Kenyon-Wanamingo and Kasson-Mantorville in Wrestling Finals

Two Hiawatha Valley League teams are wrestling for state titles tonight.

The Kenyon Wanamingo Knights defeated the Caledonia Warriors in the first match of the day 39-26 and held on in the semifinals with a 34-21 win over Pierz.

The Knights set the tone early with pins at 106 and 113 pounds against Caledonia. Both guys are rated No. 1 in the state in Class A at their weights. Freshman Jeron Matson pinned his opponent in 15 seconds and senior Ethan Cota registered a fall in 12 seconds.

At 120, freshman Seth Brossard scored a 12-0 win and the Knights were up 16-0.

At 126, Senior Jared Clawiter, ranked fifth in the state, pinned his foe in 34 seconds to make it 22-0.

Kenyon-Wanamingo racked up wins at 132 and 138 by junior Bradley Kish and freshman Tyler Ryan, ranked seventh in the state, to take a commanding 28-0 lead before Caledonia got on the scoreboard.

At 145, junior Matthew Houglum was ahead 10-0 before he got out of position and was pinned :27 into the third period. Knights junior Dylan Craig then answered at 152 with a fall in 2:28.

The Caledonia Warriors achieved victories at 160 and 170 before third-ranked 182-pound senior Luke Rechtzigel scored an 11-2 major decision win to seal the Knights' advancement to semis.

Caledonia won the last three matches of the dual.

Matson got Kenyon-Wanamingo off to a great start against the Pierz Pioneers also, pinning his opponent in 37 seconds.

Ethan Cota picked up a major decision at 113 and Seth Brossard scored a nice 8-2d win in a toss-up match at 120 before Jared Clawiter barely broke a sweat with a 10-second pin.

The Knights led 19-0.

The Pioneers discovered their first win at 132 before Tyler Ryan tallied an 8-4 decision and Matthew Houglum had a 7-3 win.

The score was 25-3 Kenyon-Wanamingo.

Pierz's top-ranked 152-pound Kolton Eischens registered a pin in three minutes before the Pioneers collected victories at 160 and 170.

Kenyon-Wanamingo's Rechtzigel started his match sluggish before finishing with a flurry and scoring a fall in 5:53 at 182. At 195, senior Riley Donkers was edged by a state-ranked 182 pounder 1-0.

Pierz won at 220 and Knights senior Austin Jackson beat David Skiba 3-0.

Kenyon-Wanamingo will wrestle the Frazee Hornets for the state title at 7 this evening. Tom Weeks and I will have the call from the Xcel Energy Center at 6:45PM.

Kasson-Mantorville dominated in their matches, winning 64-3 over Mora and 39-18 over Scott West.

The Komets wrestle Foley for the Class 2A title tonight.