Wrestling competes at State, Anderson earns 5th

Wrestlers+practice+earlier+in+the+season%2C+which+helped+them+to+send+three+wrestlers+to+State.

Katie Ercolani

Wrestlers practice earlier in the season, which helped them to send three wrestlers to State.

On February 27, three wrestlers – Charlie Wolfe, Jameer Anderson, and Triston Zuniga – all competed in the State Tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.  Anderson, a senior, was the only one of the three to place, as he got 5th place.  Wolfe, a senior, and Zuniga, an eighth grader, both also wrestled in the tournament but did not win a match.

Wrestling at State was always a goal for Wolfe, so it was satisfying for him to finally get there. However, he was only able to wrestle in one match.  “I lost in the first round to the number two ranked guy in state and then he lost to the number three ranked guy in state who ended up getting second, so then I didn’t get a second match.  I wrestled pretty good for a while and then I got sloppy.  I feel like I could have wrestled better.  I knew it would be a tough match but I would obviously have liked to win,” Wolfe said.

Making it to State is a huge accomplishment and so much different from a regular season match.  One way you could tell the difference was in the atmosphere.  “It was crazy, there were so many fans and they were all so passionate and knowledgeable, when they would cheer it was crazy, very different from a normal match,” Wolfe said.

Triston Zuniga competed in two matches, but was unable to win either as well.  Jameer Anderson competed in five matches and ended up winning three of them. With the three wins, he was able to get fifth place in the entire State.

As a successful season ends, the wrestling team has a lot of momentum going into next season.  Hopefully the team will get more wrestlers back into the State tournament.