Berres wins State title

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Published on Wednesday, 06 March 2013 16:10

Written by Mike Schindler, coach

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Last week, Kimball sent five guys into the Minnesota State High School League Individual Wrestling Tournament, and placed three individuals. For the second time in school history, Kimball has a Wrestling State Champion in Quinten Berres. The last time we have had a State Champion is when Tom Libbesmeier won a title at 171 pounds in 2003. Quinten won his title at 126 pounds this year, with a record of 39-1.

Quinten started off the tournament against Austin Skillings from Frazee who had a 32-13 record, and was ranked 9th in the state. Quinten handled the match and came away with a 5-0 decision. In the quarterfinals, he faced A.J. Riley from Chatfield with a 43-5 record and ranked fourth in the state. Once again, Quinten controlled the match to a 5-2 decision win. In the Semi-finals, he faced Tyler Keller from Medford with a 30-6 record. Quinten won the match with a 7-1 decision.

Heading into the State Tournament, wrestling at 126 pounds, and having lost only one match all year, Quinten Berres beat all of his opponents at the Excel Center to take the State Championship over Tyler Tensen from B-B-E. Photo courtesy of Vanessa Schlueter.

This set up a section 5A final match where he would face Tyler Tensen, a senior from Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa. This was the third meeting between these two within the last month of wrestling. The last match was in the Section finals which Quinten won by a 12-3 major decision. The State finals would end the same way with Quinten coming out on top with a very controlled 5-2 decision and a State Championship added to his already impressive resumé. Quinten is a sophomore with a career record of 130-9. When asked how it felt to be a State Champion, Quinten replied with a simple “It feels good”. This was Quinten’s third time at the state tournament. In eighth grade, he finished sixth in state, and as a freshman, he finished third. Quinten started this year with the goal of winning a State Title, and has now reached that goal. Congratulations to Quinten on a great season!

We had four other kids that finished their season by making it to the State Tournament. Blane Tschida made the State tournament at 113 pounds and placed third. In the first round Blane beat Dillon Kubiatowicz from NRHEG with a 5-0 decision win. In the quarter finals, Blane defeated Zach Scott from Holdingford with a 3-1 decision win. In the Semi-Finals, Blane lost a tough-fought match in double overtime with a 1-2 decision. Blane bounced back in the Consolation semis and had a 10-1 major decision over Zack Kuhns of Maple River. In the third-place match Blane met up against Joey Majerus from Zumbrota-Mazeppa, and came away with a third-place finish with a 6-5 decision victory.

 Marcus Hamer made his fourth trip to State this year and is a three time place winner at state. Marcus faced Alex Ossefoort from Pipestone Area and dominated the match with a 13-4 major decision. In the quarterfinals Marcus faced the number-one ranked Tanner Trembley from Lake Crystal-Welcome Memorial. Marcus wrestled a tough match, but lost a 1-3 decision to the eventual State Champ. In the wrestle-backs, Marcus beat Dylan Boettcher from Saint Clair-Mankato Loyola with a fall in 4:10, and then Marcus faced Alex Haffner from Chatfield and won with a 9-0 major decision. In the consolation semi-finals, Marcus faced Bruce Lemon from Frazee and won the match with a 5-1 decision. In the third-place match, Marcus faced Logan Peterson from ACGC, another section 5A finals match. Marcus wrestled a great match, coming up short in a 1-3 decision lost, and placed fourth at this year’s State Tournament. Senior Travis Wills went 2-2 at the State Tournament, just coming up short from placing. Travis beat Alan Bast from Aitkin in the first round with a 4-0 decision win, in the quarterfinals, Travis lost to the eventual champ from Lake City, Will Balow, with a 0-5 decision. In the wrestle-backs, Travis faced Devin Wolle from St. James. Travis won the match with a 12-6 decision win. In the consolation quarterfinals Travis lost a hard-fought match to Dillon Card from Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale 0-2. Tim Konz came into the State Tournament as one of the lightest heavyweights in the tournament. In the first round, Tim faced Tyler Jensen from Benson, and the 80 pounds that Tim was giving up was too much to overcome. Tim lost by a 1-2 decision. Tim’s opponent did not win his next match, and that knocked Tim out of the tournament.

All of our guys wrestled very well at the State Tournament, and Kimball placed sixth in the individual tournament as a team, pretty impressive for only having five qualifiers. Here is a rundown of the top 10 teams’ scores for the Individual tournament.

• 109 Points – Jackson County Central

• 89 Points – Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City

• 77 Points – Sibley East

• 65 Points – Wabasso/Red Rock Central

• 59 Points – Kerkhoven-Merdock-Sunburg

• 56 Points – Kimball Area

• 55 Points – Chatfield

• 52 Points – Border West

• 49-1/2 Points – Lake Crystal Welcome Memorial

• 41-1/2 Points – LeSueuer-Henderson

Kimball coaches of our State Champion are, left to right, Chris Schiewe, head coach Mike Schindler, and Paul Sundin.