Nine wrestlers from the fourth-ranked Eagles wrestling team have qualified for this coming weekend’s state wrestling tournament at Xcel Energy Center, following Saturday’s individual competition at the Section 6AAA wrestling tournament in Waconia.
In the 106-pound class, Eden Prairie seventh-grader Anthony Heim (35-7), ranked eighth in the state, defeated Gabriel Witschorik of Waconia (20-16) in a 9-1 major decision to capture second place. With the second-place finish, Heim will advance to state.
Eagles sophomore Zytavius Williams (31-9), ranked ninth in the state in the 120-pound class, is on to the state tournament after taking first place with a 4-2 decision over AJ Smith (33-7) of Shakopee.
At 138 pounds, Eden Prairie senior Jafari Vanier (22-13) defeated Troy Doroff (23-19) of Edina by no contest to win second place at the sectionals, earning a trip to St. Paul.
Eden Prairie junior Terae Dunn (32-4) is ranked fourth in the state at 145 pounds. He took first place on Saturday with a technical fall victory over Waconia’s Aiden Meuwissen (10-6) to secure a trip to the state tourney.
In the 152-pound class, Eagles senior London Bui (16-23) defeated Vinny Morton (30-9) of Minneapolis Washburn in a 3-2 decision to win second place and a berth at the state tournament.
Eden Prairie senior Jacory Bates (21-3), ranked third in the state at 160 pounds, won by no contest over Levi Mueller (19-8) of Waconia to capture second place and a trip to state.
Eagles junior Julian Berg (22-15) took second place in the sectional tourney, winning by fall at 0:13 over Marcus Dortch-Staten (17-14) of Shakopee in the 195-pound class. With the second-place finish, Berg advances to state.
In the 220-pound class, Eden Prairie’s Dominic Heim is ranked third in the state. Heim (25-4) won by fall at 1:07 over Minnetonka’s David Brandt (14-23). With the victory, Heim took second place, qualifying for the state tournament.
And in the 285-pound class, Eagles’ junior Will Sather will defend his state title in St. Paul. Sather (39-1) defeated Brody Perry (36-10) of Edina by fall at 1:34 of the match. Last March, Sather became the first sophomore in the history of the Minnesota state wrestling tournament to win a championship at 285 pounds.
Sather was also one of 28 wrestlers named to the 2023 MWCA All-State Academic Individual Wrestling Team. The award is based upon a number of criteria, including cumulative GPA, overall matches wrestled and winning percentage, as well as state tournament participation and placement.
The state wrestling tournament at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul will take place Thursday, March 2, through Saturday, March 4.
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