WABASSO – Dominant.
That’s really not a strong enough word to describe the performance of the Jackson County Central wrestling team at Saturday’s Section 3A individual tournament.
The Huskies qualified a school-record 13 of 14 wrestlers for next week’s state tournament. Of those, 12 are advancing as a section champion and one is going as a runner-up. JCC also had a fifth-place finish.
Jackson County Central wrestled 42 matches in the tournament and won 39. That’s a .929 percentage.
Of those 39 wins, 30 came by falls. There were also two technical falls, one major decision and seven decisions.
All 14 wrestlers for the Huskies recorded a fall. Five had three falls and six more had two. Three Huskies had one apiece.
JCC coach Nate Hanson tweeted about the Huskies’ dominance in the finals:
Team scores are not recognized at the section individual tourney, but if they were, the Huskies would have piled up 289 points. Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove would have been a distant second with 178 points.
Placing first for Jackson County Central were Isaac Rodriguez (106), Nolan Ambrose (113), Kie Anderson (120), Landon Andrews (126), Logan Butzon (132), Thomas Freking (138), Dylan Withers (145), Isaiah Rodriguez (152), Payton Handevidt (160), Caleb Vancura (182), Will Freking (195) and Cameron Scholten (285).
Matthew Haley (170) placed second.
Trace Michelson was fifth at 220 pounds. He was upset by Julio Esqueda (St. James Area) in the quarterfinals but did end his day by pinning Esqueda in the fifth-place match.
Along with the record-breaking day, three JCC wrestlers reached individual milestones and two coaches were honored.
Handevidt recorded his 200th career win in the semifinals, Will Freking picked up his 100th career win in the quarterfinals and then his 50th career pin in the semifinals, and Thomas Freking got his 100th career win in the semifinals.
Also, Nate Hanson was named Section 3A Coach of the Year and Troy Schultz was named Assistant Coach of the Year.
The state tournament is Thursday-Saturday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The team tournament is on Thursday, with individual Friday and Saturday.
JCC is the number one seed for the Class 1A team tournament and will face Maple River/United South Central at 11 a.m. Thursday.
Jackson County Central results at the Section 3A individual tournament:
106: Isaac Rodriguez (24-15) placed 1st
Bye
Pinned Jesus Leyva (Saint James Area) 2:40
Pinned Kaysen Harms (Wabasso) 3:07
Pinned Linkoln Carlson (Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove) 5:54
113: Nolan Ambrose (45-0) placed 1st
Bye
Bye
Pinned Ashton Weidemann (Wabasso) 0:44
Pinned Brayden Burmeister (Pipestone) 1:59
120: Kie Anderson (39-7) placed 1st
Bye
Pinned Noah Mathiowetz (Fulda/Murray County Central) 0:44
Pinned Wyatt Schmidt (Springfield) 0:32
Dec. Devin Carter (Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove) 7-1
126: Landon Andrews (21-14) placed 1st
Bye
Pinned Hudson Hough (Luverne) 3:03
Dec. Kollin Anderson (St. James Area) 2-0
Maj. dec. Evan Bartholomaus (Red Rock Central) 9-0
132: Logan Butzon (40-7) placed 1st
Pinned Kody Bast (Springfield) 1:24
Pinned Denver Ash (Fulda/Murray County Central) 3:53
Tech fall over Davis Budden (Pipestone) 21-6, 3:50
Dec. Ayden Horner (Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove) 5-3
138: Thomas Freking (38-9) placed 1st
Bye
Pinned Paytin Johnson (Springfield) 1:05
Pinned Reese Morrison (Adrian) 1:28
Pinned Nate Bobendrier (Pipestone) 2:00
145: Dylan Withers (34-14) placed 1st
Bye
Pinned Preston Remiger (Wabasso) 0:44
Pinned Owen Olsem (Fulda/Murray County Central) 1:38
Pinned Braydon Ripka (Luverne) 1:21
152: Isaiah Rodriguez (27-18) placed 1st
Bye
Pinned Mason Kampsen (Wabasso) 2:23
Dec. Carter Benda (Fulda/Murray County Central) 11-5
Dec. Isaac Bullerman (Adrian) 14-7
160: Payton Handevidt (44-3) placed 1st
Bye
Pinned Peyton Wolner (St. James Area) 0:10
Tech fall Chase Irlbeck (Wabasso) 15-0, 4:32
Pinned Ashtin Johnson (Springfield) 0:21
170: Matthew Haley (39-8) placed 2nd
Bye
Pinned Omar Ambrocio-Garrill (St. James Area) 1:19
Pinned Christian Kuball (Fulda/Murray County Central) 5:41
Lost to Caden Johnson (Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove) 3-0
182: Caleb Vancura (44-4) placed 1st
Bye
Pinned Colby Kesteloot (Fulda/Murray County Central) 1:32
Pinned Sam Welch (Wabasso) 3:16
Dec. Vander Mathiowetz (Red Rock Central) 3-0
195: Will Freking (38-10) placed 1st
Bye
Pinned Ayden Bonnett (Luverne) 1:12
Pinned Mitchell Streich (Springfield) 1:36
Pinned Jaren Winselman (Adrian) 3:50
220: Trace Michelson (17-15) placed 5th
Bye
Lost to Julio Esqueda (St. James Area) 2:18
Bye
Pinned Rylan Klein (Fulda/Murray County Central 1:41
Lost to Keaton Skarupa (Red Rock Central) 13-5
Pinned Julio Esqueda (St. James Area) 4:20
285: Cameron Scholten (32-14) placed 1st
Bye
Bye
Pinned Willie Curry (St. James Area) 1:47
Dec. Roberto Hernandez (Adrian) 5-2