The Royals wrestlers had a great showing at the Section 3AAA individual tournament, putting 9 on the podium.  Cole West, Brock Rinehart and Donald Nde qualified for the State Wrestling Tournament, which takes place Friday and Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul.

Placing for the Royals were West (champion), Cade Johnson (6th), Will Bents (4th), Rinehart (champion), Sam Ellis (5th), Mason Barrows (5th), Nde (2nd), Max Fick (4th) and Alex Mancera (4th).  Congrats to Fick, Mancera and Daryl dela Paz, who wrestled for their final times in a Woodbury singlet.

West came in as the #2 seed at 113 pounds, pinned his first opponent and had an impressive 15-0 technical fall in round 2.  In facing the #1 seed and #2 ranked wrestler in the championship, West dominated his opponent throughout, riding in the top position throughout the 3rd period on his way to a hard-fought 7-3 victory.  He will go the the 'X' for a 3rd straight year and will look to improve on a 6th place finish from 2017.

Rinehart, seeded #1 at 145 pounds, won by pin and by a 22-7 technical fall before facing the #2 seed in the finals.  He survived a slow start to come through with a 15-8 decision.  He returns to the state tourney for a 2nd consecutive season.

Nde, the #3 seed at 195 pounds, won by pin and then took down the #2 seed with a crisp 3-1 decision.  He lost the title match to the #1 seed and #1 rated wrestler in the state, but takes the runner-up position to his first state tournament.

Individual action starts on Friday morning, with the AAA wrestlers starting at 11:00am.  Additional tourney information can be found at http://www.mshsl.org/mshsl/activitypage.asp?actnum=424.  Get down to St Paul to support your Woodbury wrestlers this weekend!