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It was a tough opening day for area wrestling teams NRHEG and Maple River/United South Central at the Minnesota State wrestling tournament in St. Paul.

By the end of the morning rounds, just one of four qualifiers for NRHEG remained in the championship bracket and one of three qualifiers for Maple River/United South Central was left in their respective bracket.

NRHEG

The Panthers’ lightest qualifier and youngest qualifier in the history of the program, seventh grader Grahm Jacobson, met a tough opponent in his first-round match in No. 7-ranked Tyson Meagher from Paynesville Area. Despite his best efforts, Jacobson came up short and lost via pinfall in the second period.

Jacobson will await his chances in the consolation bracket hoping Meagher can advance in the quarterfinals, which would allow him to continue wrestling in the consolation bracket.

Senior Harbor Cromwell suffered a similar fate in his match at 160 pounds. Cromwell went up against No. 1 Ayden Miner of Chatfield and lost in a 13-4 major decision, but as long as Miner went on to win his next match, Cromwell would be able to continue in the consolation bracket. Results from that match were unavailable as of press time.

Sophomore Ryan Schlaak was the lone win for the Panthers, picking up a narrow 7-4 decision win over Isaiah Wolske of Fulda-Murray City Central. Both wrestlers were unranked in that matchup and Schlaak goes on to face No. 5-ranked Cameron Halverson from Barnesville in the quarterfinals Friday night. Results from that match were unavailable as of press time.

Senior Cole Hutchens, the final qualifier for the Panthers, lost his opening-round match via a 12-1 major decision against West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville’s Jeremy Blascyk. Hutchens’ future also rests on the outcome of the quarterfinal matchup.

Maple River/United South Central

For the Rebels, their only opening-round win came from their lightest qualifier, sophomore Noah Gonzalez, who on his match via a 14-3 major decision over No. 7 Nolan Fettig of Alexandria. His quarterfinal matchup was against No. 10 Vincente Lopez-Marsh from Minneapolis Edison. Results from that match were unavailable as of press time.

Senior Isaiah Gonzalez, unranked at 133 pounds, lost to another unranked wrestler, Kadin Martin from Grand Rapids in a 13-6 major decision. He awaited his fate until the results of the quarterfinals, which were unavailable as of press time.

Fellow senior Byron Getchell, ranked No. 3 at 160 pounds, lost a tough first-round matchup against No. 4 Slade Barnett of Waseca in a 4-2 decision. He also depended on the outcome of the quarterfinals match before being about to continue in the consolation bracket.