From the wrestling room: Girls gather, big cities clash, a score is settled

Section competition for girls wrestlers is just ahead. Eight section tournaments are scheduled for Saturday at two sites, Hastings and Sartell.

The regular season wound down with a burst. The largest girls-only wrestling invitational of the season took place last Saturday, the 59-team Pine Island tournament.

Apple Valley won with 128 points, slipping past Bemidji, second with 125. St. Michael-Albertville was third with 101 points.

Three of the top-ranked girls wrestlers in the state won their weight classes: Shakopee's Cassandra Gonzales won at 126 pounds, and teammate Joel Makem, the 2022 state champion at 126 pounds, won at 132. Hastings' Skylar Little Soldier, state champ at 132 a year ago, took first place at 145.

Tournament organizers said more than 260 girls took part in the meet.

The second-annual Twin Cities conference championships were held Saturday at St. Paul's Como Park High School.

Organizers brought together the seven public schools from each of the city conferences, placing them in a Minneapolis bracket and a St. Paul bracket. Each bracket determined a winner at each weight in an invitational-style format. The Minneapolis winner then faced the St. Paul winner at each weight class in a dual-meet format to determine a team champion.

"We came together to create an awesome experience," Minneapolis Henry coach Anthony Minus wrote in an email. "This is the perfect event for Twin Cities wrestling."

Max McEnelly will head to the postseason with vengeance taken.

Waconia 195-pounder McEnelly, a future Gophers wrestler, avenged his only loss of the season when he defeated New Prague's Joey Novak 6-2 on Jan. 19.

Novak, committed to wrestle for Wyoming in college, had defeated McEnelly 5-0 on Jan. 6 in a tournament in Fargo, N.D.

Team section tournaments start Tuesday and must be settled by Feb. 18, and individual section competition lasts a week beyond that.

179: School-record career wins by Maple River/United South Central senior 182-pounder Cooper Ochsendorf in wrestling. He is ranked fifth at his weight in Class 1A.