The 2017-18 high school wrestling season wrapped up last weekend at the MN State Wrestling tournament, held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Four Bulldogs earned the right to compete in the tournament, by virtue of their runner-up finishes in the Section 1AA tournament held Feb 23-24.
Joe Stucky
Sophomore Joe Stucky earned his first trip to the Xcel Center this season after 3 near misses in his previous three section tournaments. As a first time state qualifier, Joe entered the tournament unseeded at 145, and in the first round drew #4 seeded Antonio Cortez of South Saint Paul who finished the season with a 50-6 record. In the first period, Cortez scored a takedown and the first period ended with a 2-0 Cortez lead. In the second period, Cortez chose down and earned a quick escape to make it a 3-0 lead. Stucky continued to use good side to side motion on his feet, but Cortez was able to score another takedown off one of Stucky’s shots to make it a 5-0 lead. A Stucky escape closed the score to 5-1, but still down by 4, Stucky had to be aggressive. On a subsequent Stucky shot, Stucky got slightly off-balance and Cortez was able to capitalize, and put Stucky on his back, where he would eventually get the fall.
After losing to Cortez, Stucky needed a Cortez victory in the quarterfinal round to continue his tournament in the consolation bracket. But unfortunately, Cortez was upset in the quarterfinal round 8-7 by the bracket’s eventual State Champion Joe Block of Mankato West, thus ending Stucky’s tournament. Cortez would go on to finish 5th in the tournament. Stucky finishes his sophomore season with a 33-15 overall record, including 18 pins, 3 technical falls, 95 takedowns, and a staggering 318 match points on the season.
Riley Wingert
Fellow PEM sophomore Riley Wingert also made his first appearance at state as well. Wingert was one of only 2 sophomores in a 195 lb. bracket loaded with upperclassmen. Wingert’s first round match would be against #6 seeded Mason Byrne of Worthington. The senior Byrne would score the first takedown and use 3 tilts to score 6 nearfall points in the 1st period. Wingert would escape to end the first, but would take an 8-1 deficit into the 2nd period. In the second period, Byrne would choose the neutral position and score another takedown and 2 more quick tilts to take a 13 point lead in the match. Wingert would recover briefly with a reversal of his own, but Byrne would retaliate with his own reversal and one more 2 point tilt to end the match in a technical fall.
Like Stucky, Wingert would be dependent on Byrne winning in the quarterfinals for his own tournament to continue. Unfortunately Byrne would be defeated by eventual 3rd place winner Ty Moser of Perham. Byrne would finish the tournament in 6th place in the bracket. Wingert ends his sophomore season with a 29-9 record, including 17 pins on the season.
Carter Marx
At 152, junior Carter Marx was also making his first appearance in the State Tournament. In the first round, #8 seeded Marx was paired with #9 ranked Nathan Simmonds of Fairmont/Martin County West. Knowing that Waconia’s returning state champion Tyler Wagener would be the next match for the winner, this first round match had all the pressure of an elimination round. After a fairly even 1st minute, Marx was able to score the first takedown of the match and complete the ride-out to take a 2-0 lead into the 2nd period. Simmonds chose neutral to begin the 2nd period, and Marx scored another takedown, this time on a slide-by, to finish the period and take a 4-0 lead in the match. Marx would add an escape in the 3rd to finish the match with a 5-0 victory. In the quarterfinal match against the previously mentioned Wagener, Marx would not have enough to match Wagener’s speed on the feet and tenacity on the mat. After a dominating 1st period, Wagener would power a high half-nelson to turn Marx to his back and get the 2nd period fall.
After the quarterfinal loss, Marx would need a victory in Friday night’s session to avoid elimination and make it to Saturday morning’s blood round. With only a 1 minute first period in the wrestle-back rounds, Marx was unable to get a 1st period takedown vs. Mora’s Jon Smith. With a 0-0 score in the 2nd period, Smith would strike first blood with an escape to take a 1-0 lead in the match. But Marx would get the 1st takedown of the match late in the 2nd period to take the lead back at 2-1. Getting his choice in the 3rd period, Marx would choose the down position and get a quick reversal to take a 4-1 lead. Smith, however, would close the lead back to 2 points with an escape to make the match 4-2 with just over a minute left in the match. With the threat of a Smith takedown sending the match to overtime, Marx capitalized on Smith’s left foot lead leg and finished his own single leg takedown to ice the match with a 6-2 victory.
