With wins at the 1AA section tournament at 139 and 145, Isaac Blocker and Owen Denstad made their way to St. Paul to participate in the MSHSL State Wrestling Tournament. The boys got a great send off from Caledonia with a police escort out of town, and would get to work on Friday, Mar. 1 with their first matches.
Owen Denstad
Denstad looked dominant in his four matches up to the championship. Friday saw him win his first match by major decision against Jack Major from Rocori by a score of 17-6. His second match saw Denstad pin Deontre Torres from St. Peter at the 1:36 in the first period. With those two wins, Denstad would march comfortably into Saturday.
The first match for Saturday was against Becker’s Landen Kujawa, in which Denstad won by decision 3-1 via an escape and takedown in the 2nd period, launching Denstad to the finals for 145AA.
His opponent would be Matt Randolph from Scott West. Denstad and West would measure each other up for much of the first period. The 2nd period would see Denstad shoot a few times for points, but Randolph would score an escape point instead. In the 3rd period there were some good takedown shots by Owen, but with an unsafe call, one of Denstad’s best shots would be nullified.
The third period saw much of the same, as Denstad just could not get Randolph down to nab two points. Denstad would fall 1-0 to Randolph in the final. Denstad would go onto say this at the homecoming on Sunday, “I wanted to thank everyone for coming out and supporting us, and thank you to my coaches and teammates.”
Congratulations to senior Owen Denstad (152) for making the 2024 MWCA All-State Academic Wrestling Team.
Isaac Blocker
Blocker would start on Friday against Scott West’s Mason Breeggemann –- winning by decision 2-1 after a stalling call on Breeggemann late in the 3rd period. Next up for Blocker on Friday was his quarterfinal match against Ethan Sylvester from Totino-Grace. Blocker would come up short in this match via a 6-3 decision, avoiding a pin early in the match.
For his last match of the day, Blocker would move on in the consolation bracket via a match against Joey Wilczek of Little Falls. Blocker would win this match by a 3-1 decision, with a critical takedown halfway through the last period to give him the lead.
For Saturday, Blocker would face off against Raydon Bipes of Hutchinson, and would advance after a slight comeback from Bipes with two takedowns in the third period. Blocker would win a 5-4 decision. With that win, Isaac moved onto his next opponent, Daniel Gunlogson of Dawson-Boyd-Lac Qui Parle- Montevideo United. Blocker would battle hard, but the only point would go to Gunlagson in the 2nd period with an escape, and Blocker would fall 1-0 decision.
In the 5th place match, Blocker would be facing his section championship opponent, Owen Friedrich from Kasson-Mantorville. Both wrestlers would be in top form, and also go into overtime. Unfortunately, Freidrich would get an escape with 12 seconds left, and though it looked like Blocker had gotten a reversal, it would go uncalled, and Blocker would take 6th place at State, a still formidable achievement. Blocker would go onto say this at the homecoming event on Sunday, “I’m blessed, I’ve had a great journey, my coaches have been great, and my teammates have been key.”
Congratulations to both Denstad and Blocker on their placements at state; both have made Caledonia Area schools and the community very proud.
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