A few weeks ago, the Owatonna Girls Wrestling team was at the Mayo Civic Center competing in the Section 1 girls tournament for a spot in the 2026 MSHSL State brackets.
Having a young team on the Owatonna girls’ team has positives and downsides. There were six placers, with three of which were section champs. The team grew exponentially in their skills from the start of the season until the very end. The girls entered the Rick Lee Girls Duals in Bemidji, coming out with 6th overall and making their mark as the first Owatonna Girls’ Wrestling team to ever win a dual, but also the first ever girls varsity team. These tournaments helped the team grow and expand to be the team that had the most girls place at the Section 1 girls’ tournament.
The girls who placed were a sophomore, Ella Montanye, at 155lbs taking 5th alongside her sister a 8th grader, Madeline Montanye, at 170lbs taking 5th as well. Owatonna had three section champs who made their mark to be at the state tournament. Kayla Pastika, sophomore, at 100lbs for her first year, Lucinda Ornelas, junior, at 106lbs for her first year, and Aliah Fischer, sophomore, at 148lbs for her fourth year.
The Owatonna boys varsity team turned around a week later at Mayo Civic Center to try their shot at the State tournament. The boys poured their hearts out at their respective weights, working for a placement match. Every single boy on the team had a fight from the start to the end, helping their hand in every boy, also placing in the top six at the Section 1AAA tournament.
Senior captain Riley Kreeger took home 3rd at 160lbs. Juniors: Jacob Ryks took 5th at 127lbs, Chase Grunwald took 5th at 215lbs. Sophomores: Noah Calhoun took 4th at 152lbs, Will Frantesl took 4th at 172lbs. Freshman: Gabe Robb took 3rd at 133lbs. 8th Grade: Owen Flatland took 5th at 139lbs. Owatonna had five boys make it to the State tournament. Miles Aase, a sophomore, took 2nd at 107lbs for his first year going to state. Mason Sorensen, 8th grade, took the bracket, becoming a section champ, as well as going to state for his first year. Jacob Wilson is going to state for his second year after taking 2nd at 121lbs at sections, and Senior captain Carter Flatland is taking 2nd at 189lbs, going to state for his first time.
The Minnesota High School State tournament was hosted at the Grand Casino Arena. Within the AAA, AA, A, and Girls there were eight-hundred and thirty-two wrestlers competing for fifty-two state titles.
Aase, Sorensen, Wilson, and Flatland all had tough first-round draws, wrestling people who placed top 6 in the bracket. All four boys had an upsetting round, going 0-2.
Kayla Pastika came into the bracket seeded fifth. First and second, she won by fall in either the first or second period. In the semis, Pastika had a very close match, losing to the eventual state runner-up only 11-12. In the consolation semis, she lost a 2-6 decision, taking her to the 3rd place match, coming with another tough match with a loss 3-7, taking 4th on the podium.
Lucinda Ornelas has made many upsets coming into sections unseeded and winning the bracket. Then came into state with the seven seed. Round one, she came out on top with a decision 7-5. Round two, Ornelas beat the two seed 10-5, making her way into the semis, then to wrestle the three seed, losing a close match 1-3. Making her way on the back side with another loss, 9-13, she now is in the fifth-place match, winning 3-1, taking fifth on the podium.
Aliah Fischer is not new to the state tournament, making her fourth appearance in the 2026 season. Fischer was seeded third, winning her first two matches by fall, both in under a minute each. Fischer had some previous injuries affecting her throughout the tournament. In the semis, she wrestled the two-seed, losing a 4-10 match. On the back side in the consultation semi-finals, Fischer beat the fourth seed in a 7-3 match. In the fifth-place match, she lost the match on a 2-18 match taking fourth on the podium.
Kayla Pastika, Miles Aase, Lucinda Ornelas, Mason Sorensen, Jacob Wilson, and Aliah Fischer will all be wrestlers you want to keep your eyes on coming up in the 2026-27 season, among the rest of the Owatonna wrestlers coming through the program.
