Stephan Mincey is quite aware that this is his last shot.
The Simley senior 132-pounder wrestled at Apple Valley last year before moving to Inver Grove Heights with his father. His brother Matt was a three-time individual champion at Apple Valley, but circumstances never quite came together for Stephan, who is making his first individual state tournament appearance in the Class 2A field.
"In 10th grade, I was ranked No. 3 but I lost in the section finals," he said. "Last year, I had trouble making [weight at] 119 pounds and didn't get to wrestle much. So this year is very important."
Mincey battled nerves in his first-round match, hanging on at the end for a 5-2 victory over Mason Brownlee of Montgomery-Lonsdale/Le Center.
He then advanced into the semifinals with an 8-2 victory over Zach Baker of Detroit Lakes.
"My goal [was] to make it to the second day," he said. "It would have been bad to have been one-and-done."
Size matters Gabe Foltz of Detroit Lakes could not be happier that the weight classes were nudged upward this year.
Foltz is the only senior in the entire tournament at 106 pounds. He said that if the weight had stayed at 103 pounds, he might not have qualified.
