For the seventh time in school history, an Eden Prairie wrestler captured an individual state championship.
On March 5, EP wrestler Will Sather captured the heavyweight state individual title at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Sather is the first sophomore to ever win the heavyweight state title.
After capturing the section championship a week prior, Sather entered the state meet with a 42-1 record. He defeated Tucker Hugg of St. Cloud Tech in the opening round 5-4 before knocking off Jawahn Cockfield in the next round via fall to advance to the semifinals.
Sather faced a tough test in the semifinal as he squared off against Dalton Barrett of Brainered, who had lost just five matches all season. Sather prevailed, however, with a 7-3 win.
In the state title, Sather faced Jade Trelstad, who also came out of Section 6AAA. Once again, Sather was victorious against his section rival, winning the match on a 3-2 decision. That win gave him the state championship. As just a sophomore, Sather is set to have two more opportunities to defend his state title after making history with his championship.
Sather was one of three Eagle wrestlers to make it to the state meet. Jacory Bates wrestled at 160 pounds. In the opening round, he defeated Patrick Kubisa in Hopkins before falling in the quarterfinals to Willmar’s Jonas Anez.
Wrestling in wrestlebacks, a consolation tournament, Bates defeated Owen Murphy of Northfield before falling to Marcell Booth of Apple Valley.
Julian Berg was the third EP wrestler to qualify for the state meet at 220 pounds. His state experience ended after an opening round loss to Nate Schwinghammer of Bemidji.
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Congratulations Will!! Also well-done to all the state wrestlers that placed, and kudos to all that competed.