Colby Kesteloot
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Quintin, Kaston, Colby -
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The Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament isn’t necessarily magical to start in the first few rounds, to simply be a spectator, but as you near the finals there’s a chill in the air, as you start to see hopefuls fall in matches. There’s also a thrill in the air as you see unexpected wins, upsets, and meaningful losses. The Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul seems like a huge venue at first, especially if you used chat GPT to find out what door to go in, then you have to walk around the stadium from gate 4 to gate 1 wondering if you might be lost. Upon entering, there’s a familiarity because its very much like every other tournament. Although smaller than Fargo, there are way more spectators. The Warrior wrestling family communicates where they are sitting, as coach Henning told them which of the 8 mats we might be wrestling on.
With the Wild Hockey Team Ice covered by a thick layer of plywood, which is then covered by the 1.5 inch thick wrestling mats, you’d never know it’s a hockey arena, except for the obvious oval shape of the floor. With 8 mats wrestling at once, the fans look like popcorn popping, as small sections stand to cheer for their wrestlers.
This year, the Fulda MCC Wrestling club made the podium for the first time since 2009 when Elissa Reinsma was the first girl to make the state tournament, Andy Henning got 5th place @ 160#, Justin Reinsma got 2nd place @ 130#, and Scott Beech attended at 145#. 17 years is a long time to wait for a wrestler to make the podium and Kaston Clarke did it! Clarke made the podium at 6th place this year, working his way through the tournament, winning where he could and wrestling his very best every match. Kaston is a junior this year, so he’ll be back next year and will surely improve. It was a delight to come back to the stands to see Kaston’s mom absolutely elated and grandparents in tears when Kaston made it through to the medal matches.
Senior Quintin Lewis also made the tournament this year as our 160 pounder but just fell short of making the blood round. Senior Colby Kesteloot made it as the Heavyweight and went two and out. Its unfortunate to see these boys go, but we gotta make room for the new wrestler’s coming up through the ranks. Keep an eye out for the Warriors next year as we make another run.
Quintin Lewis
Kaston Clarke
