The Royals sent 5 wrestlers to St Paul on Friday and Saturday for the individual portion of the MSHSL State Wrestling Tournament, with senior Cole West and junior Brock Rinehart taking home All-State honors again.

Freshman Ahmed Abdelal, the #10 seed, was beaten by #10 Jacob Meissner of Osseo in his opening match.  Meissner was defeated in his next match, prohibiting Abdelal from getting into wrestlebacks.  Ahmed finished the season with a 12-10 varsity record and a very bright future ahead.

Junior Mason Barrows, the #9 seed, was defeated by #8 Tommy Johson of Shakopee.  Johnson also lost his next match, ending the season for Barrows.  Mason finished the season with an incredible 28-18 record.

Senior Donald Nde, the #12 seed, was defeated by #5 RJ Chakolis of Hopkins.  Again, Chakolis lost his next match, and the season ended for Nde.  Congrats to Donald on a great season (30-17 record) and a career that saw him earn 105 victories, #12 on the All-Time Royals wins record.

Senior Cole West, the #7 seed, beat Zyan Hall of Mounds View 9-3 in his opening match.  West went into wrestlebacks after a 6-1 loss to #2 Cael Swensen of Wayzata.  Cole beat Alex Borris of Alexandria 5-1 and Jacon Taschuk of Stillwater 3-2 in a gutty match to get into the medal rounds.

West was knocked off by Nic Cantu of Albert Lea 4-1 and Swensen 5-1 to earn 6th place and All-State for the 3rd consecutive year.  It's been a pleasure for our fans to watch your career, Cole--finishing your senior year with a phenomenal 38-6 record and finishing with 137 victories, #7 on the All-Time Royals list.  Thank you for your contributions and good luck at Augustana!

Rinehart entered the tourney as the #3 seed and pinned #14 Anthony Tuttle of Stillwater in his opening match.  He pinned Demetrius Patton of Hopkins in 55 seconds to get into the semifinals.  Rinehart thenavenged an overtime loss to #2 Devin Roberts of Apple Valley in his semifinal match with a late takedown and a 3-2 victory to get to the state finals.

Unfortunately, the match didn't last long against #5 seed Gabe Nagel of Little Falls, who entered the match with a perfect 45-0 record.  Rinehart got an early takedown but was called for an illegal mat return, and with Nagel unable to continue due to injury, was called for a disqualification.  It was a tough end to a great season that saw Brock finish with a 47-4 record.  His 2nd place finish was the programs's highest since 2005 and he was just the 4th Royal to reach the championship match.  Rinehart finishes his junior season with 144 career victories, currently 6th on the Royals All-Time wins list.

Next up:  the team banquet.  Look for information to be coming via email about the event, which will be held on Sunday, April 14th.

Fans, parents, friends, coach and wrestlers....THANK YOU for a great season.  Stay tuned for updates on Cub Foods bagging (Easter weekend--ALL HANDS ON DECK!), summer lifting and wrestling and the Luther College team camp.