Generational talents headline the 2021 Post Bulletin All-Area Wrestling team

Apr. 20—ALL-AREA TEAM

106 POUNDS: Anthony Romero, GMLOS

Grade: Senior

2021 record: 28-3

Wrestler profile: Third-place finish in Class A this season and was the state runner-up last season. Romero finished his outstanding career with 109 victories and 77 pins.

----113 POUNDS: Calvin Singewald, Cannon Falls

Grade: Freshman

2021 record: 29-3

Wrestler profile: Moved from 106 to 113 because he couldn't beat out teammate Gavin Peterson for the 106-pound slot, but it turned out to be an incredible move. Singewald advanced all the way to the Class AA quarterfinals.

----120 POUNDS: Brandon Ross, Caledonia-Houston

Grade: Junior

2021 record: 31-0

Wrestler profile: Class A 120-pound state champion in 2021. Runner-up in 2020. One of the most dominant wrestlers in southeastern Minnesota. Wasn't really challenged all year long. Less than an hour after winning a state title, Ross was already anxious to get to work for another state title in 2022.

----126 POUNDS: Jacob Thompson, Byron

Grade: Junior

2021 record: 27-5

Wrestler profile: Two-time state entrant. Two-time All-Hiawatha Valley League and team captain. Advanced to state thanks to placing second at the state preliminaries behind Simley's Cash Raymond.

----132 POUNDS: Brodie Kellen, Dover-Eyota

Grade: Sophomore

2021 record: 31-5

Wrestler profile: Fifth-place finish in Class A at 132 pounds. Valiantly battled through the blood rounds during the state preliminaries, winning three win-or-go-home matches to advance to the state quarterfinals.

----138 POUNDS: Maxwell Petersen, Byron

Grade: Junior

2021 record: 35-1

Wrestler profile: Runner-up at 138 pounds in Class AA. Fell 8-6 in the state title match as his come-from-behind effort came up just a little bit short. The North Dakota State commit still stands as one of the best overall wrestlers in Minnesota. Petersen is a four-time state finalist. He has one state title under his belt and is a three-time Class AA runner-up. Petersen is a 5-time All-HVL selection and a team captain.

----145 POUNDS: Logan Vaughan, Kasson-Mantorville

Grade: Junior

2021 record: 27-2

Wrestler profile: Runner-up at 145 pounds in Class AA. Fell 4-3 in the state title match. 139 career victories. Placed at state four times.

----152 POUNDS: Rece Voigt, GMLOS

Grade: Senior

2021 record: 38-3

Wrestler profile: Fourth-place finish at 152 pounds in Class A. 127 career wins and 50 career pins. Voigt was a two-time state qualifier, an All-Three Rivers Conference selection and a four-time letterwinner. Voigt was named Academic All-State.

----160 POUNDS: Cole Glazier, Kasson-Mantorville

Grade: Sophomore

2021 record: 25-3

Wrestler profile: Third-place finish at 160 pounds in Class AA. 120 career victories and 76 takedowns in 2021.

----170 POUNDS: Seth Goetzinger, Chatfield

Grade: Senior

2021 record: 33-0

Wrestler profile: Class A 170-pound champion. Goetzinger led Chatfield to one of its best seasons as a team, and he had two tight, gut-wrenching victories in the state tournament to grind out his first state title.

----182 POUNDS: Bennett Berge, Kasson-Mantorville

Grade: Junior

2021 record: 29-0

Wrestler profile: Berge is a four-time state champion. He's one of the best wrestlers in the country. 189 career victories. 72 takedowns in 2021 and 20 pins. Ran roughshod over all the competition this season and is the Post Bulletin's Wrestler of the Year.

----195 POUNDS: Ethan Kovars, Zumbrota-Mazeppa

Grade: Senior

2021 record: 30-2

Wrestler profile: Placed second in Class A at 195 pounds. One of the best defensive wrestlers in the area. Major reason why Zumbrota-Mazeppa won the Section 1A team title despite being the No. 4 seed.

----220 POUNDS: Anthony Moe-Tucker, Kasson-Mantorville

Grade: Junior

2021 record: 21-7

Wrestler profile: Fourth-place finish at 220 pounds in Class AA. Placed at state twice in his career. 70 career wins.

----285 POUNDS: Max Balow, Lake City

Grade: Junior

2021 record: 33-5

Wrestler profile: Balow was the top heavyweight in the area and advanced out of a tough section to place sixth in Class AA. Balow was a two-time All-HVL selection. Owns 51 career falls.

