Sophomore closes 50-1 season with 139-pound state title
Davis Parrow might be a sophomore in high school, but the body of work in wrestling is already there.
Just last year he went on a run that included championships in freestyle and Greco-Roman at the Minnesota/USA Wrestling state tournament, followed by third-place medals in Greco-Roman and folkstyle at nationals.
Parrow added another line to his resume last week by winning the state high school Class 3A championship at 139 pounds, earning Farmington High School’s sixth individual state title.
After rallying to defeat Eden Prairie’s Charles Vanier 3-2 in the championship match March 2 at Xcel Energy Center, Parrow described himself as elated but not satisfied.
“I’ve put in a lot of work for this opportunity for a lot of years and the goal was always to get one or two (individual state titles),” he said. “But now I have a shot at three so that’s the goal now, right? It means a lot to be here every single year and get to compete.”
Parrow has been knocking on the door of a state high school championship for a while. Two years ago he was Class 3A runner-up at 106 and last year he placed third at 126.
This season he was ranked first for most of the season at 139, regarded as one of the state’s deepest, most competitive weight classes. Parrow finished his season 50-1 and was undefeated against Minnesota competition; his only loss was to Tyler Guerra, a senior from St. Charles (Illinois) East and Indiana University commit.
That’s not to say it was easy at state. He drew a tough assignment in the first round against Shakopee senior Connor Warren. Parrow trailed 5-2 after two periods before scoring five points in the final 15 seconds of the third – on a takedown and three-point nearfall – to pull out a 9-6 victory.
Parrow defeated seventh-ranked Parker Lyden of Forest Lake 9-2 in the semifinals to advance to his second championship match in three years. Vanier, who came into the tournament ranked 10th in Class 3A, scored the only point of the first two periods on an escape. Parrow started on the bottom in the third period, escaped with 1 minute, 8 seconds left and scored a takedown with 31 seconds remaining.
“I stayed calm. I knew I needed to score points and I got it done,” Parrow said.
Even though it was Parrow’s third consecutive year in the medal rounds at the state tournament, the stress associated with wrestling in front of a large crowd never goes away.
“The first couple of rounds, I embrace it and I feel like I always wrestle a little bit better,” he said. “But finals matches are really nerve-wracking. Everybody’s looking to overcome those nerves a little bit.”
Parrow, who is 131-15 over the last three high school seasons, said the atmosphere in the Farmington wrestling room has helped him improve. The Tigers sent six individuals to this year’s state tournament.
“It’s emotional support, and good training partners,” Parrow said. “They always tell you the positives, never the negatives. They’re always there to help you.”
In addition to winning more state championships and contending for national titles, Parrow has his sights on a long-range goal.
“One day I hope to be in the Olympics,” he said. “I feel like that’s everyone’s goal, but I’m striving to get there.”
Farmington senior Cole Han-Lindemyer medaled at the state for the fourth consecutive year, finishing fourth in the Class 3A tournament at 189 pounds. Han-Lindemyer, who won a state championship at 182 last year, entered the state tournament undefeated and ranked first in his weight class. He reached the semifinals before losing to sixth-ranked Marcell Booth of Apple Valley 5-4 in an ultimate tie-breaker. Booth tied the match with 12 seconds left in the third period when Han-Lindemyer was penalized for stalling.
Han-Lindemyer won his first two matches by technical fall and defeated Sutton Kenning of St. Cloud Tech 5-0 in a wrestleback match. He lost by fall in the third period to Aydan Carlson of St. Francis to finish 27-2. Han-Lindemyer will wrestle at Stanford University.
Tigers junior Tyler Chenevert finished 38-13 after finishing fifth at 114. He was 4-2 in the tournament, including a 6-2 victory over Alex Gau of Champlin Park in the fifth-place match.
Freshman Blake Han-Lindemyer lost his only match at 121 and finished 25-25. Senior Edon Davis was 2-2 at state at 160 and finished 37-13. Senior Dylan Henrikson finished 15-15 after losing his only match at 285 by a 3-2 decision.
Rosemount
Two Rosemount wrestlers competed in the Class 3A state tournament.
Sophomore Abram Anderson finished 37-8 after winning one of three matches at 127 pounds. His victory was by fall over Mikey Jelinek of Stillwater in the first round of wrestlebacks.
Junior Ty Saulter, ranked sixth in Class 3A at 145, won two of his four matches at state and finished 27-8. Saulter defeated Mounds View senior Brady Swenson 5-4 in the first round. His other victory was by fall over Caden Wong of Wayzata in the first round of wrestlebacks.
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