State wrestling tournament to kick off on Friday

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Kale Rich will make a return to the Class A state wrestling tournament this week when he wraps up his senior season on wrestling’s biggest stage in Minnesota. Rich, who also competed in the 2022 state tournament, advanced to state after working his way through the consolation bracket at the Section 6A tournament on Friday night and winning a true second match to advance to his second state tournament.

He will face Lamarcus Osborne of Minneapolis North in the opening round of the tournament. Osborne comes into the tournament with a record of 40-5 overall, while Rich is 24-12. The winner of the match will take on either Treston Nichols (36-5 overall from Badger-Greenbush-Middle River) or Miles Mulhern (36-9 from Chatfield) in the second round of state on Friday afternoon. Mulhern is currently the second ranked wrestler in the state. 

For Rich, the state tournament comes in the heels of a nail biting section tournament in which the second seeded wrestler lost his opening round match to Zach Bosman of Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie by an 8-2 decision. He then defeated Grady Roberts of New York Mills by a 6-4 overtime decision in the wrestle backs, before securing three straight pins in less than 2:20 to capture second place and a return to state. 

Tayden Soma had an equally difficult challenge through the consolation bracket as he lost one of the few pig tail matches of the section tournament by a pin. He then picked up back-to-back tech falls to advance to the consolation semi-finals at 152 lbs. when he defeated Sam Olson by a 10-9 decision to advance to the third place match. Unfortunately, he lost a 9-5 decision to Tanner Schulke of Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie to finish in fourth place.

Peter Newark took fourth place at 121 lbs. when he fell to Evan Flan of Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville by a 10-6 in the third place match.

Other Bulldogs placing in the section tournament include: Julian Umlauf who took sixth place at 114 lbs., Cayden Dittberner who took sixth place at 133 lbs., Brock Resch who took seventh place at 139 lbs., Mason Christianson who took eighth place at 145 lbs., Levi Evavold who took sixth place at 160 lbs. and Xavier Lewis who took eighth place at 172 lbs.

107- 8th place- Champ. Round 1 – Houston Schwartz (Otter Tail Central) 2-18 received a bye () (Bye), Quarterfinal – Mason Hoffman (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 31-8 won by fall over Houston Schwartz (Otter Tail Central) 2-18 (Fall 1:43), Cons. Round 2 – Houston Schwartz (Otter Tail Central) 2-18 received a bye () (Bye), Cons. Round 3 – Nathan Brethorst (West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville) 22-23 won by fall over Houston Schwartz (Otter Tail Central) 2-18 (Fall 1:51)

114- 6th place- Champ. Round 1 – Julian Umlauf (Otter Tail Central) 9-20 received a bye () (Bye), Quarterfinal – Hunter Katterhagen (LPGE-Browerville Wolves) 35-7 won by decision over Julian Umlauf (Otter Tail Central) 9-20 (Dec 3-1), Cons. Round 2 – Julian Umlauf (Otter Tail Central) 9-20 received a bye () (Bye), Cons. Round 3 – Julian Umlauf (Otter Tail Central) 9-20 won by decision over Isaac Bergren (Pelican Rapids) 25-12 (Dec 11-6), Cons. Semi – Ashton Pastian (Osakis) 32-16 won by fall over Julian Umlauf (Otter Tail Central) 9-20 (Fall 2:38), 5th Place Match – Brock Martig (Border West Buccaneers) 20-19 won by fall over Julian Umlauf (Otter Tail Central) 9-20 (Fall 1:29)

121- 4th place- Champ. Round 1 – Peter Newark (Otter Tail Central) 5-22 received a bye () (Bye), Quarterfinal – Creed Mursu (New York Mills) 31-14 won by fall over Peter Newark (Otter Tail Central) 5-22 (Fall 1:09), Cons. Round 2 – Peter Newark (Otter Tail Central) 5-22 received a bye () (Bye), Cons. Round 3 – Peter Newark (Otter Tail Central) 5-22 won by fall over Brock Brunkow (West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville) 0-2 (Fall 1:38), Cons. Semi – Peter Newark (Otter Tail Central) 5-22 won by decision over Zach Rikimoto (Border West Buccaneers) 21-9 (Dec 10-8), 3rd Place Match – Evan Flan (LPGE-Browerville Wolves) 24-17 won by decision over Peter Newark (Otter Tail Central) 5-22 (Dec 10-6)

133- 6th place- Champ. Round 1 – Cayden Dittberner (Otter Tail Central) 7-13 received a bye () (Bye), Quarterfinal – Jackson Peasley (Pelican Rapids) 31-15 won by tech fall over Cayden Dittberner (Otter Tail Central) 7-13 (TF-1.5 6:00 (17-1)), Cons. Round 2 – Cayden Dittberner (Otter Tail Central) 7-13 received a bye () (Bye), Cons. Round 3 – Cayden Dittberner (Otter Tail Central) 7-13 won by major decision over Cristian Ponce (West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville) 1-9 (MD 11-1), Cons. Semi – Christian Nathe (Osakis) 25-22 won by fall over Cayden Dittberner (Otter Tail Central) 7-13 (Fall 3:21), 5th Place Match – James Seelhammer (Wadena-Deer Creek) 16-24 won by decision over Cayden Dittberner (Otter Tail Central) 7-13 (Dec 11-4)

