BOLD/Buffalo Lake-Hector looks to improve on last season's sixth-place finish at the Class AA state team wrestling tournament.
The Warriors (24-5) will meet Little Falls (25-4), the Central Lakes Conference champion, in the quarterfinals at 10 a.m. today at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
"They match up well with us," said BBLH coach Tom Gruhlke, who has guided teams to the state tournament four of the past five years, including a state title in 2003. "Where we are strong, they are very strong. If we can get the right matchups, we could be okay But it might take some of our reserves to get the right matchups.
Little Falls last reached the state tournament in 1999.
At the beginning of the season, Gruhlke saw a team that had potential to return to the state tournament. But the team suffered some injuries to key wrestlers, including 189-pounder Trent Squibb, who was 32-9 last year but has missed the entire season with an injury. Tom Elfering (17-4), a 171-pounder, also missed significant time this season with an injury but has since returned.
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"I knew we were going to have to have some other kids step up and they did," said Gruhlke. "Everyone has worked hard to get here.
BBLH has 11 wrestlers with 20-or-more wins in the lineup, including five with 30-or-more wins.
Pat LeVasseur at 112 pounds, Ross Neubauer at 125, Chris Harmon at 130, Cole Neubauer at 135 and Mark Pietig at 160 have all won over 30 matches this season.
