Three wrestlers finished as section champions; Laredo Bugbee at 113 pounds won his semifinal match by fall over Dalton Wells of Staples-Motley and then in the finals was in a high scoring thriller with Jace Olson of Border West that resulted in a fall for Bugbee in the third period. 145 pound senior Max Naddy won his quarter final match by 15-0 tech fall over Wyatt Differding of Breckenridge. In the semifinals Naddy won by an 11-3 major decision over Hunter Anderson of Barnesville, following that Max would avenge a loss from one week ago by beating Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale-Parkers Prairie’s Hunter Dean by a score of 7-3. At 220 pounds OTC’s Wyatt Thorson picked up a fall on Jacob Willits of Pelican Rapids.  Then, in the semifinals he won a 5-2 decision over Tanner Differding from Breckenridge.  In the championship match Thorson won by fall, pinning Jackson Poepping of Barnesville.

Four Bulldogs finished in second place. Freshman 132 pounder Logan Schleske lost in the finals by 13-4 major decision to Trever Arceneau of Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale-Parkers Prairie. He was able to secure his state berth by beating Breckenridge’s Aidan Ruddy by fall in the third period. Nik Gardin was able to upset both the one and four seeds in rout to his finals appearance where he lost by 22-6 technical fall to Spencer Miller from Staples-Motley. Gardin was also able to win his true second match by winning a 6-2 decision over Kaleb Getz from West Central Area. At 160 pounds Zane Swanson was able to win his first two matches before falling in the finals to Owen Bjerga of Staples-Motley by an 18-7 major decision, Swanson is returning to state after qualifying last year at 152lbs. At heavyweight OTC’s Cian Buehler fell in the finals to #1 ranked Craig Orlando of Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale-Parkers Prairie by a narrow 3-2 decision.

Other place winners: 4th place Matt Hendricks (138) and Connor Tierney (195). Brien Poser (120) and Caden Johnson (170) finished 5th.

The Class A Individual State Tournament will start on Friday morning for the Bulldogs at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.