The annual MSHSL individual state wrestling tournament gets started on Friday morning, and as always, there are plenty of Owatonna Huskies to track throughout the two-day marathon at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
In total, five Owatonna grapplers qualified for the big tournament — four boys and one girl.
Of the five, three punched their ticket by winning their respective sectional brackets while two others made it by finishing second.
Below is a breakdown of each OHS wrestler and where they stand within their overall weight classes.
FIVE STILL ALIVE
OWATONNA WRESTLERS I 5 (1 girl, 4 boys)
SECTION CHAMPIONS I Grant Lower (285), Aliah Fischer (142G), Blake Fitcher (195)
SECTION RUNNERS-UP I Kaden Lindquist (107), Trey Hiatt (139)
STATE RETURNERS I 3 (Fischer, Hiatt, Fitcher)
BEST RECORD I 37-4 (Lindquist)
BEST SEED I No. 5 (Fischer)
STATE BRACKETS I GIRLS STATE RANKINGS I BOYS STATE RANKINGS
THE CONTENDER
142 ALIAH FISCHER I EIGHTH GR.
RECORD I 22-3 (.880)
SEED I No. 5 (of 8)
QUALIFIED I Champion, Section 1
OPENING ROUND I vs. No. 2 Kylie Donat (33-1), Bemidji
STATE APPEARANCE I 2nd (2023/138/DNP)
THE FIELD
No. 1 Audrey Rogotzke (31-0), Stillwater, SO
No. 2 Kylie Donat (33-1), Bemidji, SR
No. 3 Annabelle Petsinger (16-1), NRHEG, SR
No. 4 Alley Altringer (13-1), Anoka, SR
No. 5 Aliah Fischer (22-3), Owatonna, 8th
No. 6 Ashley Stranger (22-5), Mille Lacs, SR
No. 7 Brianna Berg (31-11), Thief River Falls, SR
No. 8 Hannah Ratajczak(16-2), Marshall, JR
3 THINGS TO KNOW
1. The field contains five seniors, one junior and one eighth-grader — ALIAH FISCHER of Owatonna. She qualified for the state tournament by winning all three of her matches at the Section 1 tournament via pin.
2. Third-seeded ANNABELLE PETSINGER won the 120-pound state championship last season, beating No. 1-seed AUDREY ROGOTZKE 10-4 in the championship.
3. The MSHSL shuffled the weight classes in the offseason, making this the first ever 142-pound state tournament. The closest weight class last season was 145 pounds and was won by current Grand Valley State freshman wrestler, Skylar Little Soldier
PUSHING FOR THE PODIUM
107 KADEN LINDQUIST I EIGHTH GR.
RECORD I 37-4 (.902)
SEED I Unranked (of 16)
QUALIFIED I Runner-up, Section 1-AAA
OPENING ROUND I vs. No. 2 Dylan St. Germain(402), Eagan
STATE APPEARANCE I 1st
THE FIELD (TOP 8)
No. 1 Liam Collins (37-1), Prior Lake, FR
No. 2 Dylan St. Germain (40-2), Eagan, JR
No. 3 Joe Dauffenbach (35-11), Stillwater, JR
No. 4 Anthony Heim (42-3), Shakopee, 8th
No. 5 Grant Bergeron (23-2), St. Michael-Albertville, FR
No. 6 Caley Graber (38-4), Northfield, SO
No. 7 Owen LaRose (45-5), Mounds View, JR
No. 8 Wyatt Koenen (29-13), Wayzata, FR
3 THINGS TO KNOW
1. KADEN LINDQUIST received the second-best seed of the five eighth graders in the field and is tied for fourth in the 16-person bracket with 37 wins.
2. Northfield’s CALEY GRADER is the only female to compete in the Class AAA boys state tournament this season and has built one of the most impressive resumes for a female wrestler in state history. She won her weight class at the USA Girls Midwest Nationals this past summer, lost to No. 4-seed Anthony Heim by sudden victory in the 107-pound championship at the prestigious Rumble on the Red Tournament this season and pinned her way to a girls state championship at 100 pounds last season.
