Feb. 15—ORTONVILLE — Minneota endured an early onslaught by Paynesville to clinch the Section 5A wrestling team championship on Saturday.
Down 17-0 through four matches, Minneota won the next nine matches. That gave the top-seeded Vikings the 47-17 victory over the third-seeded Bulldogs.
Minneota goes to state for the first time since 2016.
Paynesville made the finals after beating second-seeded Canby 42-20. Minneota reached the championship after beating fourth-seeded Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 46-17.
The Bulldogs' Adrian Anaya opened the finals with a 12-4 major decision over Derek Fier at 107 pounds. Tyson Meagher followed with a fall at 4 minutes, 50 seconds against Heydan Danielson at 114. Nolan Roberg tacked on a 10-0 major decision at 121 over Nolan Van Keulen. Jamison Meagher concluded the run with a 5-0 decision at 127 against Quinton Anderson at 127.
Minneota got falls from Owen Myrvik at 145, Mason Javers at 160, Randy Sorensen at 189 and Cael Fier at 285. Adam DeVlaeminck came up with a tech fall at 152.
Paynesville now prepares for the 5A individual tournament starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21 at Canby. Other area teams competing in the individual tournament are Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, BOLD, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Benson, KMS and Quad County.
Jamison Meagher (127), Braydon Kierstead-Hahn (139), Alex Weber (152), Daniel Flint (172) and Brice Messer (285) all won by fall in Paynesville's semifinal win over Canby at Ortonville.
Devon Schmidt came up with a tech fall at 133. Nolan Roberg won by major decision at 121 and Tyson Meagher earned a decision at 114.
Minneota got falls from Heydan Danielson at 107, Blake Mead at 139, Brick Fier at 189, Randy Sorensen at 215 and Cael Fier at 285 to clinch a semifinals win over Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg at Ortonville.
Trey Gunderson won by first-period fall for the Fighting Saints at 145. Taytan Nielsen won at 160 with a tech fall in the second period. Brayden Nielsen and Oswaldo Moreno won by decision at 114 and 121, respectively.
The two-day Section 3AA individual tournament begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Hutchinson. The tournament concludes at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21 back and Hutchinson. United and New London-Spicer are among the teams competing.
The Dawson-Boyd/Lac qui Parle Valley/Montevideo United lost to eventual section champion New Ulm in the Section 3AA semifinals at Fairmont.
In the other semifinal, Marshall beat Windom/Mountain Lake 54-11. New Ulm went on to clinch the championship with a 31-23 victory over Marshall. New Ulm is headed to state for the first time since 1999.
Against United, the Eagles got eight pins from Chase Wilson at 107, Regan Johnson at 114, Brayden Miller at 121, Kane Johnson at 133, Braxton Kiecker at 152, Candon Briggs at 160, Dirk Haynes at 172 and Lane Ruch at 215.
Down 34-0, Ben Gunlogson got United on the board with a first-period fall at 145. Bryan Rhode also won by fall at 189.