Wrestling: Four wrestlers reach semifinals of Class A state tournament

Four area wrestlers moved on to the semifinals of the Class A state wrestling meet Friday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

Two unranked wrestlers turned in strong performances to reach the semifinals.

Lake City’s Pedro Guevara knocked off third-ranked Aaron Bruihler from LeSueur-Henderson with a 3-1 decision in the quarterfinals. Guevara qualified for the state meet with a 2-1 overtime victory over Wabasha-Kellogg’s eighth-ranked Paul Krueger, Jr. at the Section 1A meet. Guevara defeated Blackduck/Cass Lake-Bena/Indus’ Alex Goodwin 12-4.

Guevara will meet sixth-ranked Dominick Platow from Paynesville Area for a shot at the finals today as the tournament resumes at 10 a.m.

Goodhue’s Weston Gadient, unranked at 220 pounds beat Blue Earth Area’s sixth-ranked Josh Johnson 2-1 to clinch a spot in the semifinals. Gadient pinned Barnesville’s Kyle Johnson in 50 seconds and hung on for a 2-1 victory over Johnson. Gadient will face No. 1-ranked Cody Welch from Wabasso/Red Rock Central in the semifinals.

Zumbrota-Mazeppa’s fourth-ranked Joey Majerus won two matches to reach the semifinals at 106 pounds.

Majerus defeated Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial’s Levi Marsh, who is ranked eighth, 7-2 to open the day and went on to beat Holdingford’s Zach Scott 6-3 in the quarterfinals. Majerus will face Border West’s Cameron Sykora, who is ranked No. 1.

Rusty Grisim reached the semifinals at 145 pounds after a 5-4 victory over Medford’s Brad Maas, who is ranked fourth.

Grisim, who is ranked fifth, won by technical fall 18-3 against Barnesville’s Hunter Olson to advance to the quarterfinals. Grisim will face second-ranked Adam Cooling from Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther in the semifinals.

Will Balow’s hunt for a state title got derailed in the quarterfinals at 160 pounds after a 3-2 quadruple overtime loss to Sibley East’s 10th-ranked Aaron Bates. Balow will get another match in the wrestlebacks, where he’ll face Border West’s seventh-ranked Austin Maanum.

Z-M freshman Dillon Downes picked up a 6-3 victory over Barnesville’s Josh Harris in the opening round of the 170 pound weight class, but fell to Badger/Greenbush-Middle River’s TeJay Wojchowski 12-0. Downes will face Pierz’s Nathan Tomala in wrestlebacks.

Z-M’s Mitchell Watkins won his opening match against United North Central’s Jake Malone 6-4, but fell in his next match to third-ranked Andy Poster from Royalton/Upsala. Watkins will meet New York Mills’ Tyler Ehnert in the wrestlebacks.

Z-M’s Cody Heitman lost his first round match by fall to second-ranked Bruce Lemon from Frazee. Heitman did not get a wrestleback match.

Lake City’s Andrew Schmidt lost his first round match at 113 pounds to No. 1-ranked Shane Novak from Border West 12-2, but got a spot in the wrestlebacks after Novak won his second match.

Schmidt will face second-ranked Quinten Berres from Kimball.

Goodhue’s Mitchell Breuer lost his opening match of the state tournament at 152 pounds to Wabasso/Red Rock Central’s fifth-ranked Mitchell Rohlik 10-1 but will get a match in the wrestlebacks against Walker-Hackensack-Akeley/Nevis.

Tags: lake city, sports, prep, wrestling, zumbrota, mazeppa, goodhue