Living for wrestling matches like these

I had the pleasure of attending the Minnesota State High School League State Tournament last week in Minneapolis. It was a pleasure, as always. Special thank you to Matthew Petsinger for allowing me the courtesy to share his suite with him during the long in-between periods of the matches.

 

This year I only attended the first day in-person. I photographed all of the 10 wrestlers from Waseca County that day. I intended to come back Saturday, but the weather and the long driving, and the fact that I had another photographer to take photos for me, meant I could watch the matches from my couch at home.

 

The first day was very exciting as a fan of NRHEG and Waseca wrestling. Every wrestler won. 

 

I was disappointed that Brady Murphy of WEM-JWP was injured. Watching him wrestle at the past two state tournaments was really fun and I was looking forward to seeing if he could make a push for a state title this year. 

 

For NRHEG, I look forward to seeing if Ryan Schlaak can make that same jump next year after finishing 4th this year. And just as excited to see Grahm Jacobson's and Owen Schlaaks’ growth. 

 

For Waseca, I was blown away this year. I expected improvement from last year, but I was incredibly proud and happily surprised to see Matthew Veroeven capture the state title at the heavyweight class in AA. His turnaround in the semifinals, down 7-1 in the final period, to win 15-12 in overtime was described to me via a phone call from the Steele County Times Sports Editor Johnnie Phillips. “It was the best wrestling match I have ever seen,” Phillips told me. “I live for matches like this.” 

 

It was incredible.

 

Congratulations, young man. I was yelling and cheering for you during that final match Saturday.

 

And congratulations to every wrestler who competed in this year’s state tournament. As Blain Nelson informs me, it’s incredibly hard to even make the state tournament.