“We continued to wrestle well throughout the section tournament as we have for the past three weeks,” said Cyr. “This has been a very satisfying part of working with this group as they fought through the difficult times early in the season and kept getting better every day.”
Sophomore Dillon Kubiatowicz (113 lbs.), along with freshmen Cordell Peterson (106) and Wyatt Fitterer (285), all finished second to earn a trip to state.
Kubiatowicz opened the day with a second-period fall before getting beat by top seed and eventual champ Zach Kuhns of Maple River in the semifinals.
Kubiatowiocz bounced back with a 25-second fall and an 11-1 win to earn a true second match. He defeated Jackson’s Kyle Edlin to qualify for state.
Peterson followed nearly the same path during his day. He started with a 9-2 win, but suffered a 7-0 loss to eventual champ Seth Elwood of Medford.
Peterson bounced back with a 15-10 victory and a 59-second fall to earn a true second match. He dominated USC’s Dominic Alger 17-5 to win his state trip.
Kubiatowicz and Petrerson won their true second matches against wrestlers that had beaten them during the year. Kubiatowicz is 25-18 this season, while Peterson stands 26-17.
Fitterer pulled off a big comeback win in the semifinals to reach the finals.
Fitterer received a pair of byes to reach the semifinals. He trailed Blue Earth’s Martin Granados 5-0 in the final period when he scored a pin in 4:47 to reach the championship.
Fitterer, 26-9, was pinned by Blooming Prairie’s Jared Grunklee in 2:55 to finish second.
Juniors Tyler Logan at 145 and Dillon Parpart at 170, along with sophomore Todd Erickson at 220, narrowly missed qualifying for state.
Logan was 3-2 for the day. He ended his season with a 23-19 record when Aaron Trio of Maple River edged him 2-0 in the true second match.
Erickson, who finished 26-12, won three of four matches, all by pins.
Junior Dillon Parpart finished third at 170. He won three of four matches to end his year 27-15.
The Panthers also had six fourth-place finishers.
Palmer Peterson (120), Dustin Burshem (132), Allen Zimmerman (138), Nick Bartness (160), Cody Ripka (182) and Keith Maxon (190) placed fourth for NRHEG. All five wrestlers were 2-2 during the tournament.
Zimmerman (21-15) and Maxon (23-19) ended the year with winning records.
Trey Hoppe won one of three matches at 152 to place sixth.
Jet Wayne (126) was the only Panther wrestler who did not win a match.
The three NRHEG grapplers will wrestle at 1 p.m. Friday in the opening round of the state tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Peterson meets Brady Tweeton (24-9) of Barnesville, Kubiatowicz tangles with Kimball’s Blaine Tschida (38-4 and Fitterer squares off against Lance Briard (33-0) of River Valley, last year’s fifth place winner.
Cyr, who will retire at the end of the current school year, was selected the Section 2A Coach of the Year.
“I guess,” said Cyr, “they give that to old guys who are being put out to pasture.”
NRHEG Sect. 2A Wrestling
106 C. Peterson (4-1) 2nd
113 Kubiatowicz (4-1) 2nd
120 P. Peterson (2-2) 4th
126 Wayne (0-2) DNP
132 Burshem (2-2) 4th
138 Zimmerman (2-2) 4th
145 Logan ((3-2) 3rd
152 Hoppe (1-2) 6th
160 Bartness (2-2) 4th
170 Parpart (3-1) 3rd
182 Ripka (2-2) 4th
195 Maxon (2-2) 4th
220 T. Erickson (3-1) 3rd
285 Fitterer (2-1) 2nd
TOTALS (32-23)
NEXT: Friday, Saturday – Peterson, Kubiatowicz & Fitterer at State Tourney in St. Paul, 1 p.m.
