, Aaron Becker of Fairmont/MCW used his size to gain control of Truman and ended up putting him to his back and pinning him midway through the second period. Becker would end up being named the NYWA Outstanding Wrestler in the 1st/2nd Grade division.
The final Warrior competing in the state tournament was Owen Olsem. Owen was out matched in both of his matches as he was facing off against a pair of very experienced wrestlers. The experience will pay future dividends for the hard-working 5th grader. Truman and Owen are the sons of Ryan and Melissa Olsem.
Also taking place in Rochester over the weekend was the State Invite Tournament. Individuals that did not qualify for the State Tournament are invited to wrestle in Invite Tournament. Below are the Invite tournament results.
Weston Kruger – 1st Place
Max Prahm – 2nd Place
Kaston Clarke – 2nd Place
Brayden Gilb – 3rd Place
Gavin Wynia – 3rd Place
Micah Tentinger – 3rd Place
George Rosenbrook – 4th Place
Lucas Kuball – 4th Place
Colby Kesteloot – 4th Place
Quintin Lewis – 4th Place
