Class 1A Wrestling: Five in contention for gold

By Jeremy Millsop

February 27, 2015 at 10:19 PM

Kolton Eischens and Dillon Card remained unbeaten as the two advanced to the Class 1A state individual semifinals Friday at Xcel Energy Center.

Eischens, a junior 152-pounder from Pierz, opened with an 11-4 decision over Barnesville's eighth-ranked Conner Meyer. The top-ranked Eischens then posted a 14-3 victory over United South Central's Derek Herman, who is ranked No. 4, to improve to 41-0. It was Eischens' 150th career win.

Eischens will face second-ranked Shane Siewert of Lake City. Siewert is 35-2 on the season.

Despite missing most of the season with a wrist injury, Dillon Card hasn't be hampered by rust. The Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale senior and top-ranked 220-pounder sent Aitkin's Kyle Lynn to the wrestlebacks with an 8-1 win. He then pinned third-ranked Jared Welch of Wabasso/Red Rock Central in just 28 seconds.

Card will face Chatfield's Ian Morrison in Saturday's semifinal. Morrison is ranked sixth and owns a 32-8 record. Card is 10-0.

Also advancing to Saturday's semifinals is Pierz's Brandon Ortman. The sophomore pinned AJ Schmidt of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City and then upset No. 2 ranked Joey Majerus of Zumbrota-Mazeppa 8-7.

The unranked Ortman is 36-2 and will face Frazee's Tanner Reetz. The fourth-ranked Reetz (37-3) beat Ortman 8-2 in Thursday's team quarterfinals.

Aitkin's Noah Landrus opened with an 8-3 decision over Kimball's Tanner Schreifels in the 160-pound bracket. The fourth-ranked junior then topped No. 9 ranked Cameron Lundeen of Red Lake County 10-5.

Landrus, who now owns a 36-3 record, will face top-ranked Paden Moore (41-1) Saturday.

Alex Erpelding will represent Staples-Motley in the 145-pound semifinals. The unranked sophomore improved to 37-3 after beating Blue Earth's Mike Ankeny 11-6. Erpelding then knocked No. 5-ranked Austin Brockhoff of Sibley East into the wrestlebacks with a 7-3 decision.

Class 1A results

Opening round

106: Austin DeVlaeminck (Minneota) pinned Reese Kapsner (Pierz) 1:06

113: Kaden Spindler (Border West) pinned Jake Andres (Pierz) 3:12

120: Anthony Kern (Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale) maj. dec. Brendon Reiss (Minneota) 8-0; Brandon Ortman (Pierz) pinned AJ Schmidt (Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City) 3:03

126: Byron Byer (Frazee) dec. Eric Lisson (Staples-Motley) 1-0

132: Blane Tschida (Kimball) tech. fall Andrew Tomala (Pierz) 5:19

138: Carter Wright (Wadena-Deer Creek) dec. Dan Nordean (Aitkin) 7-1

145: Alex Erpelding (Staples-Motley) dec. Mike Ankeny (Blue Earth Area) 11-6; Jerod Novak (Aitkin) pinned Brady Mehr (Kimball) 3:48

152: Kolton Eischens (Pierz) dec. Conner Meyer (Barnesville) 11-4

160: Ted Androli (Kenyon-Wanamingo) dec. Ethan Kimber (Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale) 7-1; Noah Landrus (Aitkin) dec. Tanner Schreifels (Kimball) 8-3

170: Jesse Slater (Adrian) dec. Brett Kapsner (Pierz) 5-0; Dalton Elliot (Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial) pinned Holt Truax (Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale) 3:14

195: Alan Bast (Aitkin) dec. Jacob Bleess (Chatfield) 6-3;

220: Dillon Card (Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale) dec. Kyle Lynn (Aitkin) 8-1

285: Nate Elzen (Medford) pinned Austin Gall (Pierz) 2:50

Quarterfinals

120: Tanner Reetz (Frazee) dec. Kern (BHV) 8-2; Ortman (Pierz) dec. Joey Majerus (Zumbrota-Mazeppa) 8-7

138: Ben Baumgartner (Park Rapids) pinned Wright (WDC) 3:57

145: Erpelding (SM) dec. Austin Brockhoff (Sibley East) 7-3;Hank Friederichs (Chatfield) dec. Novak (Ait) 3-0

152: Eischens (Pierz) maj. dec. Derek Herman (United South Central) 14-3

160: Landrus (Ait) dec. Cameron Lundeen (Red Lake County Central) 10-5

195: Garrett Pemelton (Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton) dec. Bast (Ait) 5-1

220: Card (BHV) pinned Jared Welch (Wabasso/Red Rock Central) :28

Saturday's semifinals