The Becker ninth grade and under wrestling team traveled and competed in the team state tournament Jan. 18 at Hastings High School. The tournament was an elite competition of the top 24 teams in the state. The Becker team - which failed to qualify for the tournament the last two years - went 2-2 on the day, finishing off in the Tier 2 Consolation finals with a 43-24 loss to the team from Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.
Becker finished in 12th place in the single class tournament, quite an accomplishment considering Becker had four “open” weight-classes.
Becker matched up with the team from South St. Paul to start out the day and lost to the eventual seventh place team, 62-9. Next up was Stillwater in the third round and Becker defeated them, 47-18 to advance to meet Eastview.
In a very close match, Becker beat Eastview 39-34. The final match of the day for Becker was against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in the finals in which KMS won 43-24.
The Becker coaching staff expressed how proud they were of their boys and the great work this team has done this season. Becker ended the team portion of the season with a 4-4 dual meet record.
The ninth and under wrestlers at state were: Jacob Berning, Brenton Arbuckle, Logan Jurek, Mikey James, Andrew Berglund, Blake Paulson, Brett Reichle, Noah Arrigoni, Mason Platz, Frankie Klinkenborg-Baker, Scott Braun and Cale MacMillian.
Individual Sections
The team's next event was the section individual tournament Jan. 25 at Royalton High School. The top two wrestlers at each weight-class from this tournament advance to state.
Becker brought seven wrestlers (for the 14 weight-classes) and had several “place-winners” including two wrestlers who advanced to state.
Colton Demant was the 120-lbs. region champ and Jaylin Hildebrandt was the 152-lbs. runner-up. The MNGWL State Individual tournament is being held today (Saturday) at Champlin Park High School.
Becker had some “near advancers” that placed well in the region tournament. Josh Lumley lost a close match in the semi-finals, but battled back to earn third place. (Josh had qualified last season, but was unable to compete at state due to an injury).
Andrew Berglund lost his opening match of the day, but made his way back through the consolation bracket to put himself in a position to potentially earn a true-second match, but he missed out on the opportunity because of the daily match-count limits (The NFHS only allows individuals to wrestle five matches in a day).
Zack Fisher started out his day with a loss to the eventual third place winner, but worked hard to earn a fifth place finish.
Noah Arrigoni advanced to the semi-finals, but lost to the eventual champion. Arrigoni then moved to the consolation round and earned fourth place on the day.
Jacob Berning had a tough draw with his matches and ended his day with a loss to the eventual third place wrestler.
Results:
94-lbs. Jacob Berning (0-2) DNP (did not place); 106-lbs. Josh Lumley (3-1) third place; 113-lbs. Andrew Berglund (3-1) third or fourth place (could not wrestle because of match count); 120-lbs. Colton Demant (3-0) first place; 126-lbs. Zack Fisher (3-2) fifth place; 132-lbs. Noah Arrigoni (3-2) fourth place; 152-lbs. Jaylin Hildebrandt (3-1) second place.
The nine and under squad works diligently throughout the year as they also contend on other squads in the wrestling program (Junior High, JV and Varsity).
This season’s team saw performances from: Jacob Berning (7th), Brenton Arbuckle (8th), Logan Jurek (7th), Michael James (7th), Josh Lumley (8th), Josh Ludens (9th), Andrew Berglund (9th), Kevin Andres (7th), Colton Demant (9th), Blake Paulson (8th), Zack Fisher (9th), Brett Reichle (9th), Noah Arrigoni (9th), Shane Soderquist (9th), Mason Platz (8th), Scott Braun (9th), Jaylin Hildebrandt (9th), Frankie Baker (9th) and Cale MacMillan (9th).
Next week, look for the results from the team’s two grapplers who compete at state this weekend.
