Northfield High School sophomore Caley Graber made Minnesota state high school wrestling history on Friday, March 1 as she became the first girl ever to win a match at the Minnesota State High School League state championships.
In action at the MSHSL Class AAA state meet, which was held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, No. 6 ranked Graber gained a quick pin at 1:29 against No. 9 ranked Saitaro Kong of Apple Valley that wrote her name into the records.
Graber went on to gain a spot on the 107-pound podium at the state meet thanks to a 5-2 win over No. 7 ranked Owen LaRose of Mounds View in the quarterfinals. Graber then lost a close 4-0 match against No. 2 ranked Dylan St. Germain of Eagan.
In the wrestlebacks, Graber opened with a 1-0 tiebreaker loss to No. 4 ranked Anthony Heim of Shakopee. In the match for fifth place, Graber then gained a 7-0 win over LaRose. She finished the season with a 41-6 record for the Raiders.
“She (Graber) is a competitor and knows how to succeed on big stages,” NHS coach Geoff Staab said. “She has been competing in national tournaments her whole life and she puts in the time during the offseason to perfect her technique. All of this has contributed to her success at the state tournament.”
Staab added, “Caley is not new to competing on the big stage. She has a routine that she does before her matches that helps her get ready mentally and physically before each match.”
Other Northfield wrestlers to make the trip to this year’s state meet included Caden Staab at 121-pounds, Keith Harner at 133-ppounds, Owen Murphy at 172-pounds, Ryan Kuyper at 189-pounds and Noah Ackerman at 285-pounds.
At 133, Harner opened with a loss to No. 4 ranked Cavin Carlson of Willmar and fell in the wrestlebacks to No. 3 Gavin Jackson of St. Michael-Albertville by a 6-3 decision.
At 172 pounds, Murphy lost his opening bout to No. 1 ranked Jed Wester of St. Michael-Albertville and then fell to No. 9 Michael Gillette of Chaska by a 3-1 score in overtime.
At 189 pounds, Kuyper lost his opener to Mack Carlson of Stillwater by a 6-0 decision and then finished his trip to St. Paul with a loss to Alex Loes of Eagan. At 285 pounds, Ackerman opened his state trip with a loss to No. 2 Mark Rendl of Forest Lake and then lost in the wrestlebacks to Avaugn Dorvil of St. Thomas Academy.
In the 2024 MSHSL girls state tournament, Northfield’s Laney Houts had her time on the podium with a fourth place finish in the 124-pound bracket. Houts advanced to the semifinals with a 12-7 first round win over Chloe Berg of Chatfield. In her second bout, Houts lost to eventual champion Hanna Walter of Sauk Centre-Melrose. In the bout for third place Houts lost a 9-1 decision against Kamdyn Saulter of Rosemount.
Northfield finished as the runner-up at the Section 1AAA team tournament this season and also placed second in the always rugged Big 9 Conference with a 17-9, 9-1 Big 9 record. Of the wrestlers that qualified for the boys state meet, Northfield had one senior in the group (Ackerman). The future definitely looks bright for the Raiders in 2024-25.
“Yes we have one senior in Noah Ackerman who will be missed,” Geoff Staab said. “However, we will be returning the rest of our line up. We finished second this year in team so our obvious goal is to win the section next year. I think with seven wrestlers getting experience at the state tournament, they will be hungry to get back there not only as an individual but as a team. We also had a few wrestlers just miss their shot at the state tournament that I know want to punch their ticket next year.”
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