“I think they’re ready. They are ready to get after it, and they’re in a good mindset,” Minneota head coach Matt Myrvik said. “They’ve worked for this all year long. They’re being aggressive, which is what we preached all year long. A lot of it starts on our feet for take downs. We want to set the tone with what we do best, and I think they did a good job of doing that tonight.”

The Warriors defeated No. 9 Quad County 40-33 in the section’s play-in round that took place just before the quarterfinals with the Vikings.

Minneota took charge straight away, as they did throughout the regular season, with back-to-back pins from Derek Fier and Heydan Danielson in nine and 36 seconds, respectively. Although BOLD responded by winning the 121 and 127 matches, the Vikings shut out the Warriors the rest of the way.

“Obviously, with this sport, there’s lots of ups and downs, and you never know. So, feeding off each other and picking somebody up if somebody goes down, that’s part of this sport,” Myrvik said. “I think we do a very good job of doing that. Obviously, if we can pin guys and get bonus points, that’s huge. We look to continue doing that aspect of it.”

Minneota's Brock Fier (left) wrestles with BOLD's Gabriel Bergstrom in the 172.

In a repeat of last year’s postseason, Minneota earned the section’s top-seed for the second year in a row after finishing the regular season 26-1 overall. Canby also earned the second-seed on the opposite side of the bracket again.

After hanging onto a 12-6 edge following the night’s first four matches, Minneota turned up the dial and won five consecutive matches by fall between the 133 to 160, with the momentum passing down to each wrestler.

“We were saying that tonight is a good way to start off the week and set the tone for the week, and a good tune up for Saturday,” senior Brock Fier said of the team’s approach to the quarterfinals. “We are going to have really good opponents there, and we used tonight kind of like a practice to get ready and locked in for Saturday.”

Blake Mead, Owen Myrvik, Adam DeVlaeminck, Colton Bitker and Mason Javers accounted for the five straight pins to put the Vikings ahead 42-6.

Brock Fier showed resilience in his 172 fight with BOLD’s Gabriel Bergstrom, ultimately winning in a 9-4 decision.

Minneota's Colton Bitker (left) wrestles with BOLD's Seferino Enriquez in the 152 match.

The two were both scoreless after the first period, with Fier earning 4 points following an escape and takedown in the second. Bergstrom then responded with a reversal to gain 2 points.

In the final period, Fier came out on top with a takedown with 33 seconds remaining and held off Bergstrom the rest of the way to earn another 3 points for Minneota.

“I was just trying to focus on the good things. I kind of had a little shoulder injury, and I have kind of been sick all week,” Fier said of managing his match. “I was trying to focus on my breathing, just trying to stick back to the fundamentals and just wrestle. That’s the biggest thing, is just going out and wrestling.”

Randy Sorensen then won by forfeit, while Carson Javers and Cael Fier capped off the night to send the Vikings onto the semifinals following two more pins.

Keaten Marwede defeated Minneota’s Nolan Vankeulen in a 13-7 decision in the 121, while Edgar Kopel did the same in the 127 class with a 6-3 decision over Quinton Anderson to earn BOLD’s 6 combined points.

Minneota's Cael Fier (top) takes on BOLD's Hudson Edwards in the heavyweight match Thursday night.

“We go by the motto of you pick the next guy up. If something goes bad or something happens, the next guy is there to pick him up,” Fier said. “We’re just wrestling for each other as a team, and we build off things. That’s what our coaches preach.”

On the hunt for state

Minneota is looking to earn a state tournament berth as a team for the eighth time overall and first time since the 2016 season. The Vikings came up short to Canby in the section championship last year.

“I just think our ability to be aggressive,” Myrvik said regarding the team’s strengths heading further into sections. “I think we’re a year older, obviously, than last year, and it shows. I don’t think we’re scared to go out anymore and let it fly. I think these guys are being very aggressive, and they’re going after it.”

The Lancers are also making their way through the section tournament after a 65-10 win over No. 7 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Thursday night as well.

Minneota's Mason Javers (right) takes on BOLD's Trey Zamarron in the 160 match Thursday night.

