I’m so happy. What went well was the underhook that I’ve been using all season. It’s the same one I’ve been going to. I started doing it at Summit over the summer. My goal for state is just to win the first one and see what happens.”

Dylan Richardson

Upcoming schedule:

Next up for the wrestlers in the state meet, held Friday, Feb. 29 and Saturday, March 2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Class AAA individual first round starts Friday at 9 a.m. with the quarterfinals starting at 4 p.m. The championship semifinals start at 9 a.m. Saturday with the third, fifth and championship matches starting at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Park will send a school-tying record six wrestlers to the state meet this weekend, but it took some extra wrestling to get there.

The Wolfpack had seven wrestlers make the Section 3AAA individual finals Saturday, but only one, 10th-ranked sophomore Dylan Richardson, claimed a section crown. Richardson pinned Eagan’s Logan Gilbertson in 2:17 to earn the 160-pound title.

The rest of Pk’s wrestlers either lost in the finals and qualified, or qualified by winning true second matches in the final matches of the meet at Two Rivers High School in Mendota Heights.

Also qualifying for state for Park was eighth grader and eight-ranked Landen Brooks at 127 pounds, junior Kyler Jubinal at 133, sixth-ranked sophomore Zack Carr at 139, fifth-ranked junior Gunnar Mullen at 152 and senior Samuel Lankow at 172. The six wrestlers to state ties a school record from 40 years ago.

Richardson was the star of the show for Park Saturday. After drawing a first-round bye, he scored a fall inn 5:19 in the semifinals and another fall in 2:17 in the championship match.

“I’m so happy,” said Richardson. “What went well was the underhook that I’ve been using all season. It’s the same one I’ve been going to. I started doing it at Summit over the summer. My goal for state is just to win the first one and see what happens.”

But while Richardson won a title, it was a pretty tough final for the Wolfpack, who went just 1-6 in the first-place finals.

“We wrestled really good to get there,” said head coach Jim LaBrosse. “And then finals didn’t go so good. But at least those guys came back for true seconds so that was good.”

There were a host of talented ranked wrestlers in the finals. At 127, top-ranked Trey Beissel of Hastings defeated Park’s Brooks in a competitive 7-1 match. At 139, Gabriel Cohn of St. Thomas Academy edged Park’s sixth-ranked Carr 5-3. At 152, Woodbury’s third-ranked Brad Little caught Park’s fifth-ranked Mullen and pinned him in 1:41.

“I feel good, the finals match didn’t go the way I wanted it to,” said Mullen. “I went in there, he got a shot off, I escaped and went underhook and went for a shot. I got like a half-nelson. I got turned and got pinned. It’s whatever but I’ll come back stronger, state tournament’s right around the corner.”

“The finals match, a few weeks ago he beat me 12-to-3, so my mind was not to get majored,” said Brooks. “He’s one of the best in the state. And it was 7-to-1 so I out up a way better fight than I usually do.”

The goal for Brooks at state is both simple and lofty at the same time. “To win a match at state and be the first eighth grader for Park to win a match,’ Brooks said.

Park wrestlers won three of four true seconds.

Park’s Fiyin Taiwo lost in the second-place match at 189, while Jesse Wright fell in the third-place tach at 215. Joey Chilton dropped a 9-7 decision in the third-place match at 145 pounds.

“It was hard to see Fiyin lost his match and Jesse Wright had a shot at 215 as well,” said LaBrosse. “We kind of knew that going in we had eight runners, and Joey Chilton had a good day today. I think it was kind of a blown call that he would have won that match and got a true second as well. The good thing is he’s coming back next year.”

That’s true of almost the entire Park team as the only seniors in the starting lineup are Lankow at 172 and Taiwo at 189.

Wrestlers from fifth-ranked Hastings dominated the competition, winning six of the 13 finals. Eagan had three individual champions, Woodbury two, St. Thomas Academy and Park one each.

Next up for the wrestlers in the state meet, held Friday, Feb. 29 and Saturday, March 2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Class AAA individual first round starts Friday at 9 a.m. with the quarterfinals starting at 4 p.m. The championship semifinals start at 9 a.m. Saturday with the third, fifth and championship matches starting at 4 p.m. Saturday.

