Single point stands up as champs clash at 119

The coaches sitting in Sam Brancale's corner urged him repeatedly.

Move Sammy! You know what you gotta do here. You gotta move!

Try as he might, the defending Class 3A 103-pound state champion from Eden Prairie never got anything done against St. Cloud Apollo's Mitch Bengtson, losing a 1-0 decision in the 119-pound quarterfinals Friday at Xcel Energy Center.

"I definitely expected it to be close. It's too bad it was in the quarters," Brancale said. "I'll just have to train a little bit harder, I guess."

Bengtson, the defending Class 3A champion at 112, earned his point early in the second period via escape. After Brancale elected to start the third period in the down position, Bengtson held on for the victory.

"A very big win," said Tim Bengtson, Apollo's coach and Mitch's father. "They have very different styles. Mitch's style is to control a guy and Sam's style is like a jitterbug. Going all the time, and a very exciting wrestler to watch."

Brancale entered the match with a season-record of 34-1.

The better to keep an eye on their three sons, all of whom were wrestling for Irondale at nearly the same time in the first round of the tournament.

They cheered, heads on a swivel, as sophomore twin brothers Ryan, a 103-pounder, and Dustin, a 112-pounder, won matches nearly simultaneously on adjacent mats.

Twenty-minutes later, junior Derek won by fall in his 140-pound match.

"When they qualified in the sections, we cried three times," Diane Weinmann said.

Things went nearly as well in the quarterfinals. Both Dustin and Derek advanced with victories, but Ryan lost to Tommy Thorn of St. Michael-Albertville.

The 14-year-old earned a spot in the 3A quarterfinals with a technical fall in the opening round, scoring a 16-1 victory in the first period.

Repeat: That's a 15-point cushion in under 2 minutes.

He then breezed into Saturday's semifinals with a 14-2 decision, becoming one of 11 Eagles with a chance to get to the finals.

Proving a point Donny Longendyke, a White Bear Lake senior and defending champion, had his 88-match winning streak broken by Stillwater heavyweight Brock Horwath in the Section 4 finals.

That loss, Longendyke said, has renewed his fire.