By ELI LUTGENS
Publisher/Editor
Junior Annabelle Petsinger became NRHEG’s first-ever girls' state wrestling champion at the Minnesota State High School League tournament Saturday, March 4. Accompanying her at the capital were third-place finisher Makota Misgen and first-time state qualifier Reese Routh.
Petsinger entered the tournament with a record of 14-1, and pinned her way to the championship bout. She needed only 36 seconds in her first match over Shelby McFetridge from Mahtomedi. In the semifinals she needed a little longer. Her opponent, Lanna Walter from Sauk Centre-Melrose, lasted until the second round when Petsinger pinned her too.
The title bout saw a rematch of last year’s section title match between Petsinger and Stillwater’s Audrey Rogotzke.
Petsinger fell behind via takedown in the first period and further behind after a reversal in the second. But Petsinger went to work. She earned a reversal to cut the score to 4-2 going into the final period. A reversal and two three-point near falls secured the come-from-behind win.
“I‘ve wanted to win state since I was little,” Petsinger said after her victory. Telling about having watched the tournament as a 3-year-old, she admits, back then “I didn’t think it was gonna happen.
“It’s really nice. It’s… I guess you could say I had a dream.”
“It’s fantastic,” coach Shawn Larson said. “It’s school history, but state history too. Where girls' wrestling has come in the last two years is phenomenal. And girls like Annabelle did that because they began wrestling before it was sanctioned. You know, fighting the boys for years and years. So it's a great thing to see it building like this and keep coming.
“I hope the community gets behind her. I hope we draw some more girls into wrestling, because we've got a champ in there."
The state title for Petsinger was the first of Larson’s head coaching career.
“The whole team's behind her on this,” coach Larson continued. “Even when the team’s season was over and we only had a couple people going on, everybody was still in the room. Kids were coming down to warm up with Annabelle, kind of make sure she was taken care of. It's a team effort to get one person to the title, to the top of the podium.”
Petsinger finished her 2022-23 season with a record of 17-1 in the girls' division.
Misgen
After coming within inches of a state title a year ago, Misgen entered the tournament with eyes set on a championship in his senior campaign.
Those aspirations continued throughout the first day of competition Friday. After an initial scare in the opening round versus Xander Kohler from Frazee, Misgen was nearly pinned, but turned around a 4-0 deficit and earned a fall.
The battle continued in the quarterfinals versus Brandon Mugg of Royalton-Upsala. A lone escape in the second period catapulted Misgen into the semifinals with the 1-0 victory.
And, for the third time in as many weeks, Misgen was unable to upset the eventual state champion, sophomore Keegan Kuball of WEM-JWP.
“I wish that Makota could have won this title, but we are proud of his accomplishments,” Larson said. “He has had a fantastic career.”
Kuball earned an early point on an escape in the second period, which Misgen answered with an escape of his own in the third, forcing overtime. A tired Misgen drew a fortunate draw with the bottom position of overtime number one, but was unable to get away. Kuball scored the winning point on an escape in the third and final overtime, winning 2-1.
“There's two things that I wanna tell you that I've been impressed with over the last couple of weeks, which tell you what kind of a person Makota is,” Larson shared publicly during a welcome home celebration. “Last week at the section tournament, he lost on what basically everybody, except for one team in the section says, was a bad call. And he stood there like a man and took it. Never complained, never threw his head gear or acted like a fool. He walked off the mat like a grown human being, and represented our school very well in that situation.”
Larson continued: “Losing in the semifinals, it hurt. It hurt a lot. All. All of us were hurt when Makota lost in the semifinals. And, you know, it's one of those things where some people in that situation will fall off and they'll lose two more matches and go off in sixth place. Not Makota. He gutted it out. He put away what happened to him in the semifinals, and he turned it on and put away two more opponents to take third place. And that tells you what kind of person he is, because a lot of people settle for sixth and quit in that situation. And he fought through it, and then did what he needed to do to get the job done. We're very proud of him.”
“After that semifinal match, I was just feeling so down and not really wanting to be there,” Misgen admits. “Talking to people and having them say to me, ‘just get the next best thing,’ which was third.
“So I kind of threw that behind me and finished out,” Misgen continued.
In the consolation semifinals, the "blood round," Misgen made quick work of Spencer Eisenbraun from Paynesville Area, winning by fall in the second period.
In the match for bronze, Misgen scored first on a stalling penalty by Cameron Wieneke of Adrian Area. A reversal and takedown put Misgen ahead for good, securing a medal with the 5-1 major decision.
“I wanted to make sure I went out with a win,” Misgen concluded.
Misgen said his biggest supporters are his parents and coaches. Asked what it means to be a Panther wrestler, to come home to celebration Sunday, he answered. “Just being able to go out there and show off, show off our school, being able to have a community that's proud of you. Coming back to something like this here at home. I think that's awesome. Just having the support behind me.”
Misgen, who has wrestled since kindergarten, will continue his education, and wrestling career at Rochester Community Technical College. He plans to go into Law Enforcement.
Misgen finished his 2022-’23 season with a record of 45-6 and final career record of 120-78.
Routh
In newcomer Routh’s only match, he was defeated 20-9 by Isaiah Rodriguez of Jackson County Central, who finished in sixth place.
Routh had not wrestled since fifth grade and surprised a lot of people with his appearance at the state tournament.
“I was happy to just be wrestling varsity,” Routh said. “I surprised myself.”
Routh surprised Coach Larson when he and fellow wrestler Parker Bunn approached him shortly after football season.
“I thought what are these two juniors doing in my sixth-grade classroom right now with smirks on their faces,” Larson recalled. “And they said, ‘You know what? We’re gonna come out for wrestling again.’’’
Routh won his first varsity match via pin and went from there. Bouncing back from varsity and JV, Routh was the guy who wrestled wherever he was needed, at whatever weight was needed.
And then, “He started putting on a show,” Larson shared. “Get to the state tournament and he wrestled a fairly tough opponent. The kid was really, really good and Reese stayed with him. It’s one of those things where a little bit more mat time might have made the difference. If Reese continues to work like this, hopefully we can put him in that position next year and he can win a match like this.”
Routh finished his 2022-23 campaign with a record of 10-13.
Welcome home
On Sunday the wrestlers were welcomed home with a celebration at NRHEG High School where coach Larson and the three state participants visited with a crowd of about 100 family, friends, students, coaches, and teachers.
“Thank you to those who came here to support these three wrestlers and our team,” Larson told the group. “It means a lot to see your faces there. It means a lot to hear you yelling from the stands. It means a lot to talk to you in the hallways and all those sorts of things. You know, the reason that they're working so hard is to represent you really well. And it was very nice to see all of you there and appreciate that. The next thing is, thanks for coming out to this, because [...] need to be celebrated. And all three of them, because they did a fantastic job.”