ST. PAUL – Martin County makes its fourth appearance in the state Class 2A team wrestling tournament Thursday at Xcel Energy Center.
The Red Bulls, 23-1, are the number five seed for the tourney and will meet fourth-seeded Watertown-Mayer (22-3) at 9 a.m.
Martin County has three rated wrestlers and five state qualifiers, while the Royals have five ranked individuals and six state qualifiers.
Rated Red Bulls are Jesse Potts, third at 126 pounds; Kain Sanders, fifth at 145; and Max Olson, fifth at 220.
Other state qualifiers are Rylan Cutler (120) and Carver Rohman (160).
W-M’s ranked wrestlers are eighth-grader Titan Friedrichs, fifth at 106; freshman Bryce Burkett, second at 160; senior Tanner Burmeister, eighth at 182; senior Jackson Drahos, ninth at 195; and senior Ashton Congdon, eighth at 220.
Burmeister did not qualify for state, placing behind two other ranked wrestlers at the Section 2AA tournament.
Other state individual qualifiers for the Royals are junior Jonah Hamberger (132) and senior Hunter Stein (285).
Martin County was runner-up to Kasson-Mantorville in the 2018 state tourney and second to Simley in 2020. The Red Bulls lost to Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato in the semifinals of last year’s state tourney. There was no third-place match.
Also, Sherburn-Dunnell placed sixth at the 1987 state Class A team tournament.
Watertown-Mayer is in the state team tourney for the first time.
Martin County will wrestle either Simley or Totino-Grace in its second match. If the Red Bulls win, they wrestle at 1 p.m. and if they lose they would wrestle at 11 a.m.
Quarterfinal pairings
All matches at 9 a.m.
Simley (25-1) vs. Totino-Grace (17-3)
Watertown-Mayer (22-3) vs. Martin County (23-1)
Kasson-Mantorville (26-1) vs. Mora (24-6)
Becker (18-0) vs. Thief River Falls (20-5)
State tournament history
State team tournament results for the Red Bulls.
2018: Martin County (AA 3rd)
Quarterfinals: Martin County 45, South St. Paul 16
Semifinals: Martin County 30, Scott West 28
Championship: Kasson-Mantorville 49, Martin County 9
2020: Martin County (AA 3rd)
Quarterfinals: Martin County 53, Orono 15
Semifinals: Martin County 32, Foley 30
Championship: Simley 48, Martin County 10
2021: Martin County (AA 3rd)
State preliminaries: Martin County 39, Tri-City United 28
Semifinals: Dassel-Cokato/Litchfield 41, Martin County 23
Third place: No match