Wrestling fans throughout Minnesota crowded into the Xcel Energy Center on March 2 to watch the state tournament where senior captain Payton Goodrich, sophomore Jarred Oftendahl, and freshman Jake Deutschlander represented the BSM wrestling team.

Taking second place in his weight class, Oftendahl was pleased with his placement but wishes to work even harder in the future to take home a gold medal. “I’m really proud of how I did, but I’m hoping that next year I can do better because it’d be really nice to be a state champion,” said Oftendahl.

Goodrich and Deutschlander advanced to the third round of matches, but were then eliminated from the tournament.

Adrenaline from all of the cheering fans packed into the Xcel got the wrestlers excited and ready for action. “It was really fun to be in front of all those people and I think it made me do a lot better,” said Oftendahl, “I really like being watched by all of those people, it really pumps me up.”

In order to make it to the state tournament, each wrestler had to place in the top two in their weight division at sections. “I got second at sections,” said Goodrich, “I [was] super stoked about it because it [has] been a goal of mine to make it to state since freshman year.”

After the successful end to the season, the wrestling team is proud of how their year went and are eager for next year. “I think our team has shown a lot of improvement and I think we’ll get a lot better next year even though we’re losing a senior,” said Oftendahl.