ST. PAUL-Local wrestlers left their mark on last weekend's state tournament with 13 placewinners and 40 competitors.
In addition to five medalists from Willmar, eight others made their way onto the podium in Class A and AA at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa's Adam Jaeger returned to state following a disqualification from last year's tournament and placed third in the Class A tournament. The 145 pounder made his way to the semifinals but lost to top-ranked Jake Mandt of Chatfield who went on to win the championship. Nevertheless, Jaeger battled back with a pair of decision victories to earn third place.
"I try not to let the emotions of it all get to me," Jaeger said. "I try to treat it like any other tournament. It's pretty humbling to get back year and it feels good to place."
His teammate Canon Swanson also made it onto the podium with a fifth place finish at 113 pounds thanks to a victory over Dillon McGee of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley/Nevis.
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Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg brought six competitors to the state tournament but Derek Krieger was the only one to bring back a medal. He fell in the 160 pound fifth place match to take sixth place.
New London-Spicer's Josh Soine ended the weekend with a fourth place finish at 182 pounds following a loss to Minneota's Alec Bueltel. Bueltel entered the tournament with a 34-5 record and edged out Soine by a 5-4 decision.
Paynesville's Grant Ludwig rounded out the local Class A medalists with a sixth place finish at 220 pounds.
In Class AA, Litchfield's Sam Tibbits and Ezra Kaping each brought home some hardware. Tibbits fell just short in the third place match against Winona-Cotter's Jack Vaselaar. The match was as close as possible but Vaselaar logged a takedown in a tie-breaking session and took the victory.
Kaping ended up in sixth place at 126 pounds.
United's Peyton Mortenson was the final Class AA competitor to make it to the podium. He was the sixth place finisher at 152 pounds.
