Section 1 Standouts from Team Section Saturday
Another exciting Team Section Saturday at the Mayo Civic Center has come and gone. It was no surprise that the day was full of surprises. Kasson-Mantorville knocked off Zumbrota-Mazeppa behind a heroic effort from the KM upper weights. Chatfield pulled off several epic wins in their 36-20 rout of Kenyon-Wanamingo, and Albert Lea Area did nothing but win in their 49-7 victory over Northfield. Here are your Section 1 Standouts following Team Section Saturday:
Ryan Collins (121), Brecken Wacholz (160) and Teaghen Tolbers (189), Albert Lea Area
When Albert Lea and Northfield met up during the regular season, the trio of Collins, Wacholz, and Tolbers all lost by narrow decisions. Collins and Wacholz both lost by four, while Tolbers dropped a one-point heartbreaker. However, the “Albert Lea Bounce-Back Boys” came to wrestle on Saturday, as each wrestler avenged previous losses and were key in Albert Lea extending their margin of victory from nine, all the way to 42!
Charlie Koncur (HWT), Kenyon-Wanamingo
Have yourself a day, Charlie Koncur! The Kenyon-Wanamingo heavyweight picked up two first-period falls on Saturday against two of the best big men in the area. His pin against Dover-Eyota was the exclamation mark on a dominant semifinal performance from the Knights, and his pin against Chatfield came against the #2 ranked heavyweight in the state. The combined record of his two opponents on Saturday: 61 wins and just 16 losses! Until they ran into Charlie, that is.
Alden Pearson (139), Chatfield
Pearson has quietly had a great season, and perhaps the biggest highlight of his season happened in a pivotal moment of the Section 1A Team Final. His opponent at 139 pounds had only lost one match this year (in limited action). Pearson was trailing by just one point for the majority of the match, until he fired off a barrage of attacks with short time. He landed a double leg with less than one second remaining on the clock, secured the one point comeback victory, and sent the Chatfield crowd into their biggest frenzy of the afternoon.
Hunter Polikowski (127), Chatfield
The eight-grader, Polikowsky, drew two of the toughest matchups of Team Section Saturday. In the semifinals, he was tasked with a returning state entrant and top-10 ranked 127 pounder in Class A. In the finals, he met up with a Kenyon-Wanamingo Knight that had pinned him less than a month ago. He dropped the semifinal match in an overtime thriller, but successfully prevented Goodhue from building any sort of momentum and gaining bonus points. In the section finals, Polikowsky overcame the previous loss and picked up a huge 7-2 victory. Well done, young man!
Joey Kennedy (152), Kasson-Mantoville
Joey Kennedy showed up in the biggest way possible on Team Section Saturday. Kennedy had not wrestled a competitive match since a serious injury on January 26th. He rushed his return for the sake of the team, and secured a big win at 152 pounds when hopes were still grim. Kennedy returned to wrestle against the opponent in which the initial injury happened and delivered the gutsiest performance of the entire section tournament with an 8-4 victory. He was clearly hobbled for the entire match, but Kennedy refused for his team to be denied a trip to state in his senior season. Wrestlers are simply built different.
Jent Beyer (107), Zumbrota-Mazeppa
Beyer wrestled his best at the most important time of year. He picked up a quick fall in the semifinals against Pine Island, and avenged an earlier loss against his opponent from Kasson-Mantorville in the section finals. Zumbrota-Mazeppa knew the margins were going to be thin, and Beyer had to deliver a great performance to kick things off against Kasson-Mantorville if the Cougars wanted a shot. Beyer did exactly that, and it led to five consecutive ZM wins to start the Section Finals rematch.