aselvey@nujournal.com

ST. PAUL — Five wrestlers from Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Area and one from Sibley East won their first match of the day during the Class A State Individual Wrestling Tournament on Friday at Xcel Energy Center, with two of them advancing to the quarterfinals round.

LCWMA’s Brody Herbst (107), Carson Othoudt (133), Talan Osborne (145) Ryan Palmer (152) and Nick Slater (189) all advanced one round, as did Sibley East’s Julio Alejandro (127).

Palmer and Slater each won their second round of the day, guaranteeing a top-six finish in the tournament.

Sibley East’s Julio Alejandro wrestles Chatfield’s Kaisen Johnson (black-maroon singlet) during the opening round of the Class A State Individual Wrestling Tournament Friday at the Xcel Energy Center.

Herbst got things going with a quick pin in 42 seconds over West Central’s Brody Brunkow. LCWMA’s Ryder Antony took a first-round loss to Paynesville Area’s Jamison Meagher with a 6-5 decision at 114, as did Connor Othoudt at 121 with a 12-1 major decision loss to Chatfield’s Javier Berg, who was ranked third in the state coming into the tourney.

Alejandro had a tough-fought battle with Chatfield’s Kaisen Johnson in the first round. Johnson came into the tournament as the fifth-ranked wrestler at 127, while Alejandro was ranked ninth. Alejandro found himself down after Johnson earned an early takedown, and while Alejandro nearly escaped many times, Johnson held on for the entirety of the first period. Alejandro started up in the second round, and Johnson got an escape to go up 4-0. Alejandro got his first takedown later in the second, then in the third, earned an escape to tie the match at 4. The match went to a tiebreaker round, where neither wrestler scored a point, sending the match to an ultimate tiebreaker. Alejandro started down and scored a reversal, going up 6-4. Alejandro earned one final escape in the final round to take the 7-4 decision.

Carson Othoudt held his opponent Liam Hamm of Frazee scoreless in a 7-0 decision at 133, but his teammate Osborne had a much more thrilling match. Osborne found himself down significantly as his opponent, Atwater-Cosmos-Garden City’s Joseph Sherwood, got the first takedown. However, Osborne battled all the way back to a 10-10 tie, flipping Sherwood to get the pin with just 17 seconds left in the match.

“He got the first takedown,” Osborne said. “I just knew I had to score points. I got away, and I was pretty strong on my feet. I knew that’s what this guy’s strong point was. I wrestled back, got really close at the end of the first period. I saw that he was getting gassed, so I was like, ‘It’s my time to go.’ I got that arm bar in, which is one of my strong suits, and used it to pin him.”

Wabasso’s Kaysen Harms took an 8-0 loss to Staples-Motley’s Turner Beachy at 139 in the first round. Sibley East’s Benito Diaz just lost to Ogilville’s Deegan Birkaker, as Birkaker earned an escape in the final period to win 1-0 at 145. St. James/Madelia’s Talyn Tande lost in another close match to Chatfield’s Alden Pearson in a 2-1 decision at 145, and Sibley East’s Atley Strack fell to Staples-Motley’s Colbe Tappe in 41 seconds at 160.

Sibley East’s Benito Diaz (right) holds Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial/Nicollet’s Talan Osborne (left) during the Class A State Individual Wrestling Tournament Friday at the Xcel Energy Center.

Palmer swept his opponent, Paynesville Area’s Haden Mulvihill in a 16-0 technical fall in 3:27, and Slater held Le Sueur-Henderson’s Peyton Tellijon scoreless as well in a 10-0 major decision.

In the second round, Herbst lost by a 4-0 decision to Kenyon-Wanamingo’s Liam Sommer, who was ranked second coming into the tourney. Alejandro took a 9-0 loss to third-ranked Carson Petry from Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton, and Carson Othoudt was pinned in 1:17 by Minneota’s Adam DeValminck.

Osborne had another close match in the second round, but this time he fell short, just failing to get a takedown in the final second as Birkaker took a 4-2 decision.

In Palmer’s second match, this one against West Central Area’s Hunter Gruchow, he got a quick takedown and a 4-point near fall for a 7-0 lead. Palmer earned an escape in the second, then had one final takedown in the third to seal a 12-1 major decision.

Slater followed that up with another strong wing, getting a takedown in the first on United North Central’s Riley Livingston before a tough-fought second period that resulted in no points. Slater wore down Livingston in the third, earning another takedown before three consecutive 4-point near falls gave Slater an 18-0 technical fall in 5:32.

In wrestlebacks, Herbst lost by a 8-5 decision to Frazee’s Ashton Reller to fall out of the tournament, while Antony defeated Le Sueur-Henderson’s William Osborne in a 10-0 major decision to continue wrestling on Saturday.

Alejandro had yet another tight match, this one going into another tiebreaker after Alejandro and Fosston-Bagley’s Kamryn Thopson each earned an escape for a 1-1 tie. This time, Alejandro was able to end it in the tiebreaker with a takedown for a 3-1 decision.

Diaz matched up with Osborne next, with Diaz earning the first points with a takedown. Diaz added a 4-point near fall in the second period to go up 7-0, then closed things out with a reversal to win the 9-0 major decision.

In Saturday’s consolation bracket, Antony will start the day off with a matchup against Jackson County Central’s Kayden Eller, ranked second in the state at 114. Alejandro will face Holdingford’s sixth-ranked Wyatt Pilarski at 127, and Diaz will face Minneapolis North’s Johan Alcantara Lund at 145. Alcantra Lund is ranked seventh at 152 this season. The winners will wrestle again for a chance to compete in the third-place matches.

In the semifinals, Palmer will face Canby’s third-ranked Sam Drietz at 152, and Slater matches up with Paynesville Area’s Peyton Hemmesch, ranked third, at 189. The winners will wrestle in the championship matches.