The Sabres had a great weekend this past week at the Minnesota State Wrestling tournament at Grand Casino Arena. With three Sabres placing and one taking home a state title, it was the best state tournament for Sartell since 2017.

Jayce Gruber started the tournament as the sixth seed and started with a pin in the first round. He then fell to the third seed in the quarterfinals, but responded to that with three straight wins over very good opponents. He made it to the third-place match, where he met the same opponent from the quarterfinals and ultimately fell by decision. He placed 4th as a freshman. 

Jack McGrew started unseeded with a tough draw, but he was able to battle. He lost via fall in his first match but wrestled hard. In his second match, he was able to win by fall over a very good opponent. In the second round of consolation, he unfortunately fell by fall once again, but ultimately had a good tournament.

Abby Swenson was a first-time qualifier for the Sabres. She wrestled hard but took a loss in the first round. She had a tough round in the first consolation round and fell via fall again. Favour Kulu was also a first-time qualifier for the Sabres as a freshman. In the first round, she took a loss to the eventual fifth-place winner. In the first round of the consolation side of things, she took a big win over a good opponent and moved on. She then lost in a close match to the eventual sixth-place winner. Both of these girls had great seasons and state tournaments. 

Jaiden Schwegel earned her way to qualifying as an eighth grader this year. She came into the tournament as the fifth seed. She got a quick win in the first round. She was able to pick up a huge win with an upset over the four seed in the quarterfinals. She then fell to the one seed in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, she won via decision to punch her ticket to the 3rd place match. She had a big win in that match to earn herself 3rd place. 

Chloe Wehry came into the tournament as the one seed with a 31-0 record. She is also a nationally ranked wrestler. Chloe picked up three technical falls through the first three rounds of the tournament while winning with ease. In the finals, she took on Payton Helmin from Milaca. She picked up a pin late into the third period while she was already dominating the match and was able to take home a state title. She didn’t wrestle a full match in the state tournament, and that just shows another level of dominance. Congrats to Chloe on her accomplishment!