The Northfield High School wrestling will be sending a contingent of seven wrestlers to the upcoming MSHSL state tournaments on Mar. 1-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
The six Raiders qualifying for this year’s Class AAA boys tournament include Caley Graber at 107 pounds, Caden Staab at 121 pounds, Keith Harner at 133 pounds, Owen Murphy at 172 pounds, Ryan Kuyper at 189 pounds and Noah Ackerman at 285-pounds. Northfield will also be represented in this year’s MSHSL girls state tournament by Lainey Houts in the 124 pound weight bracket.
“I thought we had a great day last Saturday (at the Section 1AAA meet) with getting six wrestlers through after coming back from the previous Saturday (at the Section 1AAA team meet), we redeemed some of the matches we lost in the team finals…we went back and won those matches in the individual finals this week” Northfield coach Geoff Staab said about his squad’s performance at the Section 1AAA tournament in Rochester on Feb. 24. “I was glad to see our kids rebound and beat some of those Albert Lea kids. As a whole, we wrestled very well and that’s what you want going into the state tournament.”
One of the upcoming state tournament’s top storylines could be Graber, who has opted to wrestle in the boys tournament after winning a state title for the Raiders at 100 pounds in the girls tournament in 2023. She could become the first girl to win a match in the history of the boys tournament in Minnesota.
A No. 4 seed at this year’s boys tournament at 107-pounds, Graber won the Section 1AAA championship with a 4-2 win over the state’s #10 ranked Caden Lindquist of Owatonna in the title bout. She will next wrestle #9 ranked Sai Kong of Apple Valley in the first round at state.
“She’s been wrestling ever since she could walk and she wrestles all year, has put in the time over the years and has been wrestling boys her whole life, so this is nothing new for her…and she has beat them her whole life,” Geoff Staab said. “Caley comes in and works hard and gets after it. Her technique is fantastic. She fine tunes and has a very good attention to detail and finishing her shots…she is a student of the sport.”
One of the nation’s top ranked girl wrestler’s in her weight bracket, Graber competes at national tournaments throughout the offseason.
“I’m looking forward to winning a couple matches and being the first girl to win a match at the state meet (for boys) in Minnesota, possibly place and get on that podium,” Graber said. “Wrestling against the boys really helps for wrestling in some of the national tournaments against the girls in the off season….it really helps you get tougher.”
At 121-pounds, Caden Staab has received an eighth seed at the upcoming state tournament after placing first at the Section 1AAA tournament. In the title bout at the Section meet, Caden Staab nabbed a 5-2 victory over Ryan Collins of Albert Lea. He will wrestle #1 ranked Grayson Eggum of St. Thomas Academy in his first round match at state.
Harner will be making his third trip to the state meet this season and will be looking for his first win. He placed second at the Section 1AAA meet after posting a 2-1 record and lost in the championship match to #2 ranked Michael Olson of Albert Lea. Harner will wrestle against Cavin Carlson of Willmar in his first round match at state.
“The last two years I’ve gone 0-1, I am tired of that and I want to wrestle more than one match, so I want to win a few this year,” Harner said.
At 172-pounds, Murphy is also a three-time state entrant. He’s been hampered by injuries this season but has been able to put those aside and was able to battle through the Section meet with a 2-1 record with his only loss a close 3-0 decision to Lucas Peterson of Mayo in the title bout. Murphy will wrestle #1 ranked Jed Wester of St. Michael-Albertville in his opening bout at state.
Another one of Northfield’s 3X state veterans is Kuyper at 189-pounds. He won the Section 1AAA crown with a 1:14 pin against Faribault’s Elliot Viland. His first round opponent at the state meet will be Mack Carlson of Stillwater.
A senior, Ackerman will be making his first trip to the state meet and is just in his second season of wrestling for the Raiders. He placed second at 285-pounds at the Section 1AAA meet and picked up a big 4-1 victory over William Velasquez in the semifinals before losing to Grant Lower of Owatonna in the bracket title match. Ackerman will square off against #2 Mark Rendel of Forest Lake in his first round bout at state.
In the girls competition, Houts gained the top spot at this year’s Section 1 & 3 meet with a 12-5 victory over Chloe Berg of Chatfield. To reach the finals, Houts posted four consecutive pins for the Raiders. Houts is currently ranked fourth in the state at 124-pounds and will meet up once against with Berg in her first round match at the state meet.
The large group of wrestlers headed to the state meet for Northfield is a reflection of the success that the Raiders have enjoyed in 2023-24 with a roster that includes only one senior.
“We have a really good group of people this year. Everyone wanted to be here and everyone was working hard, making good choices and working toward the right things. When you surround yourself with people like that you get to better places…and we did that this year,” Harner said.
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