5 Mustang matmen in top 4 at state; best showing ever

BY BRUCE STRAND SPORTS WRITER

Five of Mounds View’s nine state qualifiers ended their seasons on the medal podium at the state tournament Saturday evening, led by Brett Swenson, a silver medalist.

While Swenson was a runner-up, Quin Morgan and Jacob Solheim got bronze with third places, and Joey Muhlstein and Apollo Ashby each placed fourth.

“I thought we had a great tournament,” coach Daniel Engebretson said. “Like always, we wanted more. I thought we left a few points on the mat. Overall, everyone went out and competed at a very high level.”

Five wrestlers on the podium are a Mustang record, Engebretson said. Their previous high was three.

Swenson, a freshman at 106 pounds, scuttled Grady Weinbrenner of Rogers 11-1, Jack Bridensine of Coon Rapids 7-0, and Nolan Enderlein of Eastview 6-3 to reach the championship match. He finished 47-3 with a 5-1 loss to Hastings freshman Trey Beissel (51-1).

“Brett is just wrestling with so much poise and awareness,” Engebretson said. “He wrestles with an attack style that we preach. One thing that makes him so good is that he is very good at all three facets of wrestling — good on his feet, on top, and on bottom.”

Solheim (48-5), a senior at 285, pinned William Russell of Park Center in 4:51 and won a 3-0 decision over Alex Bacilli of Eastview to reach the semifinals, where he got pinned by Vincent Mueller of St. Michael-Albertville in 1:55.

Solheim closed his career defeating Tucker Hugg of St. Cloud Tech 5-3 and, in the third-place match, Blake Clemons of Hastings 8-5.

One of the top wrestlers in Mustang history, Solheim finished with 138 wins and three state medals. He placed sixth as a sophomore and junior.

“J Roc is a four-time state entrant and three-time state place-winner — the first one to do so at Mounds View since the 60’s, and only the second in school history,” Engebretson said in tribute. “He is a great leader for the team.” Morgan (45-7), a junior at 195, scrambled Derick Steinke of Hastings 14-1 and Nolan Israelson of Andover 9-1 to reach the semifinals, where he lost to Ryder Rogotzke of Stillwater 11-4. Morgan regrouped to defeat Jackson Cercioglu of St. Michael-Alberta 14-0 and Israelson again, 8-0, in the thirdplace match. Ashby (46-5), a junior at 160, pinned Elliott Viland of Faribault in 2:57 and won a decision against Seth Newby of Bemidji 6-3. He lost in the semifinals to Jed Wester of St. Michael-Albertville

18-7; then defeated Patrick Kubisa of Hopkins 5-0 and lost the third-place match to Jacory Bates of Eden Prairie 10-4.

Muhlstein (29-4), a sophomore at 182, got past Isaiah Schmitz of Wayzata, 6-4 and Dylan Peper of Rochester Mayo 2-1, then lost to Ezra Formaneck of Eastview 3-0 in the semifinals. He defeated Jericho Cooper of Hastings 5-0 to reach the third place match where he lost to familiar rival Cittadino Tuttle of Stillwater 3-2. That’s the third time they’ve met in post-season with Tuttle winning two.

Colton Loween (43-6), a sophomore at 152, pinned London Bui of Eden Prairie in 1:23 in the first round, then lost twice, by pin against Jarrett Wadsen of St. Michael-Albertville in 1:39 and lost by decision to Brad Little of Woodbury 4-2.

Brett Swenson was one of three brothers in the state tournament.

Brady Swenson (38-8), a junior at 145, lost his only match to Gunnar Mullen of Park 15-2. Ethan Swenson (36-10), a sophomore at 170, was pinned by Coy Olsen of Bemidji in 2:18 in his only match. The Mustangs’ youngest state entrant was eighth-grader Caden Grenier (36-12) at 132, who lost to Lincoln Vick of Waconia 11-1 and Sulley Anez of Willmar 8-2.

Mustangs’ Wallin places 3rd at state, relay team 5th

Mounds View swimmers picked up two medals and scored in four events at the state Class 2A swimming meet March 3-4.

Mustang senior Josh Wallin placed third in the backstroke with a time of 50.12 seconds after qualifying with a 50.24 prelim.

The medley relay placed fifth with Wallin (backstroke), Nathan Hare (breaststroke), Steven Zhou (butterfly) and Justin Wang (freestyle) in a time of 1:35.88 after going 1:36.61 in the preliminaries.

Wallin broke the team backstroke school record that has stood since 2011, and the relay team broke the record that stood since 2007.

“The backstroke was somewhat what I was predicting, although not exactly,” said Wallin, a fourtime state qualifier who placed eighth in the event last year. “I would have liked to have cut a bit more time off and break the 50 second barrier.”

About the relay team, Wallin said, ”Our relay did fantastic. I think we are all satisfied. We all had great individual performances.”

Wang, a senior, placed 12th in breaststroke with 1:00.32. Their 200 freestyle relay placed 14th, with Wang Theo Gafencu, Danny Bai, and Hare in 1:28.75, after advancing with a 1:27.98 in prelims.

The Mustangs, coached by Chris Yauch, placed 15th in team points.

Athlete Of The Week

Quin Morgan

Mounds View Wrestling

Quin Morgan, Mounds View wrestler, placed third in the state tournament at 195 pounds and finished his junior year with a 45-7 record, including 31 falls. Morgan won four decisions by large margins at state, while losing a decision in the semifinals. He advanced to state by winning the sectional. “Quin is great at all three facets of wrestling,” coach Daniel Engebretson said. “Very good on feet and bottom. Loves to compete and goes after the best competition he can find.” Morgan was 36-10 and a state qualifier last season also. He has 109 career wins with one season left.

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Sports Briefs

ATHENA AWARD

Distance running standout Taylor Isabel is Mounds View’s choice for the Athena Award. This is a metro area program honoring each school’s top senior girl athlete at a banquet, slated for May 5 at the Earle Brown Heritage Center in Brooklyn Center. Isabel placed 13th in the state cross country meet, helping the Mustangs place third in the team standings. As a junior, she placed 10th in the state in cross country and fifth in the 3200 and eighth in the 1600 in track.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Mounds View finished the season with a 14-14 record after defeating Spring Lake Park 74-70 on March 2 and losing to Maple Grove 52-25 last Wednesday in the Section 5AAAA tournament. No data is available for the Spring Lake Park game. Bria Stenstrom had 16 of the Mustangs’ 25 points against Maple Grove (24-4). Gophers recruit Kennedy Klick scored 16 points and Jordan Ode 10 for Maple Grove

BOYS BASKETBALL

Mounds View won its Section 4AAAA opener over Roseville Area 62-57 on Thursday evening at home. Joey Fretheim, junior guard, led the Mustangs (17-10) with 22 points. Jacob Becher netted 14 points and Colby Deluce 11. Ataa-Adjetey Mensah sank 16 points and Evan Fischer 14 for the Raiders (1413). The conference rivals split two close games in the regular season, Mounds View winning 68-66 and Roseville winning 52-51. Mounds View now faces top-ranked, defending state champion Park Center (24-2) on Tuesday at Park Center. Mounds View finished 9-9 in the Suburban East Conference, tied for fourth place among nine teams.