3. Unsurprisingly, there are no seniors in a field that features six junior high students and four freshman.
215 BLAKE FITCHER I JUNIOR
RECORD I 31-9 (.775)
SEED I Unranked (of 16)
QUALIFIED I Champion, Section 1-AAA
OPENING ROUND I vs. Brock Zum (41-6), Prior Lake
STATE APPEARANCE I 2nd (2023/195/DNP)
THE FIELD (TOP 8)
No. 1 Quin Morgan (46-0), Mounds View, SR
No. 2 Dominic Heim (36-4), Shakopee, SR
No. 3 Antonio Menard (28-4), Lakeville North, SR
No. 4 Noah Torgerson (21-2), St. Michael-Albertville, SR
No. 5 Cooper Jahnke (42-7), Waconia, JR
No. 6 Derrick Steinke (41-8), Hastings, SR
No. 7 Ben Schultz (42-2), Maple Grove, JR
No. 8 Brock Zurn (41-6), Prior Lake, JR
3 THINGS TO KNOW
1. Top-seeded QUIN MORGAN of Mounds View is one of just five undefeated wrestlers in the Class AAA individual state tournament field. He will wrestling next season in the Big 12 Conference at South Dakota State.
2. This is the first year of the 215-pound bracket with most wrestlers sliding in from 170, 182, 195 and 220 classes from last season.
3. DOMINIC HEIM finished third at 220 pounds at the 2023 state tournament for Eden Prairie. He is listed online as playing for the EPHS football team this fall and transferred to Shakopee sometime after the football season ended in November.
THE DARKHORSES
139 TREY HIATT I SOPHOMORE
RECORD I 21-6 (.778)
SEED I Unseeded (of 16)
QUALIFIED I Runner-up, Section 1-AAA
OPENING ROUND I vs. No. 7 Ian Schultz (39-7), STM-A
STATE APPEARANCE I 2nd (2023, 132 lbs., DNP)
THE FIELD (TOP 8)
No. 1 Davis Parrow (46-1), Farmington, SO
No. 2 Conlan Carlson (45-4), Willmar, JR
No. 3 Jatyden Haueter (39-5), Apple Valley, SR
No. 4 Easton Dircks (45-3), Brainerd, JR
No. 5 Zack Carr (45-7), Park, SO
No. 6 Parker Lyden (45-4), Forest Lake, SR
No. 7 Ian Schultz (39-7), St. Michael-Albertville, SR
No. 8 Charles Vanier (31-7), Eden Prairie, JR
3 THINGS TO KNOW
1. TREY HIATT is one of five Owatonna boys wrestlers to appear in the top 10 individual rankings this season, starting the year at No. 8 in 139-pound poll. He began the section tournament last weekend with four consecutive pins before losing to Albert Lea’s Brody Ignaszewski, 5-4, in the title round.
2. Willmar’s CONLAN CARLSON is the only individual in the entire field to appear in the championship semifinals of the 138-pound individual state tournament last season. He ended third overall.
3. Five wrestlers enter the tournament with at least 44 wins with top-seeded DAVIS PARROW of Farmington leading the way with a 46-1 record.
HWT GRANT LOWER I SENIOR
RECORD I 23-12 (.657)
SEED I Unseeded (of 16)
QUALIFIED I Champion, Section 1-AAA
OPENING ROUND I vs. No. 7 Cole Will (35-5), Eagan
STATE APPEARANCE I 1st
THE FIELD (TOP 8)
No. 1 Will Sather (37-1), Eden Prairie, SR
No. 2 Mark Rendl (35-1), Forest Lake, SR
No. 3 Cito Tuttle (39-4), Stillwater, SR
No. 4 Parker Orvik (44-5), Bemidji, SR
No. 5 Cole Will (35-5), Eagan, SR
No. 6 Prentiss Derrick (29-8), Chaska/Chanhassen, JR
No. 7 Marcus Whiting (35-7), CentennialSR
No. 8 Logan Ross (29-5), Hopkins, SR
3 THINGS TO KNOW
1. Owatonna senior GRANT LOWER was on the mat for less than 10 minutes at last weekend’s section tournament. As the top seed in the 7-person bracket, he received a bye into the semifinals and pinned both his opponents en route to his first ever section championship.
2. Top-seeded WILL SATHER of Eden Prairie made it all the way to the state heavyweight state championship last season before getting pinned by Vincent Mueller of St. Michael-Albertville.
3. Second-seeded MARK RENDL bumped up to heavyweight for his senior season after winning the 220-pound state title as a junior and finishing third at 195 as a sophomore.
THE HUSKY BULLETIN 
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