Saturday morning’s 9:00am blood round would pit Marx against #4 seeded senior Tanner Stark of New Ulm. The winner of the match would be guaranteed to leave the tournament with a spot on the awards podium and a state medal, and the loser would go home empty-handed. With another short 1 minute first period, the match went into the 2nd period still tied at 0-0. After winning the coin flip, Marx elected to go in the down position. Despite getting to his feet a few times, Marx was unable to get away, and unable to break Stark’s leg ride. With :25 seconds left in the period, it looked as though Marx would remain unable to score. Stark had both of Marx’s hips broken down and one of his shoulders trapped in an arm bar. But with :08 seconds left in the period, Marx would catch a break when Stark attempted to run the arm-bar in an illegal fashion. The referee stopped the action since it was potentially dangerous. The match was restarted from the referee’s position with still :08 on the clock. On the whistle, Marx exploded to his feet. As Marx turned to face Stark for the 1 point escape, Stark stumbled and lost his balance so Marx was instead able to turn the corner and lock up an inside cradle, getting a 2 point reversal as the 2nd period ticked to a close. In the 3rd period Stark chose down and got a quick escape in the 1st 30 seconds. But neither wrestler was able to score a takedown in the final period, and Marx would advance with a narrow 2-1 victory.
In the consolation semifinals, Marx would fall to Annandale-Maple Lake senior Walker Weege. Weege would use a fireman’s carry in the 1st period, a reversal in the 2nd period, and another fireman’s carry in the 3rd period, along with dominant leg-riding to earn the 6-0 victory.In the 5th place match vs. Big Lake senior Joe Morris, in what would be Marx’s 6th match of the tournament, and final match of his junior season, Marx got on the board with a single leg takedown less than 5 seconds into the match. It would be a trend of things to come, as Marx would allow Morris 6 intentional escapes and score 6 more single leg takedowns over the next 6 minutes. The final score would be 15-6 earning Marx a spot on the podium and the 5th place medal. Marx finishes his first state tournament with 4 wins and 2 losses, and finishes his junior season with a 44-9 record, that included 22 pins, 2 technical falls, and 111 takedowns.
Dustin Dittrich
In the 182 lb bracket, PEM junior Dustin Dittrich faced down one of the toughest gauntlets in the entire tournament. Despite being a state qualifier last season at 160, and entering the tournament with a 35-5 record, including many wins over ranked opponents, Dittrich entered the tournament unseeded. In the first round, Dustin was drawn in against the #6 seed, Orono sophomore Danny Striggow. Striggow scored the first points of the match in the first period, with what could have been considered a hastily awarded takedown that Dittrich immediately reversed to tie the score at 2-2. Striggow would add an escape to take a 3-2 lead in the match. The lead would be brief however as Dittrich would finish a single leg right at the first period buzzer to lead the match 4-3 after the 1st period. Striggow, chose the down position to begin the 2nd period, and Dittrich allowed the intentional escape making the match score 4-4. The turning point in the match would come 30 seconds into the 2nd period when Dittrich would hit a slide by on his feet, that would turn into an extension roll all the way to the mat. Dittrich nearly pinned Striggow in the scramble, but could not get the call as Striggow would recover to his base. But the damage was done, the takedown and ensuing 2 sets of nearfall points gave Dittrich a commanding 12-4 lead in the match. Striggow would get an escape to end the period, but Dittrich still led 12-5. Dittrich chose down to begin the 3rd and Striggow worked in vain for a turn for over a minute. At a restart with :50 seconds left, Striggow used an optional start in a last ditch attempt at a cradle or neck wrench, but Dittrich took advantage of the compromised position and turned it into a reversal to extend his lead to 14-5 where it would remain for the remainder of the match.