139- 7th place- Champ. Round 1 – Brock Resch (Otter Tail Central) 3-14 received a bye () (Bye), Quarterfinal – Evan Jares (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 25-6 won by fall over Brock Resch (Otter Tail Central) 3-14 (Fall 1:08), Cons. Round 2 – Brock Resch (Otter Tail Central) 3-14 received a bye () (Bye), Cons. Round 3 – Carter Lohse (West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville) 9-25 won by fall over Brock Resch (Otter Tail Central) 3-14 (Fall 1:44), 7th Place Match – Brock Resch (Otter Tail Central) 3-14 received a bye () (Bye)

145- 8th place- Champ. Round 1 – Mason Christianson (Otter Tail Central) 17-17 received a bye () (Bye), Quarterfinal – Preston Captain (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 13-18 won by injury default over Mason Christianson (Otter Tail Central) 17-17 (Inj. 0:31), Cons. Round 2 – Mason Christianson (Otter Tail Central) 17-17 received a bye () (Bye), Cons. Round 3 – Gideon Pinnella (Wadena-Deer Creek) 10-14 won by injury default over Mason Christianson (Otter Tail Central) 17-17 (Inj. 0:00)

152- 4th place- Champ. Round 1 – Dylan Przymus (Border West Buccaneers) 3-16 won by fall over Tayden Soma (Otter Tail Central) 5-12 (Fall 1:26), Cons. Round 1 – Tayden Soma (Otter Tail Central) 5-12 received a bye () (Bye), Cons. Round 2 – Tayden Soma (Otter Tail Central) 5-12 won by tech fall over Jaxn Heintzelman (Pelican Rapids) 7-24 (TF-1.5 4:52 (19-2)), Cons. Round 3 – Tayden Soma (Otter Tail Central) 5-12 won by tech fall over Kylan Benning (Wadena-Deer Creek) 7-16 (TF-1.5 4:40 (19-2)), Cons. Semi – Tayden Soma (Otter Tail Central) 5-12 won by decision over Sam Olson (West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville) 12-14 (Dec 10-9), 3rd Place Match – Tanner Schulke (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 16-31 won by decision over Tayden Soma (Otter Tail Central) 5-12 (Dec 9-5)

160- 6th place- Champ. Round 1 – Levi Evavold (Otter Tail Central) 12-13 received a bye () (Bye), Quarterfinal – Ben Peterson (Border West Buccaneers) 26-21 won by fall over Levi Evavold (Otter Tail Central) 12-13 (Fall 3:30), Cons. Round 2 – Levi Evavold (Otter Tail Central) 12-13 received a bye () (Bye), Cons. Round 3 – Levi Evavold (Otter Tail Central) 12-13 won by fall over Dylan Recknor (LPGE-Browerville Wolves) 12-18 (Fall 4:23), Cons. Semi – Solomon Wales (West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville) 37-8 won by injury default over Levi Evavold (Otter Tail Central) 12-13 (Inj. 0:00), 5th Place Match – Eli Benning (Wadena-Deer Creek) 15-19 won by injury default over Levi Evavold (Otter Tail Central) 12-13 (Inj. 0:00)

172- 8th place- Champ. Round 1 – Xavier Lewis (Otter Tail Central) 7-12 received a bye () (Bye), Quarterfinal – Brody Nachbor (Border West Buccaneers) 30-11 won by fall over Xavier Lewis (Otter Tail Central) 7-12 (Fall 1:23), Cons. Round 2 – Xavier Lewis (Otter Tail Central) 7-12 won by injury default over Mazin Al-Ameri (Osakis) 6-28 (Inj. 0:00), Cons. Round 3 – Joe Mann (New York Mills) 15-28 won by fall over Xavier Lewis (Otter Tail Central) 7-12 (Fall 2:56)

189- Champ. Round 1 – Andrew Ziesmer (Osakis) 5-18 won by fall over Landon Leitch (Otter Tail Central) 2-15 (Fall 3:15), Cons. Round 1 – Landon Leitch (Otter Tail Central) 2-15 received a bye () (Bye), Cons. Round 2 – Elias Valdovines (Pelican Rapids) 10-29 won by fall over Landon Leitch (Otter Tail Central) 2-15 (Fall 4:56)

285- 2nd place- Champ. Round 1 – Kale Rich (Otter Tail Central) 24-12 received a bye () (Bye), Quarterfinal – Zach Bosman (Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie) 8-13 won by decision over Kale Rich (Otter Tail Central) 24-12 (Dec 8-2), Cons. Round 2 – Kale Rich (Otter Tail Central) 24-12 received a bye () (Bye), Cons. Round 3 – Kale Rich (Otter Tail Central) 24-12 won in sudden victory – 1 over Grady Roberts (New York Mills) 11-16 (SV-1 6-4), Cons. Semi – Kale Rich (Otter Tail Central) 24-12 won by fall over Noah Adelman (Border West Buccaneers) 21-16 (Fall 0:37), 3rd Place Match – Kale Rich (Otter Tail Central) 24-12 won by fall over Matthew Wegscheid (Wadena-Deer Creek) 18-11 (Fall 2:20), 2nd Place Match – Kale Rich (Otter Tail Central) 24-12 won by fall over Zachary Winkle (Osakis) 24-16 (Fall 0:39)