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.

The Royals grapplers got to the final four of the Section 3AAA team tournament on Friday, but were knocked out by East Ridge in a semifinal matchup.

Woodbury dominated Henry Sibley 57-11 in their quarterfinal match.  Alex Braun  started things out with a major decision and a pin by Cade Johnson and technical fall by Cole West got the Royals out to an early 15-3 lead.  Will Bents and Sebastian Zamorano each won by decision and pins by Brady Moesenthin, Brock Rinehart, Omar Abdelal and Donald Nde finished out the scoring in the victory.

East Ridge took 8 of 14 matches in the 44-33 semifinal loss.  Winning for the Royals were Johnson (decision), West (fall), Moesenthin (fall), Rinehart (fall), Tre Hockenberger (fall) and Nde (fall).

On Friday and Saturday of this week, the individual portion of the Section 3AAA tournament will take place at Bloomington Kennedy HS.  Those finishing in either 1st or 2nd place at their respective weight classes will advance to the State Tournament on March 1-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul.  Action begins at 4pm on Friday and 10am on Saturday.

Many JV wrestlers reached the podium at the SEC JV tourney held at Cretin Derham-Hall HS on Saturday.

At 100 lbs, Caleb Howe took 2nd; at 113, Blake Tinsley took 6th; at 126, Gavin Wilson took 5th; at 132, Cedric Ramos took 4th and Jack Anderson took 5th; at 145, Sebastian Zamorano took 2nd; at 160, Phil Wiggins took 3rd; at 182, Ahmed Abdelal took home 1st place; at 195, Thomas Moesenthin also took home 1st place; at 195, Michael Edgerton took 3rd; at 220, Ethan Chaney took 2nd and at HWT, Trenton Willner took 4th.

Congrats to all of the JV wrestlers on a great season!

Freshmen Nick Howe and Ahmed Abdelal competed on Saturday at the 9th Grade and Under State Tournament, with Abdelal finishing 3rd.  Howe won his first match by fall, but lost his 2nd in a tough 3-1 overtime match.  He was unable to get by his next opponent in the consolation round.

Abdelal won his first two matches by pin before losing his semifinal match.  He then fought through a high-scoring 15-12 match to secure 3rd place.  Congrats to both Nick and Ahmed.

The Varsity and JV were at Robbinsdale Armstrong Saturday.  On the JV side, placing in their brackets were Kaiden Kirby (3rd), Ethan Chaney (3rd), Logan Ryan (2nd), Cedric Ramos (2nd), Sebastian Zamorano (2nd) and Ryan Holt (2nd).  Taking home titles in their brackets were Nashawn Hoyer, Thomas Moesenthin, Jack Anderson, Gavin Wilson and Trenton Willner.

The Varsity started their day with a very strong Faribault team.  The Royals kept it tight throughout, but came up short 33-32.  Wining for Woodbury were Cole West (major dec), Will Bents (major dec), Brady Moesenthin (fall), Nick Sieczkowski (dec), Donald Nde (dec) and Mason Barrows (fall).  Congrats to Donald on his 100th win with the Woodbury program!  Donald becomes the 4th wrestler this season, and 14th overall, to hit the 100 win milestone.

Woodbury then faced Maple Grove, and in a dominant performance, won 51-16.  Royals winners:  Alex Braun (fall), West (dec), Bents (fall) and Tre Hockenberger (fall).  Woodbury also took 5 forfeits from the Crimson.

Against a very tough Mahtomedi Zephyr squad (currently 16th in AA), Woodbury again led from start to finish.  Anthony Rizzo, West, Bents, Brock Rinehart, Omar Abdelal and Barrows all won by pin, while Braun (technical fal), Sam Ellis (dec), Nde (dec) and Hockenberger (dec) also picked up wins.

This week, the Royals travel to Stillwater HS on Thursday to face the Ponies and Irondale/Spring Lake Park in a triangular match.  Action begins at 5pm for both JV and Varsity.

On Saturday, the Suburban East JV Conference Individual Tourney will be held at Cretin Derham-Hall HS.  Action starts at 10:00am.

The Royals took 2 of 3 matches at the Bloomington Kennedy Duals on Saturday at took 5th place.  The Royals gave #4A Zumbrota-Mazzeppa a run in their first match, but fell short 38-31.  They then thumped Kennedy 51-24 and Minnetonka 50-23.

In the opener, Woodbury kept it close throughout.  Winning for the Royals were Alex Braun (fall), Cole West (major dec), Cade Johnson (fall), Omar Abdelal (fall) and Mason Barrows (fall).

The Royals next faced section foe Kennedy, and dominated throughout the match, recording 7 wins by fall.  Winners were Braun (fall), Antonio Rizzo (fall), West (fall), Will Bents (fall), Cedric Ramos (fall), Donald Nde (fall), Tre Hockenberger (fall) and Barrows (dec).

In the 5th place match against Minnetonka, wins were secured by Braun (major dec), Rizzo (major dec), Johnson (fall), West (fall), Sebastian Zamorano (fall and 1st varsity win), Brock Rinehart (fall), Nde (fall) and Hockenberger (fall).

JV results will be posted at a later date from Saturday's duals at Kennedy.

This week, the Royals host St Paul Harding, Roseville and Cretin-Derham Hall on Thursday for senior and parent's night.  Action begins at 4:30pm at Woodbury HS.

On Saturday, Nick Howe and Ahmed Abdelal will compete at the 9th Grade and Under State Tournament at Champlin Park HS.  Action begins there at 8:30am.

The Varsity and Junior Varsity will compete at the Armstrong Duals at Robbinsdale Armstrong HS with action starting at 9:00am.  Competing teams include Armstrong, Delano, Chaska/Chanhassen, Eastview, Faribault, Goodhue, Mahtomedi, Maple Grove, Mounds View, Rogers, South St Paul and St Michael-Albertville.