Kasson-Mantorville grapplers have successful state tournament
Wed, 03/06/2024 - 7:26pm
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By:
PAT GARRY Sportswriter
ST. PAUL — To say the least, it was a very successful endeavor for the Kasson wrestlers on Saturday, March 2, in the Class 2A individual state championship matches, at the Xcel Energy Center. A day earlier, the KoMets took the runner-up spot in the team tournament.
Nine KoMets competed in the individual rounds, and six of them left with medals around their necks. Three of K-M’s place-winners are seniors and two of them battled their way to the state finals, both of them falling to the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the state at their weight class.
Luke Swanson (160 pounds) beat a pair of 40-win wrestlers to reach the championship match, where he fell 5-0 to No 1-ranked Griffen Lundeen (52-1) of Thief River Falls. Swanson finished his senior season 43-7.
Dominic Mann (172 pounds) finished his senior year at an impressive 45-5, after recording three tough wins on his way to the state final. Mann, a St. Cloud State commit, opened the tournament Friday with a pin in 2:57 against Fridley’s Bryan Weston. In that day’s state quarterfinals, the No. 2-ranked Mann beat No. 7-ranked Owen Angell of Becker, 3-2. Saturday afternoon, Mann earned his way to the state title match by beating No. 8-ranked Sam Rock of Luverne, 8-2. In the finals, Mann ran into Watertown-Mayer’s Bryce Burkett — the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the state at 172 — and made Burkett earn his state title, in a tight 3-1 decision.
A third K-M senior, Joey Kennedy, who joins his older brother, Patrick, at the University of Iowa in the fall, battled through lower-body injuries for the past month and gutted his way to a third-place finish. Kennedy’s heart and attitude epitomize this year’s K-M senior class. He finished his senior season with a 35-9 record. Three more KoMets earned fifth-place finishes: junior Owen Friedrich (139 pounds), sophomore Jonah Coleman (145) and junior Jacob Duitsman, who capped a great run through the post-season at 215 pounds.
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