Five Kimball Area High School wrestlers advanced to the state tournament, which will be held at the Xcel Energy center from Feb. 27-March 1. Senior wrestlers participating in the event include Blaine Lemke in the 135 division,Tom Libbesmeier in the 171 division and Kyle Winter in the 215 division. Juniors winning state trips include Gary Salmela who will compete in the 125 division, and Jeremy Dahnke in the 152 division. Lemke, with a record of 27-2 is scheduled to wrestle Chance Kuvstad of Benson, with a record of 31-2. Undefeated Kimball wrestler Libbesmeier (30-0) will be paired against Brian Carrels (31-8) of Wabasha-Kellogg. Winter will face Morgan Taylor of West Central Area/Ashby with a 12-4 record. Winter is also undefeated this season (23-0). Salmela, with a 24-5 record is scheduled to wrestle Warren Gall of Pierz (20-9) in his first match-up. With a 27-9 record, Dahnke is set to wrestle Mitch Kuhlman of Medford who holds a 40-0 record. According to Minnesota State High School League, there will be a tough competition in Lemke’s division as three previous state medal winners are returning in this category. Last year, Libbesmeier took third place in his division. He will compete against the highest ranking returning competitor in the meet and last year’s state title holder, Corey Harnitz. In the 125 division, Salmela is up against last year’s state title holder and three additional medalists. Dahnke faces two previous state qualifiers in the 152 division. Class A individual quarter finals will begin at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 27. Class A individual wrestle-backs will be held at 9:45 on Friday, Feb. 28. Individual Championship Semifinals and Consolation Quarterfinals will begin at 6:45 p.m. on Friday. Final championships will be held at various times on Saturday, March 1. We wish our wrestlers the best of luck in the state meet. Congratualationson all of your hard work. Make Kimball proud at the state meet!
