CROOKSTON – In addition to qualifying as a team, the United North Central wrestling team will be sending six individuals to the state Class A tournament.
The Warriors crowned three champions and had three others finish second during the Section 8A individual tournament on Saturday, Feb. 25.
Winning titles for the Warriors were Conrad Koll at 120 pounds, Shawn Hendrickson at 195 and Marcus Peterson at 285 while Zach Hendrickson (at 126), Hank Tellers (at 145) and Eli Roiko (at 170) claimed runner-up honors to advance. Koll, Zach Hendrickson, Tellers and Peterson competed at last year’s state tournament.
Koll, the No. 1 seed, pinned Frazee’s Blake Sonnenberg in 3:12 in the semifinals and posted a 22-8 major decision over Badger-Greenbush-Middle River’s Owen Lund in the title match.
Shawn Hendrickson, the No. 2 seed, defeated Crookston’s Hunter Kresl 7-2 in the semifinals and Barnesville’s Jonny Robideau 7-3 in the championship match.
Marcus Peterson, who was the No. 1 seed and rated No. 2 in the state poll, pinned his way to the title by defeating Fosston/Bagley’s Alex Hagen in 1:31 in the semifinals and Frazee’s Xander Kohler in 5:06 in the finals.
Zach Hendrickson, the No. 2 seed, pinned Mahnomen/Waubun’s Cleighton Hoban in 39 seconds and Barnesville’s Quincy Morey in 56 seconds before falling to top-seeded Gavyn Hlucny 9-0 in the title match. Hendrickson rebounded to post a 9-1 major decision over Frazee’s Brady Borah in a true-second match to advance.
Tellers, the No. 2 seed who was rated No. 7 in the state poll, pinned Frazee’s Josh Mellema in 3:12 in the semifinals before dropping a 13-2 major decision to Crookston’s Ethan Bowman in the finals. Bowman was the No. 1 seed and rated No. 9 in the state.
Roiko entered as the No. 2 seed and followed a 7-1 decision over Fosston/Bagley’s Kaden Sanford in the semifinals by being pinned by top-seeded Preston Mayfield of Frazee in 5:56. Mayfield was rated No. 8 in the state.
Just missing state berths by placing third were Rhett Anderson at 113, Wyatt Olson at 138, Riley Livingston at 152, Cooper Hasbargen at 182 and Ryan Peterson at 220. Olson, Hasbargen and Peterson lost in true-second matches. Placing fourth for the Warriors were Levi Olson at 106, Fordyce Johnson at 132 and Zach Davidson at 160.
“We felt really good about sending those six for sure. Most of those guys had proven themselves pretty well over the rest of the field. We were really hoping to get a couple more through. I think we will always want more,” said UNC head coach Jake Oyster. “We have never had all 14 finish in the top 4 of each weight class, so that’s exciting for sure and a step in the right direction to getting all 14 to the state tournament individually.”
Koll (19-2 record), Zach Hendrickson (26-14), Tellers (37-10), Roiko (15-19), Shawn Hendrickson (21-7) and Peterson (38-4) will attempt to bring home medals from the state Class A tournament, which will be held on Friday and Saturday (March 3-4) at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
“Conrad is wrestling really well and I think he should have a good chance to get seeded well. I’m excited to see what he will do down there. Zach is wrestling well and his style gives a lot of people trouble, so if he continues to wrestle well and confident, he has a good shot at wrestling Saturday. Hank was one match away from placing last year, so I think he could have a great tournament and get on the podium. Shawn and Eli both earned their first trip and wrestled well. They work really hard, so it will be exciting to see how they handle themselves. They have both been down with the team last year, so it shouldn’t feel too new to them. Marcus is currently ranked second. I know he feels like he is capable of being a champ and I do too. He has a variety of great practice partners to give him different feels, so I think he is ready for about anything. Look for him to have a great tournament,” said Oyster. “We are all excited to do our best Thursday as a team and battle these other sections to the best of our abilities and then cheer on these six wrestlers still chasing individual goals.”
