Eagles' Booth takes 2nd at 189 pounds
Losses to Shakopee and Willmar at the state tournament Feb. 29 ended Apple Valley’s run as a team in the state Class 3A wrestling tournament.
Apple Valley, ranked 10th in Class 3A by theguillotine.com, competed in the state team tournament for the third year in a row. The Eagles were in the event for the 39th time overall – a state record, as are their 25 state championships.
Shakopee, the Class 3A team tournament’s third seed and Apple Valley’s South Suburban Conference rival, defeated the Eagles 45-11 in the quarterfinal round. The Sabers won five of the first six matches, but victories by Andrew Roskosh (121 pounds) and Jayden Haueter (145) brought Apple Valley within 19-7 and gave the Eagles some hope.
Shakopee, however, pulled away with victories in five of the last six matches, including three pins. Apple Valley’s only victory in that stretch was a major decision by Marcell Booth at 189.
Apple Valley won four matches by fall against Willmar in the consolation semifinals later Thursday, but the Cardinals won the other nine weight, including three pins and two technical falls, to win 41-24.
The Eagles’ winners were Saitaro Kong at 107, Haueter at 145, Booth at 189 and Giovanni Jackson at 285.
Willmar went on to win the consolation bracket. Shakopee lost to St. Michael-Albertville 45-14 in the semifinals and eventually placed third. STMA defeated No. 1-seeded Mounds View 47-10 in the championship match.
Apple Valley finished the team portion of its season 20-10. The Eagles were 8-1 in the South Suburban, good for second place behind Shakopee.
Individuals
Eagles senior Marcell Booth wrestled three matches that went to overtime and eventually finished second at 189 pounds in the Class 3A individual tournament March 1-2.
He pinned Waconia’s Jackson Green in 4 minutes, 37 seconds in the first round. Then Booth (41-5) started working extra time.
Booth scored a takedown with one second remaining in overtime to defeat No. 4-ranked Joey Muhlstein of Mounds View 4-2 in the quarterfinals.
Booth, who was ranked sixth in the weight class, faced a familiar opponent in the semifinals – No. 1-ranked Cole Han-Lindemyer of Farmington. They met in the finals of the Section 2 tournament, with Han-Lindemyer winning 3-2.
In the rematch, Booth trailed 3-1 at the start of the third period but scored an escape to make it 3-2. Han-Lindemyer received his second stalling warning of the period with 12 seconds left and Booth was awarded a point to tie the match. He went on to win 5-4 in an ultimate tiebreaker.
St. Michael-Albertville sophomore John Murphy led Booth 5-2 in the third period of the championship match. The Apple Valley wrestler started the period on the bottom and escaped. Booth took down Murphy late in the third to tie the match, but Murphy scored a takedown in the first overtime to win the championship.
Booth (41-5), medaled at state for the third consecutive year. The second-place finish is his best at the Class 3A tournament.
Booth was one of five Apple Valley wrestlers in the boys individual tournament. Also medaling was senior Jayden Haueter, who placed fifth at 139
Haueter (43-7) started the individual tournament by pinning Brody Ignaszewski of Albert Lea in the first period. A 3-2 loss to Easton Dircks of Brainerd sent Haueter to the wrestlebacks.
Haueter, ranked third in the weight class, won his next two matches before losing by decision to seventh-ranked Parker Lyden of Forest Lake. He was scheduled for a rematch with Dircks in the fifth-place match but instead won by injury default.
It was the third state individual medal for Haueter, who finished fourth each of the last two years.
Ninth-grader Saitaro Kong finished 29-12 after losing two matches at state at 107. Sophomore Tyler Reed lost both of his state matches at 127 to complete a 22-21 season.
Senior Sebastian Castin defeated Jack Bainbridge of Hastings 11-2 in a first-round match at 133 before losing his next two to finish 26-20.
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