107

Quarterfinals - Nolan Bloch (Park) received a bye

107

Semifinals - William Bainbridge (Hastings) over Nolan Bloch (Park) (Fall 3:50)

107

Cons. Semis - Nolan Bloch (Park) over Theo Dos santos (Two Rivers) (TF 17-1 4:27)

107

2nd Place Match - William Bainbridge (Hastings) over Nolan Bloch (Park) (NC)

107

3rd Place Match - Nolan Bloch (Park) over Adrian Andrada (Woodbury) (Dec 6-2)

114

Quarterfinals - Evan St. Germain (Eagan) over Jackson Jubinal (Park) (Fall 3:09)

114

Cons. Round 1 - Jackson Jubinal (Park) received a bye

114

Cons. Semis - Jackson Jubinal (Park) over Ryan Becker (St. Thomas Academy) (Fall 2:29)

114

3rd Place Match - Evan St. Germain (Eagan) over Jackson Jubinal (Park) (Inj. [time])

127

Quarterfinals - Landen Brooks (Park) over Jackson Fuller (East Ridge) (Fall 1:41)

127

Semifinals - Landen Brooks (Park) over Thomas Holmquist (St. Thomas Academy) (SV-1 8-6)

127

1st Place Match - Trey Beissel (Hastings) over Landen Brooks (Park) (Dec 7-1)

127

2nd Place Match - Landen Brooks (Park) over Caleb Howe (Woodbury) (MD 8-0)

133

Quarterfinals - Kyler Jubinal (Park) over Cory Bustamante Chicaiza (St. Thomas Academy) (Fall 0:59)

133

Semifinals - Kyler Jubinal (Park) over Dino Tokin (Woodbury) (Fall 5:12)

133

1st Place Match - Jack Bainbridge (Hastings) over Kyler Jubinal (Park) (TF 17-1 5:02)

133

2nd Place Match - Kyler Jubinal (Park) over Dino Tokin (Woodbury) (NC)

139

Quarterfinals - Zack Carr (Park) over Ryder Besse (Eagan) (Fall 1:16)

139

Semifinals - Zack Carr (Park) over Mark Svoboda (Hastings) (Dec 3-2)

139

1st Place Match - Gabriel Cohn (St. Thomas Academy) over Zack Carr (Park) (Dec 5-3)

139

2nd Place Match - Zack Carr (Park) over Mark Svoboda (Hastings) (NC)

145

Quarterfinals - Joey Chilton (Park) over Karson Thissen (Eagan) (Fall 2:51)

145

Semifinals - Alex Braun (Woodbury) over Joey Chilton (Park) (Fall 2:18)

145

Cons. Semis - Joey Chilton (Park) over Charles Rychlicki (Two Rivers) (Fall 2:26)

145

3rd Place Match - Josiah Solliday (St. Thomas Academy) over Joey Chilton (Park) (Dec 9-7)

152

Quarterfinals - Gunnar Mullen (Park) over Becket Swanson (St. Thomas Academy) (Fall 2:50)

152

Semifinals - Gunnar Mullen (Park) over Ryder Harahan (Two Rivers) (Fall 1:40)

152

1st Place Match - Brad Little (Woodbury) over Gunnar Mullen (Park) (Fall 1:41)

152

2nd Place Match - Gunnar Mullen (Park) over Kasen Esterby (Hastings) (Fall 1:04)

160

Quarterfinals - Dylan Richardson (Park) received a bye

160

Semifinals - Dylan Richardson (Park) over Hunter Hoff (Hastings) (Fall 5:19)

160

1st Place Match - Dylan Richardson (Park) over Logan Gilbertson (Eagan) (Fall 2:17)

172

Quarterfinals - Samuel Lankow (Park) over Lamar Hallowanger (East Ridge) (Fall 0:32)

172

Semifinals - Samuel Lankow (Park) over Jayden Kinsel-Rereddondo (Two Rivers) (Fall 3:34)

172

1st Place Match - Creed Peterson (Hastings) over Samuel Lankow (Park) (TF 17-2 4:43)

172

2nd Place Match - Samuel Lankow (Park) over Jake Tuchscherer (Eagan) (Fall 4:52)

189

Quarterfinals - Fiyin Taiwo (Park) over Steven Anderson (St. Paul Central) (Fall 2:56)

189

Semifinals - Fiyin Taiwo (Park) over Parker Taveirne (Woodbury) (MD 14-4)

189

1st Place Match - Alex Loes (Eagan) over Fiyin Taiwo (Park) (Dec 3-0)

189

2nd Place Match - Cristobal Estrada (Hastings) over Fiyin Taiwo (Park) (Dec 8-5)

215

Quarterfinals - Jesse Wright (Park) over Mitch Folks (Woodbury) (MD 14-5)

215

Semifinals - Jackson Meyer (East Ridge) over Jesse Wright (Park) (Fall 4:49)

215

Cons. Semis - Jesse Wright (Park) over Willie Stevenson (St. Paul Central) (Fall 4:37)

215

3rd Place Match - Mitch Folks (Woodbury) over Jesse Wright (Park) (Fall 4:24)

285

Quarterfinals - Tom Conner (Hastings) over Tanner Zitzow (Park) (Fall 0:54)

285

Cons. Round 1 - Tanner Zitzow (Park) received a bye

285

Cons. Semis - Jake Merchlewitz (East Ridge) over Tanner Zitzow (Park) (Fall 0:42)

285

5th Place Match - Caleb Koury (Two Rivers) over Tanner Zitzow (Park) (Fall 1:46)

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