----WILD CARD: Austin Freerksen, Byron

Grade: Senior

2021 record: 24-3

Wrestler profile: After taking more than three years off from wrestling, Freerksen made an incredible return to the sport and placed third at 182 pounds in Class AA. Only lost to Kasson-Mantorville's Bennett Berge (four-time state champion) and Class AA runner-up Caden DeWall.

----WILD CARD: Maddox O'Reilly, Goodhue

Grade: Junior

2021 record: 26-5

Wrestler profile: Class A third-place finisher at 138 pounds. O'Reilly has followed in his brothers' footsteps throughout his entire career. Finally making it to the state tournament was a huge accomplishment and he made it count with a run towards the top of the podium.

----WILD CARD: Caleb Talamantes, Albert Lea Area

Grade: Senior

2021 record: 30-4

Wrestler profile: Placed fourth at 170 pounds in Class AAA. Shined all year long despite wrestling a very tough schedule.

----WILD CARD: Cameron Davis, Albert Lea Area

Grade: Senior

2021 record: 35-2

Wrestler profile: Placed fifth at 138 pounds in Class AAA. Outlasted Mayo's standout Marshall Peters twice in hard-fought battles. Also knocked off P-E-M standout Cooper Hofschulte.

----WILD CARD: Cooper Hofschulte, Plainview-Elgin-Millville

Grade: Senior

2021 record: 35-4

Wrestler profile: Finished third in the state preliminaries but had some bad luck to be stuck in the same state preliminaries as Simley's Chase DeBlaere (Class AA 138-pound state champion) and Byron's Maxwell Petersen (Class AA runner-up). Beat some high-level wrestlers like Mayo's Marshall Peters and Chatfield's Kail Schott. Finished ranked ninth in Class AA. First-team All-Three Rivers Conference selection.

----WILD CARD: Kail Wynia, Kasson-Mantorville

Grade: Junior

2021 record: 27-3

Wrestler profile: Even though he was in one of the most talent-laden weight classes and sections, Wynia emerged with a third-place finish in Class AA at 170 pounds. 93 career wins.

----WILD CARD: Grady Schott, Chatfield

Grade: Junior

2021 record: 31-1

Wrestler profile: Second-place finish at 182 pounds in Class A. Only loss was in the state championship match. Was the lynchpin of a Chatfield team that was 22-1 throughout the regular season and earned the No. 1 seed for Section 1A play.

----WILD CARD: Gavin Gust, Dover-Eyota

Grade: Sophomore

2021 record: 32-1

Wrestler profile: Third-place finish in Class A at 145 pounds. Only loss came in the state semifinals.

----WILD CARD: Carter Quam, Kenyon-Wanamingo

Grade: Senior

2021 record: 32-5

Wrestler profile: Fourth-place finisher in Class A at 195 pounds. Two-time state entrant.

