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In her first trip to the MSHSL Wrestling state tournament, Wildcat freshman Libby Carlson came in fourth place in the girls’ 235-pound weight class this past weekend at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Five other Wildcats joined Carlson at the tournament but did not place: freshman Grant Hansen (107), senior Conner Aspenson (114), junior Lucas Yang (139), junior Matt Raboin (285), and sophomore Charlotte Rehbein (142). All the Wildcat participants, except for Aspenson, were making their first state tournament appearances. This was Aspenson’s third time at the state tournament.

The sixth-ranked Carlson (19-11) opened her first match against senior Gracie Arm (26-10) of Wadena-Deer Creek. Carlson took the lead with a takedown at the end of the first period. Arm chose top in the second period. Carlson escaped at 2:46, took down Arm 17 seconds later and pinned her at 3:23, moving on to the quarterfinals. The first period in the quarterfinal match against ninth-ranked junior Kloe Meyer (16-6) of GMLOS was scoreless. Meyer chose down in the second period. Carlson escaped at 3:10 to take a 1-0 lead. She got a takedown at 3:46 to increase her lead to 4-0. Carlson started on the bottom in the third period. Despite trailing 4-0, Meyer got a stalling warning early in the period and then gave up two points to Carlson for stalling late in the period. Carlson won by a 6-0 decision and was headed to the semifinals. She was also guaranteed a spot on the podium.

Carlson had a tall task in her semifinal match, taking on second-ranked sophomore Lillian Drews (22-1) of Blaine. The first period was scoreless, although Carlson received a stalling warning at 1:24. “I was trying to play a defensive match, because usually if I can outlast them to the third period, it works out pretty well for me. In the first period, I was trying to tire her out, and you could hear her breathe hard at the end of the period. I chose bottom in the second period. I was almost out [with an escape] and that was typical, I was going to get my first point. But she mat-returned me and that had never happened to me before. I was unsure of what to do. She caught me off-guard, turned me, and pinned me. I think that’s a good note for next season, for me to work on landing on my feet and how to get out of that.”

In her first match in the wrestlebacks, Carlson was matched up against third ranked junior Elli Schendel (26-7) of Milaca-Faith Christian. In the third period, she got a reversal at 4:28 to take a 2-0 lead. Schendel was given another stalling warning at 5:38, meaning a point for Carlson and a 3-0 lead. Carlson rode Schendel for the rest of the match to win 3-0 and moved on to the third-place match, her final match in the tournament. She was matched up against fifth-ranked senior Charlize-Mccharisma Laban (26-5) of St. Paul Harding.

After a scoreless first period, Carlson took a 1-0 lead just nine seconds into the second period due to a technical violation by Laban. Carlson escaped just nine seconds later, at 2:18, to double her lead to 2-0. But Laban got a takedown at 2:41 and finished the pin three seconds later to claim third place, leaving Carlson with a well-earned fourth-place finish.

Carlson had a great time at her first state tournament. She said “We had a suite [provided by the wrestling booster club], and it was so nice to just sit up there between matches. People told me I was going to be so nervous when I stepped out for the first time on the mat and, honestly, that was one of my real feelings. There were so many people and so many mats. But it was such a cool experience. I’m very proud of the way I wrestled. I wasn’t hanging my head after any of the matches. I did lose those two matches, and I had a chance to win both. One of the significant moments was after my second match. After I walked out of the arena, Coach David Hinsch came up and said, ‘Do you know what you just did? You placed. The worst you can do is sixth place.’ It was such a cool feeling. I had to do a double take and couldn’t even think about what that actually meant. It was awesome.”

In the first round at 107, Hansen (26-12) faced sixth-ranked junior Javean Centeno (41-8) of Hutchinson. Centeno dominated the match from start to finish. He had two takedowns in the first minute of the match and allowed Hansen to escape both times. Leading 6-2, Centeno got another takedown at 1:16. He worked for a pin. Hansen avoided getting pinned, but Centeno was awarded two four-point nearfalls late in the period. The second one gave him a 17-2 lead and a win by technical fall over Hansen. In the wrestlebacks, Hansen was matched up against freshman Finn Obermoller (35-7) of United Clay Becker. Obermoller made quick work of Hansen, pinning him in just 38 seconds and ending Hansen’s first trip to state.

Aspenson (29-11) was making his third trip in a row to the state tournament and, unfortunately, the third time was not the charm. Aspenson opened the tournament against fellow senior and seventh-ranked  James Olvera (35-8) of Minneapolis Roosevelt. Olvera got out to an early 6-1 lead, with two takedowns in the first 44 seconds of the match sandwiched around an escape by Aspenson. Olvera increased his lead to 9-1 with a takedown at 2:44 and pinned Aspenson at 3:19. In the wrestlebacks, Aspenson faced junior Gabe Swenson (34-11) of Zimmerman. Swenson got a takedown near the end of the first period to lead 3-0. He got a second takedown at 2:23 to double his lead to 6-0 and pinned Aspenson a short time later, ending Aspenson’s successful high school career.

Yang (21-14) was matched up against fourth-ranked senior Vicente Lopez-Marsh (31-4) of Minneapolis Edison in his opening match. After a takedown and a four-point nearfall in the first period, Lopez-Marsh led 7-0. Yang, despite trailing 7-0, chose bottom in the second period. Lopez-Marsch registered another four-point nearfall at 2:53 to increase his lead to 11-0. Yang broke the shutout with a reversal at 3:12 and trailed 11-2. But Lopez-March reversed Yang at 3:56, quickly putting Yang in a tough position. Lopez March was awarded a four-point nearfall just four seconds later, at the end of the period, and won the match by a 17-2 technical fall. In the wrestlebacks, Yang faced senor Carter Young of Pierz (47-9). Young got a takedown and a four-point nearfall to lead 7-0 after one period. After a reversal and a takedown in the second period, Young led 12-1. In the third period, two takedowns sandwiched around an escape by Yang in the first minute gave Young an 18-2 win by technical fall, ending the tournament for Yang.

Raboin (30-9) took on fourth-ranked junior Anthony Benson (36-4) of Brooklyn Center-Concordia Academy in his opening match. Benson notched two takedowns in the first period and led 6-1. Benson’s reversal just 15 seconds into the second period stretched his lead to 8-1. A third period reversal at 4:17 gave Benson a 10-1 lead, and a stalling warning on Benson at 5:03 was just a small speedbump on his way to a 10-1 major decision over Raboin. Raboin’s wrestleback match against senior DJ Miller (34-12) of Martin County stayed close until the third period. After a scoreless first period, Miller chose bottom in the second and got a quick reversal at 1:15 to go up 2-0. Raboin chose neutral in the third period. Miller got a takedown at 3:27 and hung on for the 5-0 win, knocking Raboin out of the tournament.

Rehbein (13-5) wrestled seventh-ranked junior McKenna Brauch (36-11) of Wadena-Deer Creek in her opening match. Rauch took Rehbein down at 59 seconds and completed a pin at 1:47 to send Rehbein to the wrestlebacks. After a scoreless first period against junior Jamie Peterson (38-11) of Forest Lake, Rehbein chose bottom in the second period. She engineered a reversal at 2:44 to take a 2-0 lead. Peterson opted for neutral in the third period. Things looked good for Rehbein when a takedown at 3:11 gave her a 5-0 lead. But Peterson escaped at 3:39, took down Rehbein just four seconds later and pinned Rehebein at 3:57 to knock Rehbein out of the tournament. 

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