WILLMAR — The Willmar Cardinals wrestling team’s annual pilgrimage to the section finals began in earnest Wednesday.
The Cardinals haven’t missed out on a section championship since 2010. Starting on Wednesday against Buffalo, the Cardinals are back on their familiar path.
The No. 2 seed in the Section 8AAA tournament, Willmar opened the postseason with a 58-10 victory over No. 7 Buffalo at the Big Red Gym at Willmar High School.
“It was a really good start; the guys wrestled well overall,” said Cardinals head coach Ed Oehlers. “It was awesome to get to do it at home. Most of our matches were really good.”
With the victory, Willmar will compete in the semifinals, and possibly the final, at 5 p.m. Friday at Brainerd High School.
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The Cardinals face No. 3 Little Falls in the semis. The Flyers beat No. 6 St. Cloud 53-19. On the other side of the bracket, No. 1 Bemidji beat No. 8 Sartell 69-5. Fifth-seeded Brainerd and fourth-seeded Moorhead will wrestle Thursday after having their match pushed back due to bad weather.
The Cardinals are ready to make the push for their third straight section championship and 13th straight section finals appearance.
“We’ll go in, get ready and don’t look back,” said senior 195/220-pounder Zander Miska.
Willmar went up 30-4 after Buffalo had forfeits at 113, 120, 126 and 132, followed by a Conlan Carlson fall in 1 minute, 39 seconds to win at 138.
Freshman Cameren Champagne went on to win a 9-5 decision over the Bison’s Aiden Herbst. And he got that win even after being deducted a point due to walking off the mat to throw up.
“You saw a couple things with some of the guys with nerves or whatever it is, getting ill during the match,” Oehlers said. “Some things come up and sometimes, it’s just nerves.”
Will Chavez had a tech fall at 152. Braeden Erickson added a first-period fall at 170, followed by a major decision at 182 for Steven Cruze, a major decision for Ramero Trevino at 195 and a second-period fall by Miska at 220.
“Mat time has helped this year,” said Miska, who pinned August Kaiser in 3:31.”It really changes how you think about (strategy). Getting help from coaches and teammates really helps.”
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Both Miska and Trevino are eligible at 195. Miska has wrestled the bulk of his matches at 220 and can hold his own against bigger grapplers.
“He has a style of wrestling big guys a little better,” Oehlers said of Miska.
“He’s coming onto the mat with more confidence and walking off with more confidence. He’s ended his senior year really well.”
In the regular season, Willmar beat Little Falls 36-22.
“With that quick of a turnaround, we’ll do a little weight management, get a good, solid practice in and avoid injuries,” Oehlers said. “There’s not a ton except for the mindset that we can do for Friday. The guys are in a good mindset but there’s a few things we can hone in on.”
Willmar 58,Buffalo 10
106: Gabe Roehl, B, maj dec Wyatt Cruze, 10-2
113: Lawson Anez, W, won by forfeit
120: Cavin Carlson, W, won by forfeit
126: Ivan Mares, W, won by forfeit
132: Sully Anez, W, won by forfeit
138: Conlan Carlson, W, pinned Matthew Carlson, 1:39
145: Cameren Champagne, W, dec Aiden Herbst, 9-5
152: Will Chavez, W, tech fall Charles Knese, 15-0
160: Jonah Anderson, B, dec Mattix Swanson, 7-2
170: Braeden Erickson, W, pinned Jacobee Scherber, 1:28
182: Steven Cruze, W, maj dec Hunter Spike, 9-0
195: Ramero Trevino, W, maj dec Jacob Cremers, 11-3
220: Zander Miska, W, pinned August Kaiser, 3:31
285: Carter Walker, B, dec Daunte Castellano, 4-2
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