By Mike Simmons, Staff Writer

ST. PAUL – What a difference a year makes for New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva as it advanced four wrestlers to the championship semifinals at the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament Thursday in Saint Paul.

With a winter storm wreaking havoc outside across the state, the Panthers individual qualifiers caused some havoc of their own on the mat when seniors Taylor Holland, Mitch Brekke, Brandon Schlaak, and his brother Gaven Schlaak all bested their opponents to keep their dreams of a state wrestling title alive for at least one more day.

Brandon Schlaak got the ball rolling for the Panthers at 119 when he held onto beat Jordan Christian of Paynesville Area 8-6. Schlaak led 2-1 after the first period and 7-2 after two but did just enough late in the third to win the decision.

&8220;This was closer than I wanted, my matches usually aren&8217;t that close, but I did what I had to do to win. That&8217;s all that matters,&8221; said Brandon. &8220;I got a medal. That was one of my goals at the beginning of the year was to medal at state. Now that I have done that though the pressure is really on to keep it going.&8221;

Brother Gaven Schlaak, who is only a junior, won a 2-1 decision over a familiar foe in Maple Rivers Alex Bach at 152. This match could have gone either way, but just like his older brother, Gaven did just enough to win, and at state, that&8217;s the name of the game.

&8220;When I saw that Brandon won his match I was really happy for him,&8221; said Gaven. &8220;But then I figured I couldn&8217;t let my big brother get the best of me so I wanted to go out there and win mine also.

&8220;It was disappointing to not be here as a team, so we figured lets just go up there and do the best we can with our individuals and so far we are looking pretty good.&8221;

At 171, the Panthers&8217; Mitch Brekke continued his stellar season and improved to a very impressive 42-2 on the year when he won a 7-5 decision against Andrew Bach (34-5) of Maple River. The score is a little deceiving as the match really wasn&8217;t that close with Brekke toying with his opponent and was never really in danger of losing.

Brekke&8217;s perfect first day was a complete reversal from last year when he entered state with an impressive record only to lose twice and end his run far to soon.

&8220;I just worked hard all summer I wrestled freestyle and Greco and I told myself it wasn&8217;t going to happen again,&8221; said Brekke. &8220;Every night all year long (last year&8217;s loses) were all I think about.&8221;

Holland came into the tournament in a determined mode looking to dish out a little playback to Brian Ruegemer

from Sauk Centre who beat him in last year&8217;s state tournament.

&8220;He beat me last year and he went on to take second and I got fourth. It was a little revenge,&8221; Holland said. &8220;I just wrestled really good that match. I don&8217;t know how you don&8217;t get up for someone who has beat you.&8221;

Holland came through with a 7-2 win moving on to the quarters where he was a 7-3 winner over Eric Croatt of Orthonville.

&8220;To tell you the truth, I really don&8217;t care about playing because I just want to win it,&8221; Holland said of his goal at state.

Brandon Schlaak advanced to the quarterfinals with a pin at 4:11 over Greggory Brass of Saint James during first round action. Gaven Schlaak made his way to the quarterfinals with a 5-2 decision over Mitchell Hagen of Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg while Brekke dominated Cory Sandberg of Frazee 8-0.

Three of the Panthers individual qualifiers, Colton Schlaak (130), Tim Bartness (135), and Krey Cory (145),

came up short in the first round which will force them to make their way through the wrestlebacks. Cory was a defending state champion from a season ago for the Panthers.