Prep wrestling: 47 area wrestlers to make trip to state tournament

Today marks the beginning of action for two area teams and 47 individual wrestlers from nine different schools who will look to become state champions at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Willmar made school history this season by sending 10 wrestlers to the state tournament, and crowned seven Section 6AAA champions. The Cardinals, who finished the season spotless with a 27-0 record, are looking to improve upon a sixth-place finish in 2014, by returning for a fourth consecutive time, and sixth overall trip. In their previous appearance, they fell to Moorhead 30-26 in the consolation finals. They drew the No. 3-seed in Class AAA and will face unseeded Centennial High School at 9 a.m. in the opening round today.
A tough challenge possibly awaits them if they make it out of their first match against the Cougars. They will most likely face No. 2-seeded St. Michael-Albertville in the semifinals.
The Knights are a staple at the state tournament, making their 17th trip in a row and 25th overall. If they win the championship match, it would mark their eighth state championship.
Last year, they placed third with Apple Valley taking home the hardware.
Both teams participated in the 28th-annual All Force Minnesota Christmas Tournament at the University Center in Rochester. St. Michael-Albertville placed second with a score of 170.5 and Willmar was seventh at 124.5, out of 33 teams.
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City is the other area team making the trip to St. Paul for the third time in a row and 10th overall. It has been eight years since they took home the state title.
The Falcons at 17-7 are unseeded and will have the tall task of upending No. 1-seed Minneota. With a 32-2 overall record, the Vikings are making their sixth appearance and seventh overall.
On Friday, the individual part of the tournament begins and Willmar leads the area with 10 participates, while ACGC is not too far behind with seven.
The Cardinals had the second most qualifiers in Class AAA, just behind St. Michael-Albertville with 14.
Over this past week’s Section 6AAA tournament for Willmar, Colten Carlson earned his 175th career win, while Estevan Navarro notched his 100th overall victory.
Both New London-Spicer and Paynesville are sending three individuals. The Wildcats will bring Treyton Austvold at 138 pounds, Thomas Stageberg at 120 and Noah Welsh at 220, while Paynesville brings Shawn Rue at 106 , Jacob Mages at 152 and Anthony Wendlandt at 182.
Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg has two wrestlers with Jordan Engler at 152 and Zachary Carlson at 170.
Carlson is the only undefeated wrestler in his weight class with a record of 41-0. Last year he placed third in state at the 160-pound weight class.
Ben Steffel at 182 and Manuel Garcia at 220 made the tournament for BOLD, while Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa sends Ben Feuerhake at 285, Minnewaska Joseph Weaver at 120, and Morris Area/Hancock/Chokio-Alberta Alec Gausman at 285.