Moving into the quarterfinal round, for the 2nd year in a row, Dittrich would face #3 seed Collin Stueber. The Fairmont senior would enter the match with a gaudy 49-3 record. In the 2017 State Tournament, Stueber beat Dittrich by a score of 9-5 in the quarterfinals, on his way to a 2nd place finish. But that was then and this was now. In the first :30 seconds of the match Dittrich attacked Stueber’s right leg and was able to elevate it for the finish and take a 2-0 lead. Stueber attempted to stand up 3 different times in the following 90 seconds, but every time Dittrich was able to bring him back to the mat. Then with :16 seconds left in the 1st period, as Stueber tried to crawl out of bounds, Dittrich locked his hands around Stueber’s legs to pull him back in, and Stueber was awarded 1 point for clasping making the score 2-1. At the restart, Stueber hit an outstanding switch, but Dittrich was able to follow and maintain control to end the period. In the 2nd period, Stueber chose the down position, but Dittrich gave the intentional escape to put the match back in the neutral position, which tied the score at 2-2. With 1:20 left in the 2nd period, Dittrich again got in on Stueber’s leg and got it elevated, but the scramble carried both wrestlers the entire way across the mat. As Dittrich finished the trip, Stueber was completely out of bounds, and the only part of Dittrich that remained in bounds were his 2 feet. After a brief conference with the 2 referees, 2 points were awarded and Dittrich again took the lead, this time at 4-2. Again Dittrich put Stueber back on his feet making the score 4-3. With :20 seconds left in the period, Stueber finally got to Dittrich’s left leg and got it elevated. As Dittrich, hopped on his right leg, the very tall Stueber used his long arms to lock up a cradle from the standing position, but Dittrich was able to pop his head out and survive the threat as time expired in the period. Dittrich chose down to begin the 3rd period, and :30 seconds in, delivered the final nail in the coffin, as he reversed Stueber to his back and held him for a 2 point nearfall count, making the score 8-3 in favor of Dittrich. With :20 seconds left in the match, Stueber was able to score a 2 point reversal to close the gap to 8-5. But that would be how it ended, as this year, Dittrich would send Stueber to the wrestle-backs.
Despite knocking Stueber out of championship contention, things would get no easier for Dittrich as the semifinals would line him up with #2 ranked senior Tyler Buesgens of Scott-West. Regarded as one of the best upper weight wrestlers in MN, Buesgens, a future Iowa State Cyclone, entered the match sporting a 50-1 record with his only loss coming in the MN Christmas Tournament finals. In the first period, using his powerful combination of strength and length Buesgens was able to score the first takedown off of a front-headlock. With :30 seconds left in the period, Buesgens came out in front of Dittrich to attempt his favorite pinning combination, the assassin (which resembles how a cowboy wrestles a steer to its back). But Dittrich’s strength and center of gravity proved up to the fight as the scramble went off the mat. Buesgens’ was visibly frustrated that his normally reliable knock-out punch was not at all effective. After the assassin attempt went out of bounds, the match was restarted with :25 seconds left in the period, and at the :16 second mark Dittrich scored his first points of the match with a reversal that would tie the match at 2-2 heading into the 2nd period. Buesgens chose down to start the 2nd period, but Dittrich elected to put him back on his feet after only a few seconds, making the score 3-2 in favor of Buesgens. With one minute left in the 2nd period, a failed Dittrich ankle-pick attempt lead to another Buesgens takedown extending his lead to 5-2. With :30 seconds left, Dittrich hit another side roll for a reversal to close Buesgens’ lead to 5-4 where it would remain as the 2nd period came to a close.
