I ended on a high note, which felt really good.”

Gunnar Mullen

It wasn’t the state tournament Park wrestlers were hoping for.

But all-time win leader Gunnar Mullen sure went out in style.

“I ended on a high note, which felt really good,” said Mullen.

Mullen finished fifth in the 172-pound Class AAA division, but none of the other three Wolfpack wrestlers who qualified for state finished how they would have liked.

Mullen pinned Mounds View’s Caden Grenier in the fifth-place finals Saturday afternoon in just 56 seconds to end his six-year Park career with a dramatic flourish. Mullen ends with an amazing all-time school record of 234 career victories, including going 51-8 his senior season.

At 133 pounds, Park senior Kyler Jubinal (41-13) also lost his opener, but then won in the first round of consolation wrestling. Jubinal was then pinned in 1:15 by Will Schneider of Mounds View in a consolation quarterfinal. Schneider went on to finish sixth.

Park junior Zack Carr (44-5) at 152 pounds and senior Joey Chilton at 139 (26-18) both went down in the first round of championship wrestling on Friday and neither got a chance to wrestle again.

Carr will get another shot at state next season but for the other three Park wrestlers this was their final go round.

So Saturday belonged to Mullen to carry the Park colors.

Ranked fourth coming into the tournament, Mullen pinned eighth-ranked Brecken Wacholz of Albert Lee in 2:42 in a consolation quarterfinal Saturday morning. He scored a pair of takedowns and an escape while giving up no points in the match.

Mullen then dropped a 10-3 decision to Lakeville South‘s third-ranked Bo Bokman in the consolation semifinals. Bokman scored takedowns in each of the three periods, while Mullen could manager just three points on three escapes. Bokman ended up placing fourth.

On to Saturday afternoon and Mullen reasserted his winning ways in spectacular fashion in the fifth-place finals, instantly controlling the match en route to a pin in 56 seconds.

“He was in his base, in a quad pod which is like where you’re on your feet, on your hands, grab the chin, grab his leg, crunched down, locked my hands, got in the cradle, then I went behind his legs, moved his leg close to his head so his knee was touching his head basically and then I rolled him, got him on his back and pinned him.”

Overall, Mullen said he regrated not finishing higher on the podium.

“I’m pretty disappointed with myself that I didn’t make it to semis or state finals but I’m pretty happy with how I wrestled the second half of the tournament, making it past the blood rounds, on to fifth place and winning my last match in high school,” Mullen noted.

A six-year starter. Mullen’s absence from the Park lineup next season will be felt.

“It’s been great to coach him over the years,” said Park head coach Jim LaBrosse. “Six years of coaching him has been great. You don’t get kids like that hardly ever. It’s been an honor to coach him.

“Today we talked about it, your last match of your high school career – go out on a big note and they split during the year and the last time they wrestled I think it was 12-to-2 and we knew he could get it done today,” LaBrosse continued. “Once he got that first takedown I kind of knew it was going to be over. He ran that cradle that he just pinned with earlier today too. To get three pins in the state tournament in one year is amazing. It’s hard to get a win here. It’s just been great. Great moment to go out on and super proud of him.”

Friday’s opening rounds

It was a rough opening round Friday for the Wolfpack wrestlers, who went just 10-3 to open the tournament.

Mullen (45-5) pinned his first-round opponent, Sam Holman of Edina in just 33 seconds to set up a showdown with familiar foe and fifth ranked Lindson Turner of Stillwater. Turner then scored a 14-6 major decision over Mullen in the championship quarterfinals and went on to finish third in the tournament. Mullen stayed alive in consolation with a 15-0 technical fall win in 3:20 over Jacob Hansen of Park Center. In that match Mullen scored a takedown and bear fall in the first period, a reversal and near fall in the second and a takedown in the third.

Fifth-ranked junior Carr (44-4) lost in the first round by a fall in 5:19 to seventh-ranked Ty Saulter of Rosemount. Carr wasn’t close to his best and gave up takedowns in the second and third periods while failing to score.

“Carr’s match just unfortunate,” said LaBrosse. “We weren’t at the top of our game. He’s a junior so he still has a shot.”

Fifth-ranked Jubinal (40-10) dropped his first-round match at 133 pounds by a 23-7 technical fall to second-ranked Lincoln Robideau of St. Michael-Albertville. Jubinal then won in consolation, pinning Landen Lorch of Blaine in 1:15.

“Kyler you know, he was in the blood round, tough draw, you know they do the seeding, so the seeding thing is always a question but at least it’s seeded. Years ago it wasn’t, so you really can’t complain about that … but he was right there,” said LaBrosse. “I thought he could have beaten Mounds View -- Schneider – great match. A couple of questionable takedowns early. But he finished strong. It’s unfortunate not to be on the podium. But he’s had a great career. He’s one of our most improved wrestlers from a year ago. He’s just come a long way. Really proud of him.”

Unranked senior Chilton (26-17) also lost in the first round at 139 in a 17-2 technical fall to ninth-ranked Keith Harner of Northfield in 3:04.

“Joey just getting here was fantastic,” said LaBrosse. “Almost got brought back in, his boy lost a close match, 7-6, and if he could have got back in I think that was a match he could have won. But just to be here is a great thing for him.

“And then losing Dylan Richardson was tough on the team as well but again he’s a junior so we’ll get him back. The surgery went well. And we’re building for the future and we’ve got some good kids to keep this thing running.”

In the Class AAA team tournament Thursday, top-seeded and top-ranked St. Michael-Albertville rolled to the title with wins over Hastings (60-8), Albert Lea (54-8) and second-seeded Shakopee (46-18). Third-seeded Stillwater defeated Prior Lake 52-15 in the first round, then lost to Shakopee 27-26.