ARDEN HILLS — After closing the gap a year ago, Mounds View finally broke through to end Stillwater’s seven-year state tournament streak with a 32-16 victory in the finals of the Section 4AAA wrestling team tournament on Friday, Feb. 16 at Mounds View High School.
The top-ranked and undefeated Mustangs (28-0) survived an early surge from Stillwater in the lower weights with victories in each of the last seven matches to pull away for their first section championship since 2007 and third trip to state overall.
The Ponies (28-8) defeated Mounds View in the finals each of the last six years and had made seven straight trips to state, but the Mustangs featured a loaded lineup and the motivation that results from the string of runner-up finishes. Mounds View defeated the Ponies in the regular season a year ago and was the top seed before falling to Stillwater in the section finals, but there was no repeat this season.
“I don’t know if greedy is the right term, but just expecting to win,” Ponies assistant coach Steve Polakowski said. “Our whole team was convinced we would find a way and for that to not happen was a good reminder that it takes a lot to win every year at the highest levels.”
Stillwater won the flip, but was not able keep it close enough through the middle weights for that to be a factor down the stretch.
The Ponies won five of the first six matches to build a 16-6 lead, but there were few bonus points to widen the gap before hitting the strength of Mounds View’s lineup.
Brady Swenson started the Mounds View charged with a 10-0 victory over Keaton Urbanski at 145 pounds. Urbanski had success against Swenson in the past, but a shoulder injury that will keep him out of individual competition also created an mis-match in this one.
“He’s been limping to the finish,” Polakowski said.
The Mustangs followed with a pin at 152 pounds to even tie the match 16-all and then pulled away with five more victories to close out the match. Mounds View picked up another key victory at 160 where Colton Loween defeated Lindson Turner 6-2.
“We knew we would need to win one if not both of those to have a chance,” Polakowski said of the matches at 145 and 160 pounds. “We kind of knew if we could get past 145 with 20 to 23 points we’d be in a good situation, but we got stuck on 16 and that’s where we were.”
Stillwater was out of options going into the last two weights and top-ranked Quin Morgan sealed the victory with a 3-0 victory over Cittadino Tuttle, who was ranked No. 2, in their match at 215 pounds.
Joe Dauffenbach provided an important early victory for the Ponies, edging Owen LaRose 4-2 at 107 pounds. Mounds View answered with second-ranked Brett Swenson pinning Cade Elzen at 114 pounds before the Ponies won each of next four matches to build a 10-point lead.
Noah Nicholson recorded an 8-0 major decision at 121 pounds and Mikey Jelinek followed with an 11-4 victory at 127 pounds. Isaac Leonard kept the momentum going with a 6-2 win at 133 pounds and Brody Urbanski added a 6-4 triumph at 139 pounds.
The section finals rematch with teams ranked among the top four in Class AAA was almost a certainty. Stillwater outscored Tartan and Roseville by a combined 150-0 in the quarterfinals and semifinals while Mounds View advanced with a bye and a 70-0 victory over fourth-seeded Centennial.
Stillwater graduated several key contributors from a team that placed third at state a year ago and there was some uncertainty about how well things would come together with some new faces contributing this season. The Ponies have won four of five matches against teams that qualified for the state tournament in Class AAA, including second-seeded St. Michael-Albertville, foruth-seeded Hastings, fifth-seeded Albert Lea and unseeded Forest Lake.
“We definitely feel like we’ve maximized what we could do this season,” Polakowski said. “It’s a younger team and we had 26 different guys win varsity matches. We still feel like we’re in the top four and we’ve beaten some teams we haven’t before, so it was a good year for our guys and now it’s how do we get to that next level.
“It’s a good reminder for us going forward. We want to keep being the team we’ve been and it’s a lot of work — and it’s year-round work.”
Mounds View 32, Stillwater 16
107 — Joe Dauffenbach (St) dec. Owen LaRose, 4-2; 114 — Brett Swenson (MV) pinned Cade Elzen, 3:37; 121 — Noah Nicholson (St) major dec. Will Schneider, 8-0; 127 — Mikey Jelinek (St) dec. Jack Hatton, 11-4; 133 — Isaac Leonard (St) dec. James Walker, 6-2; 139 — Brody Urbanski (St) dec. Eli Claseman, 6-4; 145 — Brady Swenson (MV) major dec. Keaton Urbanski, 10-0; 152 — Apollo Ashby (MV) pinned Cael Spates, 3:42; 160 — Colton Loween (MV) dec. Lindson Turner, 6-2; 172 — Ethan Swenson (MV) dec. Isaac Hunter, 4-0; 189 — Joseph Muhlstein (MV) major dec. Mack Carlson, 12-3; 215 — Quin Morgan (MV) dec. Cittadino Tuttle, 3-0; 285 — Gavin Maxey (MV) dec. Andrew Olson, 3-2.
Stillwater 72, Roseville 0
107 — Joe Dauffenbach (St) tech fall Benjamin Zaide, 22-5; 114 — Cade Elzen (St) pinned Anica Barze, 1:54; 121 — Noah Nicholson (St) pinned Som Khadka, :56; 127 — Mikey Jelinek (St) pinned Rowan Cariveau, 2:33; 133 — Isaac Leonard (St) pinned Itachi Fang, 1:46; 139 — Cohen Lumby (St) pinned Amon Subba, 3:36; 145 — Keaton Urbanski (St) pinned Elijah Moen, 2:14; 152 — Cael Spates (St) pinned Alex Hiler, 1:23; 160 — Lindson Turner (St) major dec. Dash Title, 17-3; 172 — Isaac Hunter (St) dec. Qwinten Hood, 6-2; 189 — Mack Carlson (St) pinned Dupree Winkelman, :47; 215 — Cittadino Tuttle (St) pinned Mascud Mohamed, 1:51; 285 — Andrew Olson (St) won by forfeit.
Stillwater 78, Tartan 0
107 — Cade Elzen (St) won by forfeit; 114 — Joe Dauffenbach (St) won by forfeit; 121 — Noah Nicholson (St) pinned Matthew Xiong, 1:27; 127 — Mikey Jelinek (St) pinned Racell Dees, :47; 133 — Isaac Leonard (St) won by forfeit; 139 — Cohen Lumby (St) won by forfeit; 145 — Brody Urbanski (St) pinned Aiden Hausken, :35; 152 — Cael Spates (St) won by forfeit; 160 — Lindson Turner (St) won by forfeit; 172 — Isaac Hunter (St) won by forfeit; 189 — Mack Carlson (St) pinned Miles Ewaldt, :55; 215 — Cittadino Tuttle (St) pinned Jayce Cartagena, 1:01; 285 — Andrew Olson (St) pinned Wilbert Jackson, :49.
Contact Stuart Groskreutz at stuart.groskreutz@apgecm.com
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