Freshman Tri-City United wrestler Tucker Skluzacek traveled to the state capital last weekend to represent the Titans in the MSHSL Individual State Championships. Despite making his first appearance on the biggest state in Minnesota Wrestling, Skluzacek never shied away from the bright lights, earning fifth place and a podium finish as an all-state wrestler.
“We got here Thursday morning pretty early and we wanted to come down here and check things out. So we came down in the tunnel and started walking around, and he’s like, ‘oh, I’ve never been down here before.’” said TCU head wrestling coach Shaun Timmerman. “Yesterday morning we made sure we were on the floor of the arena for warm ups just so he could see all the bright lights and things like that, but he’s a kid that’s wrestled in a bunch of big matches before.”
Skluzacek began Friday morning’s competition facing off against Preston Xayachak of Windom-Mountain Lake and he controlled the action from the opening whistle, earning a 9-4 decision victory. In the quarterfinal match, he faced Bennett Kujawa of Becker, who would go on to finish third, and suffered a defeat via fall 56 seconds into the second round.
His first-round victory guaranteed him a spot in the consolation tournament though and he wasted no time, earning a fall victory 1:11 into the match to reach Saturday’s competition.
Saturday morning, Skluzacek faced Cassen Brumm of Annand-M Lk Lightning and got an advantageous position to earn a fall victory 1:25 into the second round. Against Miles Wildman of Minnewaska Area, SKluzecek took the match the distance and showed a massive improvement in wrestling from the bottom throughout the match but fell 9-4, putting him in position to battle for fifth place.
In the fifth-place showdown, the action started slow but after an escape in the second round, Skluzacek earned a takedown to claim a 4-2 lead with just 11 seconds remaining in the round. Just 15 seconds into the third, Skluzacek turned his starting position into a pinfall, securing the win as well as the fifth-place finish.
“When we talk to him about goals, his goal is to be a state champ.” Timmerman said of Skluzacek. “So I think it’s step in the right direction, you know, placing as a freshman.”
The future certainly looks bright, not only for the freshman, but for TCU as a program, as the transition into the Big South Conference next season will provide a significant challenge.
114AA — Tucker Skluzacek (48-7) placed 5th and scored 0.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 — Tucker Skluzacek (Tri-City United) 48-7 won by decision over Preston Xayachak (Windom-Mountain Lake) 33-10 (Dec 9-4)
Quarterfinal — Bennett Kujawa (Becker) 50-6 won by fall over Tucker Skluzacek (Tri-City United) 48-7 (Fall 2:56)
Cons. Round 1 — Tucker Skluzacek (Tri-City United) 48-7 won by fall over Davon Bridges (Totino-Grace) 26-20 (Fall 1:11)
Cons. Round 2 — Tucker Skluzacek (Tri-City United) 48-7 won by fall over Cassen Brumm (Annand-M Lk Lightning) 37-7 (Fall 3:25)
Cons. Semi — Miles Wildman (Minnewaska Area) 38-5 won by decision over Tucker Skluzacek (Tri-City United) 48-7 (Dec 9-4)
5th Place Match — Tucker Skluzacek (Tri-City United) 48-7 won by fall over Aiden Theisen (C-E-C Lumberjacks) 36-9 (Fall 4:15)
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