Prep Athletes of the Week: STMA wrestler Landon Robideau isn’t settling for perfect

Robideau used the regular season to experiment. It’s showtime now.

The undefeated junior (45-0) helped the Knights, ranked fourth in Class 3A by The Guillotine, to the Section 5 team title this past weekend. The two-time individual state champion — at 126 pounds in 2022 and 132 pounds in 2023 — is focused on winning this season at 152 pounds.

“I have been exploring with new moves that could help me at the next level,” said Robideau, committed to the Gophers for college. “I want to keep progressing, expanding my skills, to get better and better.”

That doesn’t bode well for his opponents. He has a 225-6 record and recently broke the program’s career win record held by current assistant coach Joe Grygelko. Robideau also broke the state record for takedowns in a season when he registered his 449th.

“He has been selected by his peers as the team’s hardest worker in years past and continues to model such habits each and every day,” Knights coach Josh Joriman said. “His successes on the mat come from his strong work ethic, willingness to learn and passion for the sport.”

Robideau spreads that to his teammates.

“Landon can often be seen talking with youth wrestlers, helping teammates or his younger brother [Lincoln],” Joriman said. “He is a detail-oriented person that has grown into a leader for our team this year. He is a tremendous young man with a good head on his shoulders and wise beyond his years.”

And he gets tougher to take down this time of the year.

“The best time of the year is right now,” Robideau said. “This is when you have to rise to the occasion.”

Ousdigian rallied from starting in the fourth position in the 5K freestyle event to win the pursuit state championship by 5 seconds at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. The freshman finished in 27 minutes, 43.8 seconds over the 5K classic and freestyle courses. She was 17 seconds off the pace following the morning classic race. “Starting the freestyle race 17 seconds out of first place meant it was going to be a tall task, but Linnea executed her race perfectly,” Mounds View coach Ian O’Neill said.

Wins are tough to come by for the Tommies (5-18), but that hasn’t prevented Taylor, a senior guard, from playing at a high level his final season. Taylor scored 38 points in a 79-66 victory over Roosevelt in Minneapolis City Conference play. He was coming off back-to-back 40-plus-point games in losses to Minneapolis Southwest (42 points) and Minneapolis South (43 points). He is averaging 36.8 points per game in his past five games. “Deidrick is the best point guard that’s ever played at Edison,” Tommies coach Ahmil Jihad said.

The junior forward had a hand in on all five goals, a hat trick and two assists in a 5-4 victory over Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the Class 2A, Section 6 championship. She netted the game-winner with 1:54 remaining. Horton also had a hat trick and one assist in an 8-0 shutout over Wayzata in the semifinals. She scored seven of her 19 goals this season in the section tournament.

The senior won the individual state championship with a two-run time of 1:15.69, nearly a second faster than the runner-up, at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. After the race, Irondale coach Erik Saari described Petkov’s skiing as “sheer power.”

The senior guard/forward scored a career-high 43 points in a 66-32 victory over Twin Cities Academy. She is averaging 28.2 points per game over her past five games. “Tereya always has a smile on her face,” Scots coach Chris Steenberg said. “She has worked hard to improve herself on and off the court. That hard work is really showing in her growth as a basketball player, student and leader.”

Drevlow won the pursuit state championship by nearly 30 seconds, looking over his shoulder for the competition as he neared the finish line. The freshman finished in 23:36.2 over the 5K classic and freestyle courses at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. He held a 9-second lead after the morning classic race and got better as the day wore on. “One of the fun things about Logan is that he loves to race and enjoys competition,” Royals coach Brett Schulze said.

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