Every year, the top eight teams in each section A, AA, and AAA take the mats to wrestle at the state level. On Feb. 27, the OHS wrestling team was part of that top eight. These select teams took the mats in hopes of wrestling to the top surrounded by thousands of fans at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. 

For the Huskies, they came into the season unranked and were able to work their way up. Making it to state was a huge accomplishment. With that being said, it was a team effort and many times, the matches would come down to the last wrestler. The Huskies started the day wrestling Forest Lake. Sophomore Landen Johnson came out at 152, bringing the first pin of the day for Owatonna. Going into the last match, Forest Lake was ahead 27-29. This is the same situation the Huskies faced for the section title. The Huskies needed to win this last match up. Heavyweight senior captain Isaiah Noeldner came out ready to fight and pinned his opponent, giving the Huskies the 33-29 win. 

The Huskies came back for the second round against Shakopee ranked nationally in the Top 20 ranked Shakopee. Shakopee is a great team with ranked wrestlers at almost every weight. They put up a great run with wins from freshman Cael Robb, sophomore Johnson, junior Kaden Nelson, and seniors Jerez Autridge and Noeldner. The Huskies fell short to Shakopee 17-46. Shakopee moved on to win the Class AAA state championship against Stillwater. 

The team’s last match of the day for third place was against St. Michael-Albertville. The Huskies had wrestled them in regular seasons taking the loss 24-34. The team came in ready to wrestle and put up a great fight with wins from Johnson, Eveillard, Autridge, and Noeldner. The Huskies took the loss 19-50. Autridge said, “I think it was just important to be in the moment and see how exciting it was to be back to the Xcel one more time. For individuals, I hope the guys do good. I know our team has a lot of talented individuals, and I hope they get to show that tomorrow.” 

The boys put up a great fight and brought home a fourth-place trophy. Head coach Adam Woitalla said, “We had a great first round dual against Forest Lake. The whole team battled tough and battled through. Then we just ran into two great teams, Shakopee St.Michael-Albertville. They are great teams, we battled through and did what we could. Overall, It was a great day, and I’m proud of how we competed.” 

The Huskies finished fourth in the state and had four qualify for individuals that will wrestle Feb. 28 and 29. Wrestling individuals include: Landen Johnson, Y.J. Eveillard, Cael Robb, and Isaiah Noeldner. All four made it through the first day and will continue to wrestle as long as they continue to win.