Canby finished the regular season ranked No. 5 in Class A, as did Minneota ranked No. 3.

Powering through for Pohlen

In Minneota’s quadrangular last Thursday with Windom, Pipestone and Quad County, sophomore Landon Pohlen suffered a serious injury where he was temporarily unable to move his extremities.

Pohlen was airlifted to receive medical care, and a spinal cord injury was ruled out after completing scans. He has since been transferred to an inpatient rehabilitation facility where he is receiving therapy, while he begins his road to recovery on gaining back his mobility and strength.

In the wake of Pohlen’s injury, the Minneota community has been rallying behind him and had a poster at Thursday’s match for everyone to sign and write a note to be gifted to him. All of the athletes and coaching staff also wore shirts with “Landon Strong” written on them at the match.

“Landon is a huge part of our program, and a huge part of this team, and he will be for the remainder of it,” Myrvik said. “He’s in his own little battle now, and we’re here to support him in any way we can. We want to hopefully see him down at the state tournament and cheering on his team.”

Up next

Following Thursday’s win, the Vikings now advance to the section semifinals to face No. 4 Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg on Saturday at Ortonville with a 12:30 p.m. start.

KMS defeated No. 5 Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 35-27 in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“I think we just need to focus on our opponent, whoever it is … We’ve seen everybody that’s in our section,” Myrvik said. “We need to do what we do best and stick with that plan, and just attack, attack, attack. You get a chance to get bonus points, we got to get the bonus points.”

The section championship will then take place after at 2:30 p.m., at Ortonville High School.

RESULTS

Minneota 63, BOLD 6

107: Derek Fier (MIN) def. Brett Henslin (BOLD) Fall 0:09. 114: Heydan Danielson (MIN) def. Cody COle (BOLD) Fall 0:36. 121: Keaten Marwede (BOLD) def. Nolan Vankeulen (MIN) Dec. 13-7. 127: Edgar Kopel (BOLD) def. Quinton Anderson (MIN) Dec. 6-3. 133: Blake Mead (MIN) def. Trevor Plass (BOLD) Fall 1:37. 139: Owen Myrvik (MIN) def. Bryce Henslin (BOLD) Fall 1:01. 145: Adam DeVlaeminck (MIN) def. Jakob Martinson (BOLD) Fall 0:14. 152: Colton Bitker (MIN) def. Seferino Enriquez (BOLD) Fall 0:42. 160: Mason Javers (MIN) def. Trey Zamarron (BOLD) Dec. 9-4. 172: Brock Fier (MIN) def. Gabriel Bergstrom (BOLD) Dec. 9-4. 189: Randy Sorensen (MIN) win by forfeit. 215: Carson Javers (MIN) def. Simon Enriquez (BOLD) Fall 0:32. 285: Cael Fier (MIN) def. Hudson Edwards (BOLD) Fall 1:58.

BOLD 40, Quad County 33

107: Hudson Cole (QUCO) def. Brett Henslin (BOLD) Fall. 114: Cody Cole (BOLD) def. Beau Bristle (QUCO) TF 16-1 4:30. 121: Mario Gradillas (QUCO) def. Keaten Marwede (BOLD) Dec. 9-6. 127: Edgar Kopel (BOLD) def. Rykurt Bristle (QUCO) Fall 1:23. 133: Easton Johnson (QUCO) def. Trevor Plass (BOLD) Fall 5:30. 139: Bryce Henslin (BOLD) def. Jacob Thein (QUCO) TF 18-0 3:10. 145: Jakob Martinson (BOLD) def. Emmitt Aus (QUCO) Fall 0:19. 152: Blaine Carroll (QUCO) def. Seferino Enriquez (BOLD) Fall 1:11. 160: Colton Baumgartner (BOLD) win by forfeit. 172: Trey Zamarron (BOLD) def. Christian Vargas (QUCO) Fall 2:30. 189: Gabriel Bergstrom (BOLD) win by forfeit. 215: Jacob Savig (QUCO) def. Simon Enriquez (BOLD) Fall 0:46. 285: Breck Martin (QUCO) def. Hudson Edwards (BOLD) Fall 0:35.