Peterson, Fitterer advance to state wrestling tournament
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
When the NRHEG wrestling squad was bounced from the Section 2A team tournament a week earlier, it was a little disheartening for coach Shawn Larson and the Panthers.
They made sure it didn’t happen a second consecutive weekend.
The Panthers wrestled tough in the Section 2A individual tournament at Blue Earth Friday and Saturday, advancing two individuals to state while coming home with 10 placewinners.
“Overall, this was our best performance of the year,” said Larson.
Advancing to state were seniors Cordell Peterson and Wyatt Fitterer.
Peterson was the runner-up at 126 pounds, returning to the Xcel Energy Center for the fourth consecutive year. Fitterer won the championship at 285, achieving a long-awaited personal goal by getting back to St. Paul for the first time since he was a freshman.Zeke Erickson just missed state, taking third at 220, and Karter Sletten worked his way through the wrestlebacks at 170 to also take third. Erickson finished with a record of 28-9. Sletten, who was decisioned 8-6 in the true second place match, was 14-17.
Palmer Peterson was fourth at 160, finishing 7-8.
Placing fifth were Tyler Jacobson, 132 (8-27); Cole Staloch, 145 (20-12); Bryce Okland, 152 (22-17); and Trey Hoppe, 182 (21-15). Trai Wicks (11-26) was sixth at 138.
“Throughout this year we have had our struggles, but we did the best that we could when it came to the section tournament,” said Larson. “I am very proud of our athletes. We were able to beat opponents who have beaten us earlier in the year, and in many situations we performed higher than the seeds expected. Our main focus right now is to prepare our state qualifiers for a strong run next weekend, and to give our other returning athletes a plan for offseason work.”
Peterson and Fitterer will get to work at state Friday starting at 1 p.m.
Peterson (29-8) will face Section 5A champion Jadon Buntjer, a senior who’s 28-11, in the opening round. Fitterer, 32-4, will meet Section 7A runner-up David Skiba, a senior from Pierz who’s 18-7.
State tournament brackets and results can be found online at www.mshsl.org.