St. Michael-Albertville in 3A, Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran in 2A and Staples Motley in 1A take wrestling titles

Excellence is expected when you wrestle for St. Michael-Albertville, so the Knights’ 47-18 victory over Shakopee in the Class 3A championship match Thursday at Xcel Energy Center came as no surprise to anyone who’s followed high school wrestling this season.

The Knights are deep and talented, with two undefeated wrestlers with more than 40 victories — Landon Robideau and John Murphy — at key weights in their lineup. Five more have won more than 30. They were the defending champion, and they didn’t lose a match in 2024-25, finishing 27-0.

But the driving force for their stampede through their season can be traced back to two years ago, when St. Michael-Albertville had a state title all but tucked away before Hastings rallied with five straight victories in the championship match — three of them pins — to shock the wrestling community with a remarkable victory.

To a man, the Knights remember the disappointment of that night in 2023. And it still motivates them.

“Since that time, we definitely haven’t looked past anyone,” said Robideau, who improved to 41-0 on the season. “We’re making sure no matter if we lose a couple of matches, we’re picking our guys up.”

Senior Jarrett Wadson said there is one difference between this year’s team and the one that lost two years ago.

“We just went out and put a stamp on our season,” he said. “It feels awesome. One thing we learned is humbleness. … We just go out and do the job.”

On Thursday night, something happened that doesn’t happen very often: Class 2A got a first-time wrestling state champion.

Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran defeated Kasson-Mantorville 33-20 to win the program’s first state title and break a long-running streak at the top of the class.

“I want to raise the bar. I want to make history wherever I go,” said co-head coach Bill McDonald. “I came in there and I told the kids, ‘Let’s win the state tournament. That’s the goal. We’re not here to qualify.‘ ”

The last time the 2A wrestling title didn’t go to either Simley or Kasson-Mantorville was 2007, back when powerhouse St. Michael-Albertville was still a 2A school and claimed the championship.

Simley, usually the darling of 2A wrestling, was absent from the championship match for the first time in seven years after losing in the semifinals to Kasson-Mantorville.

Watertown-Mayer/Mayer Lutheran was ready for their opportunity. After a strong beginning gave the Royals a slight lead, the night’s winning pin came from senior Bryce Burkett at 172 pounds.

“I was just excited knowing that if I pin, it’s over,” Burkett said. “I just live for that. It’s the most perfect situation I could have had.”

The team hailing from in and near Watertown (pop. 5,000), 45 minutes west of Minneapolis, had one of the night’s largest cheering sections. It lit up for the wrestlers’ every move.

“These people, this will be a memory when they come back to their 40-year class reunion. They’ll have pictures when they’re old men like I am now,” McDonald said. “And they’ll talk about it forever. That’s a small town, that’s how it is. That’s what makes it fun.”

Staples-Motley assistant coach Dan Bjerga was a member of the last two Cardinals teams to win a state title, in 1984 and 1985.

He never expected it to take 40 years for the program to win another.

Staples-Motley beat No. 1-ranked Chatfield 33-16 in the finals. The victory reversed the decision from a year ago, when Chatfield won handily in the finals.

Staples-Motley was nearly unbeatable all day, thrashing United North Central 51-11 in the quarterfinals and shutting out No. 3 seed Jackson County Central 64-0 in the semifinals.

“You want to be at your best at this time of year, and that’s exactly what this team did,” Bjerga said.

His two sons on the team, Garrett and Gage, helped kickstart the Cardinals in the finals. Garrett won at 107 pounds and Gage at 121, sparking the Cardinals to six straight victories to start the match, staking Staples-Motley to a 21-0 lead.

“We knew we would have to win the first four matches, and we did that,” said head coach Jim Jackson, who also has won state championships with Apple Valley and Shakopee. “We’ve got great kids and we’ve got great coaches. And they all have kids on the team. That’s what makes this team great.”