Eleven Cubs wrestlers began the Section 4A Individual Tournament Saturday, Feb. 22, with an opportunity to secure individual state tournament berths in their home gym. When all the action settled that day at Kimball Area High School, two Cubs earned those berths.
Mark Schiefelbein (152) and Hank Meyer (189) both earned individual section titles to secure their individual tickets to state.
Tenth-ranked and top-seeded Schiefelbein earned his individual section title in dominant fashion, while making history. First, he earned a third-period technical fall and then a second-period pin over Eden Valley-Watkins’ Ryder Schmidt in the semifinals, giving him career victory number 150. He then advanced to the finals versus second-seeded Tyler Neubarth of Central Public Schools. Schiefelbein finished off his section title run at home via a pin with 45 seconds remaining in the second period.
Top-seeded Hank Meyer also had a dominant day en route to his section title. He earned a first–period semifinal pin to set up a finals match-up -versus LeSueur-Henderson’s second-seeded Peyton Tellijohn. A senior, Meyer earned a 19-4 technical fall win just 18 seconds into the second period, securing that -section title and state berth in his final home match.
Lance Schiefelbein (107), Miles Looman (121), Karson Schmidt (127), Jon Serbus (160) finished fourth; and Teagan VanNurden (114), James Schiefelbein (145), Frank Schiefelbein (172), and -Garret Rosenow (215) fifth to round out the Cub place winners. Cody Hendricks (133) also competed for the Cubs, but fell short of placing.
Now, Mark Schiefelbein and Meyer will prepare for the Class A State Wrestling Tournament, set to begin at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Friday, Feb. 28. Below are the Cubs wrestlers first-round match-ups.
152: Mark Schiefelbein (32-4) vs. Pelican Rapids’ Calvin Norton (26-14)
189: Hank Meyer (11-1) vs. -Jackson County Central’s Ryan Haley (29-17)