Grit and work ethic leads Bertha-Hewitt-Verdnale-Parkers Prairie's Abby Ervasti to win the girls state title at 138 pounds, while West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville, Alexandria, Osakis, Minnewaska, and B-H-V-PP all had at least one wrestler take home a medal from the 2023 state tournament.
Alexandria's Blaze Nelson, Minnewaska's Miles Wildman, along with WCA-A-B-E's Anthony Sykora and Hunter Gruchow, went 2-0 on Thursday and are in the state semifinals of their bracket, while a few others are still in the hunt for all-state honors.
The West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville Knights once again had a good showing at the Class A team state tournament as they placed sixth on Thursday.
Alexandria, Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale-Parkers Prairie, Minnewaska, Osakis, and West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville will be well-represented at the state tournament next weekend.
West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville had a big deficit midway through its Section 6A Team Tournament title dual against the Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale-Parkers Prairie Raiders but got the momentum needed to earn its second straight Section 6A team title.
Alexandria and Minnewaska will now both turn their focus to their individual section tournaments after being eliminated from their respective section team tournaments.
Abby Ervasti was a runner up in her bracket at the 2022 MSHSL Girls State Tournament and is now heading back to the state tournament this year after winning a section title on Saturday.
At its board of directors meeting Thursday, the MSHSL approved a switch in the number of weight classes in wrestling and voted on a proposal to seed all eight teams in football state tournaments.
