Sports

Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville the team to beat in 1A wrestling

By Jim Paulsen

February 27, 2020 at 5:44AM

Mason Gode of Long Prairie/Grey Eagle-Browerville defeated Bray Olson of Kenyon-Wanamingo in the 132-pound class at the 2019 state meet. Gode and his brother, Landon,will be both competing this week. Photo: Carlos Gonzalez, Star Tribune ] CARLOS GONZALEZ • cgonzalez@startribune.com – St. Paul, MN – February 28, 2019, Xcel Energy Center, Minnesota High School / Prep wrestling team championships (Paul Klauda — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

It wasn't that long ago that Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville was just another program looking to take things to a high level.

Now, the Wolves are the team to beat.

They built upon their fourth-place finish in the 2018 state tournament by winning the Class 1A state championship a year ago. They returned much of their lineup, had a wildly successful 2019-20 regular season, posting a 31-3 record and are considered the team to beat again this year.

The Wolves are strongest at the lower and midrange weights, led by the Gode brothers, Landon (132 pounds) and Mason (138).

No. 2 seed Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (30-1) is expected to present the biggest challenge to the Wolves. The Falcons lost a head-to-head matchup 41-15 during the season.

INDIVIDUALS

Undefeated

126 pounds: Trevor Janssen, Blackduck/Cass Lake-Bena, 34-0; 145: Canon Swanson, Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, 48-0, and Trey Fairbanks, Deer River, 34-0; 152: Zack Holtz, Kimball, 32-0; 182: Trevor Eisfeld, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove, 44-0; 195: Tyler VanLuik, Minnewaska, 46-0, and heavyweight: Craig Orlando, Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie, 43-0.

Returning champs

120: Drayton Morton, Sibley East (106 last year)

132: Charley Elwood, Medford (113)

138: Brett Willaby, Windom/Mountain Lake (138)

170: Tyson Meyer, Minnewaska Area

220: Dominik Vacura, Badger/Greenbush-Middle River

Hwt: Orlando, Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/PP

Toughest bracket: All 10 of the ranked wrestlers qualified for the 113-pound and heavyweight brackets and 11 made the 152-pound field (Tallin Johnson of St. James is No. 2 at 160 but dropped down a weight). But at 138 pounds, there's Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville's Mason Gode, runner-up at 132 last year, followed by Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg's Will Magaard, the 2018 106-pound champ, and Windom/Mountain Lake's Brett Willaby, who won at 126 in 2019.

Three-peat? Craig Orlando of Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie will be shooting for his third consecutive heavyweight state championship. Orlando is a standout lineman on the football team and has signed with North Dakota.