Little Falls’ Gabe Nagel and Brainerd’s Cade Barrett each placed second in their respective weight classes in the Class 3A Individual State Wrestling Tournament Saturday, Feb. 29, at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
For Nagel, the anticipated finals matchup at 170 pounds with Waconia’s Max McEnelly came to be after both of them pinned their opponents in the semifinals.
“They are both so aggressive and powerful,” Little Falls head coach Mike Hendrickson said.
It took sudden death, but McEnelly won in a 3-1 decision with a takedown of Nagel at nine seconds remaining in the overtime period. Nagel ends his junior season with a 41-1 record.
“He’s coming back and knowing Gabe he’s going to come back with vengeance,” Hendrickson said. “He’s a one-sport guy and lives and breathes wrestling, so he’ll be back.”
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Barrett reached the finals at 220 thanks to a 9-1 major decision win over Jaggar Schack of Osseo. Barrett admitted to being nervous for the semifinals match.
“I was more nervous for the semis than I was the finals,” Barrett said. “I really wanted to get to the finals, but it was exciting. I was able to open up my offense and get to my attacks and I wrestled a little looser than I thought I would.”
In the finals, Barrett faced off with Isaiah Green of St. Cloud Tech and lost in a 5-1 decision.
“It was cool to be on that stage,” Barrett said. “It wasn’t the outcome I was looking for, but to be in that spot I’m very thankful for that opportunity. He did a good job of tying me up and not letting me get to my offense. He slowed me down quite a bit.”
In Class 2A, Connor Tulenchik of the Pequot Lake/Pine River Backus Road Crew pinned his semifinals opponent in 5:24 to reach the finals at 145 pounds.
“It really came down to the end,” Tulenchik said of the semifinals match. “There was about 30 seconds left and I was down two, that’s when I really got nervous. I just started going crazy and ended up double legging him and pinned him.”
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Tulenchik faced No. 1 seed Ryan Sokol in the finals and got pinned in 48 seconds to claim second place.
“It was amazing,” Tulenchik said. “I came in very underrated and ended up beating the No. 2 seed right off the bat. From there I thought I had a really good shot of getting to the championship. Going into the championship match I knew I had a really good match — he’s No. 2 in the nation, so win or lose I was happy with what I got.”
Pierz’s Tanner Young lost by technical fall in the semifinals at 182 pounds, but pinned his opponent in wrestlebacks to reach the third-place match.
In the third-place match, Young fell in a 14-6 major decision and claimed fourth.
Class 3A Results
Semifinals
170: Gabe Nagel (LF) pinned Josh Oathoudt (Faribault) 2:15
220: Cade Barrett (Brd) maj. dec. Jaggar Schack (Osseo) 9-1
Finals
170: Max McEnelly (Waconia) dec. Nagel (LF) 3-1, Nagel finishes 41-1
220: Isaiah Green (St. Cloud Tech) dec. Barrett (Brd) 5-1, Barrett finishes 29-6
Class 2A Results
Semifinals
145: Connor Tulenchik (PL/PRB) pinned Trevon Johnson (Dawson-Boyd/Lac Qui Parle/Montevideo) 5:24
182: Patrick Kennedy (Kasson-Mantorville) tech. fall Tanner Young (Prz) 15-0
Finals
145: Ryan Sokol (Simley) pinned Tulenchik (PL/PRB) 0:48, Tulenchik finishes 45-7
Wrestlebacks
120: Jayden Mclearen (Big Lake) dec. Trevor Radunz (Prz) 3-1, Radunz finishes 40-9
182: Young (Prz) pinned Spencer Wambeke (Marshall) 4:06
Third Place
182: Dalton Rose (MAHACA) maj. dec. Young (Prz) 14-6, Young finishes 37-5
