5 HEADING TO STATE

Minneota will be sending five wrestlers to the Class A State Wrestling Tournament On March 2-4 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul after each qualified from the Section 5A tournament Saturday at Minnewaska Area High School.
Adam DeVlaeminck, a freshman, was the 113-pound champion; and Peyton Gillund, a senior, captured the 126-pound title.
Three other Vikings placed second to also advance to state: Zack Fier, a senior, at 152 pounds; Eli Gruenes, a sophomore, at 195 pounds; and Hudson Scholten, a senior, at 285 pounds.
This will be the third state tournament trip individually for Gillund and Fier, second for DeVlaeminck, and first for Gruenes and Scholten.
Fier placed fourth at state each of the past two seasons.
After receiving a first-round bye, DeVlaeminck(36-4), who is ranked No. 3 in his weight class, pinned Cole Froehlich of KMS in the semifinals and then captured the 113-pound title with a 5-1 win over No. 6-ranked Eli Greenman of Canby.
Gillund (34-10), ranked No. 8 at 126 pounds, had an impressive section tournament.Gillund recorded a pin his quarterfinal match, a 15-0 technical fall in the semifinals, and then another pin over 10th-ranked Brady Kiecker of BOLD in the championship.
Fier (38-2), who is rated No. 2 at 152, received a quarterfinal bye before disposing of Jose Anaya of Paynesville by a 17-2 technical fall. Fier then faced Austin Kiecker of BOLD and lost 4-3 in the championship.
Gruenes (33-11) had an extended road to state after losing his opening match to Talen Kampsen of state-bound BBE. Gruenes then reeled off a technical fall, a pin and then a 1-0 decision in the third-place match over Masyn Olson of KMS. That earned Gruenes, who is unranked, the chance to wrestle Paynesville Area's Seth Vearrier, ranked No. 9, in a true-second match. Gruenes dominated the match by a 12-4 margin to earn a trip to state.
"Eli had wrestled a very smart match against Vearrier and was able to punch his ticket to the state tournament," said Minneota coach Matt Buysse. "Adam, Peyton, Zack and Hudson we knew had a good chance of making it. They all wrestled well and were able to make it out."
Scholten (26-7), rated No. 9, won two close decisions in the quarterfinals and semifinals, before succumbing to No. 4 Spencer Eisenbraun of Paynesville Area 3-1 in the championship of the 285-pound weight class.
One other Minneota wrestler, Ezequiel Monzon (12-22), placed third at 132 pounds. Monzon lost his opening match and had to come through the wrestlebacks by notching a pin and two decisions. including a 5-4 win over Taytan Nielsen of KMS in the third-place match that avenged a 4-1 loss in the team tournament the previous weekend, Monzon then fell to Sam Drietz of Canby 15-3 in the true-second match.
"Zeke wrestled extremely well, he gave himself a chance to make it out, just came up short," said Buysse. "Zeke is an outstanding kid and he has battled way more adversity than most kids could handle. We are extremely proud of him and how he has progressed throughout the season."
Three other Minneota wrestlers made it to the medal stand for placing in the top six; Kaden Lasnetski, fourth at 103; Destin Fier, fourth at 160; Alex DePestel, fourth at 182; and Kyler Lozinski, sixth at 220.
"Overall, the team wrestled very well on Saturday," said Buysse. "We were able to battle through some tough situations and the kids gave it all they could. Having 10 kids place in this tough section was good to see and we look forward to a successful state tournament this next weekend."
Minneota results
106 pounds
KADEN LASNETSKI (23-15), 4TH PLACE - received a bye ... won by 10-2 major decision over Gavin Olson, Benson, 10-2 ... lost by 14-2 major decision to Miles Wildman, Minnewaska Area ... won by 12-0 major decision over Aiden Mueller, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa ... lost by 7-3 decision to Colton Noble, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg

113 pounds
ADAM DEVLAEMINCK (36-4), 1ST PLACE - received a bye ... received a bye ... pinned Cole Froehlich, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, 1:37 ... Championship: won by 5-1 decision over Eli Greenman, Canby

120 pounds
SAM MYHRE (0-4), Injury default - received a bye ... was pinned by Trey Gunderson, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, :21 ... received a bye ... lost by injury default to Brennan Giese, Canby

126 pounds
PEYTON GILLUND (34-10), 1ST PLACE - received a bye ... pinned Luke Garvick, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, :28 ... won by 15-0 technical fall over Darin Hippe, Benson ... Championship: pinned Brady Kiecker, BOLD, 1:28

132 pounds
EZEQUIEL MONSON (12-22), 3RD PLACE - received a bye ... lost 7-3 decision to Mason Schiffler, Minnewaska Area ... received a bye ... pinned Bo Beiver, Ortonville, 2:59 ... won 7-2 decision over Joseph Sherwood, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City ... won 5-4 decision over Taytan Nielsen, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg ... True second: lost 15-3 major decision to Sam Drietz, Canby

138 pounds
CHASE JOHNSON (7-7), 8TH PLACE - received a bye ... was pinned by Nick Ankeny, Minnewaska Area, 3:00 ... received a bye ... was pinned by Anthony Eustice, Ortonville, 1:35

145 pounds
BROCK FIER (25-12), 8TH PLACE - received a bye ... was pinned by Tanner Viessman, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, 6:00 ... received a bye ... lost by injury default to Trent Eastman, Ortonville

152 pounds
ZACK FIER (38-2), 2ND PLACE - received a bye ... received a bye ... won by 17-2 technical fall over Jose Anaya, Paynesville Area ... Championship: lost 4-3 decision to Austin Kiecker, BOLD

160 pounds
DESTIN FIER (23-11), 4TH PLACE - received a bye ... won by 9-0 major decision over Alex Whitcup, Benson ... lost 4-2 decision to Hunter Laage, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa ... won 3-0 decision over Sawyer Verhelst, Canby ... was pinned by Myles Feichmann, Minnewaska Area, 1:24

170 pounds
NOAH GORECKI (6-19), 8TH PLACE - won 13-2 major decision over Tyler Stewart, Benson ... was pinned by Maximus Hanson, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, :42 ... received a bye ... was pinned by Aaron Jones, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, 5:23

182 pounds
ALEX DEPESTEL (25-8), 4TH PLACE - received a bye ... pinned Collin Johnson, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg, 3:09 ... lost 5-1 decision to Peyton Hemmesch, Paynesville Area ... pinned AJ Klassen, Benson, 3:02 ... was pinned by Chase Boelke, Minnewaska Area, 4:41

195 pounds
ELI GRUENES (33-11, 2ND PLACE - received a bye ... lost 4-2 decision to Talen Kampsen, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa ... received a bye ... won 15-0 technical fall over Charlie Jones, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City ... pinned Sawyer Drietz, Canby, 1:04 ... won 1-0 decision ovcer Masyn Olson, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg ... True second: won 12-4 major decision over Seth Vearrier, Paynesville Area

220 pounds
KYLER LOZINSKI (6-25), 6TH PLACE - received a bye ... was pinned by Terrell Renne, Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City ... received a bye ... won 7-3 decision over Sam Brick, Paynesville Area ... lost 6-4 overtime decision to Owen Kidrowski, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg ... lost 7-4 overtime decision to Jack Storlien, Benson

285 pounds
HUDSON SCHOLTEN (26-7), 2ND PLACE - received a bye ... won 5-3 decision over Jason Jones, Kerkhoven -Murdock-Sunburg ... won 3-1 decision over Harley Weber, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa ... Championship: lost 3-0 decision to Spencer Eisenbraun, Paynesville AreaA