MSHSL: State Wrestling Tournament Wrap-up and Summaries: Three teams repeat, McCauley wins fifth title

Apple Valley, Simley and Jackson County Central successfully defended their team wrestling titles. All three teams were seeded No. 1 in their respective classes. The three schools, each with strong winning traditions, now share a collective 32 state titles in the past 36 years — Apple Valley with 19, Simley with eight, and Jackson County Central with 5.

Apple Valley (36-1) lost only three matches in the entire Class AAA tournament (one was a disqualification due to a coaching error). It was their sixth consecutive and 19th overall championship in 30 appearances. The Eagles defeated St. Michael-Albertville (33-6) 61-6 in the championship match. Prior Lake’s Lakers (24-11) captured the third-place trophy, and White Bear Lake Area (22-6) won the consolation title.

The Simley Spartans (31-2) won their fourth consecutive Class AA championship in defeating Scott West 39-16. The Spartans lost only seven individual matches in their three team wins. The Komets of Kasson-Mantorville (29-4) took third, and Wabasso/Red Rock Central (26-3) took fifth.

The Huskies of Jackson County Central (26-1-1) and Hornets of Frazee (22-3-1) wrestled to a 28-28 tie and were named co-champions of Class A. It was the ninth time in state tournament history that co-champions were named, but only the fourth time since the multi-class system began in 1976. Frazee was also involved the last time co-champions were crowned in 2002 when the Hornets shared the title with Medford. Minneota (25-5) finished third, and Kimball Area, seeded No. 2, came back to win the consolation title.

Class AAA Individuals
Senior Destin McCauley of Apple Valley became the fourth wrestler in tournament history to win five titles as he successfully defended his title at 152. He had previously won in ’06,’07, ’08, and ’10. He was one of six wrestlers to repeat as state champions in Class AAA. Apple Valley demonstrated its dominance with seven individuals finishing atop their weight class. Led by McCauley, also winning were Dakota Trom (119), Matt Kelliher (125), Brandon Kingsley (140) each getting their third title. The Eagles also had two first-time winners -- seventh-grader Mark Hall and senior Jake Waste. St. Cloud Apollo’s Mitch Bengston won his third state championship while also posting an undefeated record of 41-0. Heavyweight Donny Longendyke (43-1) of White Bear Lake Area got his second title with a 3-2 overtime win.

Class AA Individuals
The Spartans of Simley had four wrestlers win state championships. They were led by Jake Short at 140 who won his second title. The other Spartan champions were Kyle Gliva (103), Pedro DeLao (119), and Nick Wanzek (145). Scott West was the only other team with multiple winners -- Austin Kroells went undefeated (41-0) in winning at 215, and eighth-grader Carmen Sykora at 103. Joey Munos of South St. Paul (41-0), Tyler Mergen of Monticello (44-0), and Austin Goergen of Caledonia/Houston (38-0) also were unbeaten, each winning their second state championships.

Class A Individuals
All five of the defending champions to reach the finals were successful. Two of them, Hayden Zillmer of Crosby-Ironton and Bronson Steuber of Jackson County Central, won their third state titles. Two champions completed undefeated seasons -- Clint Poster (42-0) of Pierz and Curt Maas (37-0) of Medford did so while also winning second titles. Josh Willaert of LeSuer-Henderson was the fifth returning champion to win again, at 171. Kenyon-Wanamingo claimed two champions in Mitchel Lexvold at 119 and Oakley McLain, the first for each of them

Total tournament attendance for the three days was 55,487. Attendance in 2010 was 48,234.

Courtesy: Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL)