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The clock winding down on the match of his life, a takedown advantage in hand, it wasn’t time for sitting on a lead.
It was time for one last title-clinching toss.
A high-flying style launched Anoka senior Elijah Paulson to the top of the podium during the state wrestling tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul March 2-4, defeating Eden Prairie’s Terae Dunn 10-3 in the finals to win the Class AAA state championship at 145.
“There is no better feeling in the world than when that clock hit zero,” Paulson said. “I finally got that state title, something I have been working towards my whole life. I got to celebrate with my family, which was awesome — my grandpa in my corner, and then my parents and sister right after that; awesome that they could be in front row seats for that.”
Paulson’s state title match versus Dunn set caution to the side quickly, with a series of acrobatic scrambles from the outset. Paulson was the first to gain control, recording a takedown midway through the first on his way to a 2-1 lead following the first two minutes.
A Paulson escape in the second gave him a 3-1 lead after two periods, with Dunn escaping early in the third to close the gap back to 3-2.
Paulson pushed the lead to 5-2 with a takedown with a minute and a half remaining, riding Dunn until less than a half minute remained, when Dunn broke free to close the margin to 5-3.
As Dunn tried desperately to level the score, Paulson delivered a patented toss to the back, a five-point match-clinching move, resulting in a celebratory high-five for grandfather and coach Doug in his corner, and a storybook ending to his high school career.
“It was a super fun match to wrestle,” Paulson said. “A little bit of my Greco skills coming into play definitely helped me out. The match went how the whole weekend was going. The whole weekend I was just relaxed and focused, just taking it one match at a time, having as much fun as I could.”
The weekend began with Paulson winning a pair of matches in the state team tournament for Anoka, followed by decisions in the individual tournament over Hastings’ Josh Route (7-2), Faribault’s Bo Bokman (11-4) and Rochester Mayo’s Calder Sheehan (5-2) en route to the finals.
“Eli was focused and driven all weekend to make his long-term goal of being a state champion come true,” Anoka head coach Todd Springer said. “He has been battling a few injuries, but didn’t let that get into his way. His father and the coaches had a good game plan going into the finals. Eli needed to match the quickness and athletic ability of his opponent. There was a huge scramble right away in the match that ended with no one getting the takedown. That showed that Eli was able to match his quickness, and we knew Eli is able to pick apart his wrestlers with his technique the longer the match goes.”
Paulson’s win also added to the Tornadoes’ storied history … as well as his own family’s.
He became Anoka wrestling’s 53rd individual state champion and ended his career with 156 wins, one more than father, Brandon.
“I think the greatest moment for Eli to end his career as state champion was for Eli and his grandfather Doug, our longtime assistant wrestling coach, to coach him in his corner,” Springer said. “Doug was coaching me when I was here at Anoka. He is a Hall of Fame coach, a legend around the wrestling world.”
“There’s no better way to end my high school career than going out on top,” Paulson said, “and that’s just what I did.”
Charmoli takes title, 3 Saints reach finals
A year after a runner-up finish, St. Francis junior Tyson Charmoli finished this season on top, winning the Class AA title at 138.
Charmoli rolled through the first day of the state tournament, earning technical falls by scores of 26-8 and 21-6. Charmoli booked a spot in the finals for the second year in a row with a 9-6 decision in the semifinals, setting the stage for a championship match against second-seeded Matt Randolph from Scott West.
“Tyson wrestled a great tournament,” St. Francis head coach Kurt Werk said. “He came into the weekend with a goal of being a state champion and went out each match and worked to meet that goal. In the semifinal, he faced an opponent that he had never wrestled before and was challenged a little bit, which I believe made him even more focused for his finals match.”
In the finals, Charmoli dominated the action in the first period, although the match remained scoreless. Charmoli secured the bout’s first points with a reversal just 10 seconds into the second period, later picking up a takedown to go ahead 4-1 into the third. Randolph pulled within 4-3 late in the match, but Charmoli fought out of a late scramble with his lead intact, taking home the title.
“It went very good,” Charmoli said. “Got to my offense and scored points. It felt good to come back from last year and win a state title.”
“We had talked about how hard it is to win a state title, and after losing in the state finals a year ago, he learned that you have to wrestle every second of the match,” Werk said. “He did that by fighting through that last scramble and not giving up the takedown. It was an awesome feeling to see him reach that goal of being a state champion.”
St. Francis finished with three finalists and four state placers overall. Tegan Sherk was the runner-up at 120, reaching the finals with a pair of falls and a 5-4 semifinal decision. Aydan Carlson was the runner-up at 160, reaching the finals with a 16-0 technical fall, a fall, and a 12-5 decision. Bo Flagstad earned fourth at 195, and Kyler Sherk qualified at 113.
“The coaches and I talked about the last three weeks of the season and are really proud of the whole team,” Werk said. “The entire team wrestled their hearts out at team sections, where we placed second to Becker, who ended up third in the state. At individual sections, every one of our kids placed either to their seed or higher. Then at state, it was the same. The boys wrestled really hard and placed at or higher than their seed. It is hard to win at the state tournament with so many great wrestlers. The coaching staff was very pleased with how Kyler, Tegan, Tyson, Aydan and Bo wrestled.”
Area results
Totino-Grace had a trio of placewinners, led by Cy Kruse with a runner-up finish at 220 in Class AA. Kruse reached the finals with a pair of pins, then a 16-1 technical fall in the semifinals. Jackson Refsnider earned fourth at 113, and Ethan Sylvester earned fourth at 132.
Fridley’s Olivia Sackor earned a 19-2 technical fall and a pin on her way to a runner-up finish in the 107 girls bracket.
Andover had a pair of placewinners in Class AAA, as Brandon Board earned fourth at 113, and Nolan Israelson earned fourth at 195.
Anoka’s Alley Altringer earned third place in the 138 girls bracket.
Also qualifying from the area were Anoka’s Garrett Wittek, Logan Jungling, Ian Wittek, Luke DeChene, Logan Raj-Malikowski and Grant Chapman; Andover’s Brandon Seburg and Tramaine Davis; Coon Rapids’ Jack Bridenstine and Carter Skradski; Blaine’s Zackary Johnson; Totino-Grace’s Logan Refsnider, Austin Herbst, Sean O’Brien, Payton Herbst, Joe Kruse, Colby Harrer and Owen Swedberg; and Fridley’s Fenan Uso, Bedirhan Misafir, Gavin Gerhard and Jennifer Nguyen.
Team state
Anoka reached the Class AAA state team tournament. Top-seeded St. Michael-Albertville defeated the Tornadoes 58-13 in the quarterfinals, with Apple Valley topping Anoka 43-24 in the consolation semifinals. DeChene and Paulson both went 2-0, with Max Berglund, Jungling, Michael Chamberlain and Mason Brent each winning a match.
In Class AA, top-seeded Simley defeated Totino-Grace 54-12 in the quarterfinals, then Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus defeated the Eagles 38-31 in the consolation semifinals.
SOURCE: Hometown Source