Choosing down to start the 3rd period, it would take Dittrich :30 seconds to again create another reversal, to take a 6-5 lead, his first of the match. With just under a minute left in the match, Buesgens was able to kick free and tie the match up at 6-6. After another, missed ankle pick by Dittrich, it looked like Buesgens was going to get the go ahead takedown, but the instant Buesgens hooked Dittrich’s ankle, Dittrich was able to sit-through and win the scramble to take an 8-6 lead with only :32 seconds remaining in the match. But just like in a bad horror movie, the Scott West senior came to life one more time, and scored a reversal of his own to tie the match AGAIN, this time at 8-8, to take the match into overtime. In the extra period, Dittrich almost scored the winning takedown in the first five seconds, getting all the way behind Buesgens, but Dittrich was unable to finish off the takedown before Buesgens would recover and take the position out of bounds. With only :25 seconds remaining in the overtime period, a visibly fatigued Buesgens would take a half-shot at Dittrich’s legs, which Dittrich was easily able to stop. But while an unsuspecting Buesgens was coming back up to his feet, Dittrich took a shot of his own, snagging Buesgens right leg. Sensing, the golden opportunity right in front of him, Dittrich capitalized on the moment and immediately attacked the other leg. Two seconds and two points later a surprised an exhausted Buesgens lay on the mat, while Dittrich celebrated becoming PEM’s 15th state finalist in program history.
In the finals, Dittrich’s incredible run would come to an end, where for the 2nd time in a week, he would face Kasson Mantorville’s #1 nationally ranked sophomore Patrick Kennedy. Kennedy would use 2 takedowns at the very end of both the 1st and 2nd period, to build an insurmountable lead. Dittrich would fight valiantly, nearly scoring a takedown against the top-ranked Komet, and getting Kennedy called for stalling in the 3rd period. Dittrich would lose the match 9-2 but would become the only opponent to hold the 30-0 Kennedy to a minor decision this season. Prior to the finals Kennedy had won all 3 of his other state tournament matches by technical fall, all in the 2nd period. Dittrich finishes the season with a 38-6 record with 4 losses coming at the hands of MN state champions.
Pictures of this event are located HERE
MSHSL State Tournament Results for Plainview Elgin Millville
145AA
Joe Stucky (33-15) place is unknown
-Champ. Round 1 - Antonio Cortez (South Saint Paul) 50-6 won by fall over Joe Stucky (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 33-15 (Fall 3:20)
152AA
Carter Marx (44-9) placed 5th Champ.
-Round 1 - Carter Marx (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 44-9 won by decision over Nathan Simmonds (Fairmont-Martin County West) 21-12 (Dec 5-0)
-Quarterfinal - Tyler Wagener (Waconia) 53-1 won by fall over Carter Marx (Plainview- Elgin-Millville) 44-9 (Fall 2:37)
-Cons. Round 1 - Carter Marx (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 44-9 won by decision over Jon Smith (Mora) 31-17 (Dec 6-2)
-Cons. Round 2 - Carter Marx (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 44-9 won by decision over Tanner Stark (New Ulm Area) 32-12 (Dec 2-1)
-Cons. Semi - Walker Weege (Annand-M Lk Lightning) 35-11 won by decision over Carter Marx (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 44-9 (Dec 6-0)
-5th Place Match - Carter Marx (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 44-9 won by major decision over Joe Morris (Big Lake) 30-10 (MD 15-6)
182AA
Dustin Dittrich (38-6) placed 2nd
-Champ. Round 1 - Dustin Dittrich (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 38-6 won by major decision over Danny Striggow (Orono) 37-7 (MD 14-5)
-Quarterfinal - Dustin Dittrich (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 38-6 won by decision over Collin Steuber (Fairmont-Martin County West) 50-6 (Dec 8-5)
-Semifinal - Dustin Dittrich (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 38-6 won in tie breaker - 1 over Tyler Buesgens (Scott West) 51-3 (TB-1 10-8)
-1st Place Match - Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville) 30-0 won by decision over Dustin Dittrich (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 38-6 (Dec 9-2)
195AA
Riley Wingert (29-9) place is unknown
-Champ. Round 1 - Mason Byrne (Worthington) 27-6 won by tech fall over Riley Wingert (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 29-9 (TF-1.5 3:51 (18-3))
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