The PEM wrestling team took the Xcel Center Energy Center by storm early Friday and left late Saturday night with some major hardware! Martin Prieto went 3-2 and earned a 5th place medal, a spot on the podium with the top wrestlers in the state, and carries on as a PEM legend with being named All-State at 195 pounds. Prieto took a tough loss to the eventual state runner-up, Herzog from Simley but recovered and went 3-1 the rest of the state tournament.
Coach Pfeilsticker commented, "Martin showed the Gutsiness and courage needed to showcase his talents in this tournament." Coach Wingert also added, "to qualify for this tournament and in this state is a major accomplishment, earning a medal places hims among the PEM greats!"
8th grade wrestler, Aiden Graner also took a loss in the first round, but turned the heads of thousands of wrestling fans on Friday night with one of the state tournaments biggest upsets! Coach Cam Miller commented, "Aiden showed not only his Resiliency but also Improvement on Friday night. He stormed back with an awesome 5-4 win over Ruhoff from Foley. Many wrestling fans thought Ruhoff might just win the state title!"
Graner kept himself in a tight match and scored a late takedown as time expired to pull-off the upset over the Foley 106 pounder. Graner then lost to the #3 seed, Zutter of Pequot Lakes to end his tournament, but he gained some valuable experience from his time inside the X!
The PEM wrestling team then showed their GRIT in the classroom this past weekend too! PEM was awarded the Academic Gold Standard from the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association. Coach Bobby Bedsted added, "as a coach I couldn't be prouder of this team! They earned a 3.65 GPA and the Gold award! Our philosophy for the PEM wrestling program has always been ---- if you work hard in the classroom you're going to work hard in the practice room. They showed how student-athletes get it done in our school!"
MSHSL State Championships Results for Plainview-Elgin-Millville
106AA
Aiden Graner (36-14) place is unknown.
Champ. Round 1 - Logan Schwanz (Hutchinson/Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart) 41-7 won by fall over Aiden Graner (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 36-14 (Fall 2:44)
Cons. Round 1 - Aiden Graner (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 36-14 won by decision over Cyler Ruhoff (Foley) 25-5 (Dec 5-4)
Cons. Round 2 - Parker Zutter (Pequot Lks/Pine River-Backus) 47-4 won by tech fall over Aiden Graner (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 36-14 (TF-1.5 4:24 (22-6))
195AA
Martin Prieto (47-6) placed 5th.
Champ. Round 1 - Soren Herzog (Simley) 53-4 won by fall over Martin Prieto (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 47-6 (Fall 3:16)
Cons. Round 1 - Martin Prieto (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 47-6 won by decision over Evan Anderson (New Prague) 33-9 (Dec 2-1)
Cons. Round 2 - Martin Prieto (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 47-6 won by major decision over Logan Bender (Chisago Lakes) 35-8 (MD 12-1)
Cons. Semi - Hayden Hoernemann (Dassel-Cokato-Litchfield) 27-6 won by decision over Martin Prieto (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 47-6 (Dec 7-2)
5th Place Match - Martin Prieto (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 47-6 won by decision over Jackson Drahos (Watertown-Mayer) 37-11 (Dec 13-6)
Comments