HONORABLE MENTION

Austin: Lathan Wilson (132, 14-7); Mark Tamke (145, 16-14). Byron: Vicente Deleon (285, 27-4, 91 career wins, two-time All-HVL); William Wharton (170, 21-13, 2-time All-HVL); Eli Haight (132, 16-10, 2-time honorable mention All-HVL). Caledonia-Houston: Will Allen (106, 12-9, state entrant); Owen Denstad (126, 22-7, state entrant); Isaac Blocker (132, 23-6, state entrant); Tucker Ginther (138, 22-5, state entrant). Cannon Falls: Gavin Peterson (106, 29-3, state qualifier); Colten Black (145, 15-6); Preston Carlisle (152, 29-3); Riley Keenan (195, 20-8). Chatfield: AJ Karver (220, 102 career wins, 2-time state entrant); Gage Bartels (106, 22-6); Ben Carrier (113, 21-8); Carson Rowland (120, 21-10); Kail Schott (138, 25-7); Tate Karver (152, 26-7); Campbell Berge (195, 26-7). Dover-Eyota: Blake Lehnertz (160, 28-4, sixth-place finish in Class A); Tyler Shea (170, 26-7); Jackson Duellman (220, 20-11); Spencer Welsh (285, 21-10). Goodhue: Lucas Bortz (113, 26-7); Ryan Bortz (120, 21-12); Makae O'Reilly (145, 21-11); Cody Lohman (22-, 24-11); Blake Carlson (285, 24-11). GMLOS: Cam Sneed (195, 32-6, 96 career wins, 45 career pins, four-time letterwinner, All-TRC, two-time state entrant); Noah Sayles (182, 331-3, 141 career wins, 64 pins, fifth-place finish in Class A in 2020, Academic All-State, was considered a close contact and was held out of Sections); Christian Jacobsen (170, 36-3, 176 career wins, 121 career pins, state qualifier, All-TRC, Academic All-State, six-time letterwinner); Daniel Smith (160, 35-6, 151 career wins, 64 career pins, two-time state qualifier, sixth-place finish in Class A last year, All-TRC, Academic All-State, six-time letterwinner); Donavon Felten (145, 32-2, 137 career wins, 66 career pins, was considered a close contact and was held out of Sections, All-TRC, five-time letterwinner); Cohen Wiste (126, 36-6, 108 career wins, thee-time state entrant, All-TRC, 3-time letterwinner). Fillmore Central-Lanesboro-Mabel-Canton: Oliver Hoeltzle (182, 16-7); Cale Anderson (138, 15-8). Kasson-Mantorville: Luke Swanson (106, 19-10, 26 career wins); Dominic Mann (132, 18-11, 42 career wins); Jackson Kennedy (195, 16-5, 51 career wins). Kenyon-Wanamingo: Gavin Johnson (113, 30-3, state entrant); Alec Johnson (138, 23-8, 3-time state entrant); Bray Olson (152, 25-9, 3-time state entrant); Logan Meyers (220, 22-10, state entrant); Armani Tucker (285, 26-6, state entrant). La Crescent: Joey Schreier (138, 11-7). Lake City: Luke Skifton (132, 29-6, All-State selection, state qualifier, All-HVL, 124 career wins, sixth all-time in Lake City history in wins); Jonathan Harvey (145, 27-6, 3-time All-HVL, 3-time state qualifier, sixth-place Class AA finish in 2021); Sam Nutt (182, 21-7, 13 pins, All-HVL); Nate Evans (113, 21-8, 13 pins, All-HVL honorable mention); Luke Becker (160, 19-11, 11 pins, All-HVL honorable mention). Lewiston-Altura-Rushford-Peterson: Tyler Kreidemacher (113, 31-4); Jordan Zibrowski (120, 26-9); Carter Jonsgaard (126, 29-7). Pine Island: Luke Williams (113, 13-2). Plainview-Elgin-Millville: Martin Prieto (195, 35-3, third in state preliminaries behind the eventual state champion and the state runner-up. Led team in wins, takedowns, team points, and match points. Named First-Team All-TRC); Cael Marx (152, 34-4, six ranked wins, third in state preliminaries, 167 career wins, 95 career pins, First-Team All-TRC). Rochester Century: Nathan Miller (195, 9-10). Rochester John Marshall: Darius Jordan (138, 12-11). Rochester Mayo: Calder Sheehan (126, 19-8); Dylan Peper (182, 19-9); Kai Kobayashi (113, 16-11); Logan Burger (170, 18-11); Ben Timmerman (120, 22-6); Ian Funk (145, 19-11); Ethan Smith (160, 17-10); Cason Larson (152, 13-15); Sam Allen (195, 18-10); Rick Kobayashi (132, 23-8); Dedric Burger (220, 23-4); Marshall Peters (138, 27-9, advanced out of the blood rounds in the state preliminaries to make it to the Class AAA quarterfinals. Peters went on to place sixth). Stewartville: Christian Sackett (220, 20-8); Caden King (285); Jon Laures (120). St. Charles: Chace Kobs (132, 18-9); Jett Thoreson (152, 105 career wins, state entrant, All-TRC selection); Brady Koeppel (160, 17-10); Gavin Boyum (285, 10-7). Triton: Colby Dobbs (152, 17-8, All-HVL, 80 career wins); Brekken Schlichting (182, 15-12, state entrant); Mason Barker (195, 12-6, 58 career pins). Wabasha-Kellogg: Chris Cushman (120, 10-5). Westfield: Lane Lembke (126, 23-7); Tyler Archer (182, 26-6, Class A fifth-place finisher); Dylan Ehmke (195). Winona: Logan Henningson (132, 20-5); Zander Rusert (285, 12-3). Zumbrota-Mazeppa: Jack Krier (106, 29-5, state qualifier); Kaleb Lochner (120, 23-9, state qualifier); Beau Jurrens (145, 18-12, state qualifier); Lucas Schiell (113, 17-3); Ben Murray (126, 19-8); Gabe Tupper (182, 16-3); Ryan Lexvold (170, 17-9).