A look back at 2015-16
8AA dual tournament
Semifinals
Perham 73, Sauk Centre-Melrose 0
Bemidji 47, Thief River Falls 17
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Championship
Perham 34, Bemidji 25
Individual section champions
106: Ben Naddy, Ottertail Central; 113: Cade Lundeen, TRF; 120: Jordan Winter, Sauk Centre-Melrose; 126: Indi Farris*, Bemidji; 132: Spencer Richards, Pequot Lakes/PRB; 138: Sam Naddy*, Ottertail Central; 145: Nate Adkins*, Pequot Lakes/PRB; 152: Ty Moser, Perham; 160: Zach Peterson, Perham; 170: Jake Ubert, Fosston-Bagley; 182: Gannon Strain*, Bemidji; 195: Joe Harrison*, Pequot Lakes/PRB; 220: Daniel Ukkelberg, Ottertail Central; 285: James Huwe*, Detroit Lakes
* Senior in 2015-16
Section state placers
Second: James Huwe*, Detroit Lakes; third: Ben Naddy, OTC; fourth: Wyatt Yoemans*, Bemidji; Joe Harrison*, Pequot Lakes/PRB; fifth: Nate Adkins*, Pequot Lakes/PRB; sixth: Leighton Rach, Perham; Coy Thorson*, OTC; Sam Naddy*, OTC.
* Senior in 2015-16
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A look ahead to 2016-17
Four teams to watch
Detroit Lakes: There is strength in numbers for the Lakers. They don't have a returning section champion in their lineup, nor do they have any individuals currently ranked in the top 10 in the state. They do have seven returning section tournament placers, with runner-up Braydon Ortloff and fourth-place finishers Payton Jackson, Austin Baker and Sean Lundeen heading the list.
Perham: Quality runs deep. Perham has eight returning top-six section tournament placers in its lineup. That group includes six who are in the top six in the latest state rankings by The Guillotine. Zach Peterson (second, 170) is the highest ranked of the group, which also includes Leighton Rach (fourth, 120), Jonathon Staebler (fourth, 285), Gabe Bellefeuille (fifth, 113), Ty Moser (sixth, 182) and Ben Nelson (sixth, 132).
Ottertail Central: Only Perham returns more defending section champions than Ottertail Central, which has two in Ben Naddy (ranked first in the state at 106) and Daniel Ukkelberg (ranked 10th in the state at 220). They are two of six returning section placers, with other top ones being Nate Hart (third), James Holen (fourth) and Marc Hendricks (fourth).
Thief River Falls: The Prowlers match Perham for the most returning top-six section placers with eight. That group is led by Cade Lundeen (first), Josh Bernier (second), Brenan Peralta (second), Hunter Roller (third) and Connor Swanson (third) and Jake Davis (fourth). Lundeen (fifth, 120), Peralta (sixth, 170) and Bernier (seventh, 145) all are state-ranked wrestlers.
Area 20-win returners
Josh Bernier, TRF, 41-6; Cade Lundeen, TRF, 41-6; Jake Ubert, Fos-Bag, 36-5; Jake Davis, TRF, 34-10; Brayden Sorenson, Fos-Bag, 28-12; Brenan Peralta, TRF, 27-11; Carter Sorenson, Fos-Bag, 26-12; Kyle Fowler, TRF, 25-19; Hunter Roller, TRF, 25-20; Connor Swanson, TRF, 24-14; Cole Johnson, TRF, 20-23
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State-ranked wrestlers
The following 8AA wrestlers are in the latest top-10 rankings of The Guillotine, Minnesota's state wrestling magazine.
First-Ben Naddy, Ottertail Central (106); second-Zach Peterson, Perham (170); fourth-Leighton Rach, Perham 120); Jared Rohloff, MAHACA (138); Jonathon Staebler, Perham (285); fifth-Gabe Bellefeuille, Perham (113); Cade Lundeen, Thief River Falls (120); sixth-Ben Nelson, Perham (132); Brenan Peralta, Thief River Falls (170); Ty Moser, Perham (182); seventh-Josh Bernier, Thief River Falls (145); ninth-Jake Ubert, Fosston-Bagley (182); 10th-Carter Sorenson, Fosston-Bagley (106); Daniel Ukkelberg, Ottertail Central (220).
Compiled by Greg DeVillers
