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Wildcat junior wrestler Clay Olson (171) was Chisago Lakes' lone representative at last week's state AA wrestling tournament at the Xcel Energy Center. Olson lost his opening match 13-5 to tenth-ranked Connor Fogarty of Scott West. He then defeated Kody Kalkbrenner of Litchfield 11-8 in the wrestlebacks before losing to second-ranked Nate Schmitz of Perham. Olson ended his first appearance at the state tournament with a 1-2 record.

In the opening match on Wednesday, March 4, Olson and Fogarty had an uneventful first period that looked like it was going to end 0-0. But Fogarty scored a takedown with two seconds left in the period to take a 2-0 lead.

Olson started the second period on top, and he and Fogarty traded reversals to make it 4-2 Fogarty with 38 seconds gone in the period. After Fogarty got one point for an escape, he scored a near-fall to widen the gap to 8-2. Olson and Fogarty traded reversals near the end of the period to make it 10-4 Fogarty after two.

Fogarty sealed the victory with a near fall 43 seconds into the third period. Olson managed an escape near the end of the match to make the final score 13-5 in favor of Fogarty.

A final flurry in Olson's match against Kalkbrenner made it one of the more thrilling matches of the Thursday session. The match was scoreless at the end of the first period. Kalkbrenner managed an escape early in the second period to go up 1-0. Olson responded with a takedown and a near-fall to lead 4-1 at the end of two.

Olson still led 6-4 with thirty seconds left in the third period. Kalkbrenner got a takedown and Olson escaped to tie the match at 6-6. With 20 seconds to go, Kalkbrenner tried to put Olson on his back and got two points for a takedown. But Olson powered through it for a reversal and a near fall for five points to win the match 11-8. "That was a pretty exciting end to the match," said Wildcat head coach Shawn Frederixon. "Assistant coach Dave Hinsch told Clay after the match that powering through was a risky move. Clay responded that it was late in the match so he had to take the chance."

In Olson's Friday match against Schmitz, Schmitz showed why he was ranked second in the state all year. "Clay had a couple of chances right away," said Frederixon. "When Clay got a reversal early, Schmitz realized he couldn't wrestle Clay down on the mat. So he took Clay down and let him go a few times. Schmitz was the type of wrestler that Clay couldn't defeat."

Overall, Frederixon was encouraged by Olson's trip to state. He said "It was fun to see him get that opportunity as a junior knowing he's coming back for his senior season. Also, it was nice for Clay to get a win down there and see what it's like so he knows what he needs to do next year. He was in a pretty tough bracket this year. I know he plans to work very hard in the offseason to prepare for next year."

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