![]() I thanked him for wrestling hard with me, because he stayed in the match the whole time.” ![]() “I got to get on the mat longer than my usual matches. It was a unique chance for Kerkvliet to actually wrestle. That didn’t happen Saturday, as Kerkvliet instead won the Class 2A, 220-pound state title – his third straight crown – via a 20-4 technical fall victory over Delano’s Steven Hajas. Short noted it’s rare that Daniel Kerkvliet gets a chance to showcase at the high school level, because he generally needs to attack just once before winning by pin. ![]() KERKVLIET DOMINANTĭaniel Kerkvliet is dominant – almost too dominant. Now Gliva will head to the Gophers, where he hopes to start for four years and, yeah, try to win a national title. “I needed to keep pushing the pace and scoring points,” Gliva said, “and showing that I’m the most dominant one in my weight class, by far.” The “lightning, quick, explosive wrestler,” as Short called Gliva, attacked each match from the get-go this weekend. Gliva had to sweat out a match or two in his two previous title runs, but that wasn’t the case this year. “We’re going to miss Jake Gliva,” Short said. Simley coach Will Short called Gliva “the dream student-athlete.” “As a little kid I always looked up to him a lot and he’s always been one of my biggest role models, so I guess getting three just like him, that’s awesome for me.” “It just kind of feels like I’m keeping the tradition alive,” Jake said. In winning his third title, Gliva equals the number of titles won by his older brother, Kyle. “Especially coming from Simley.”Īnd the Gliva family. Simley senior Jake Gliva won his third individual state title on Saturday, claiming the Class 2A, 132-pound championship with a win over South St. “To finally get a state championship, oh my God,” Larson said. He remembers watching Destin McCauley, Mark Hall, even current teammate Gable Steveson and thinking he wanted to be like them. ![]() He’d come close in the past, previously finishing as high as third. It’s long been a dream of Larson’s to be able to add his name to the long list of Eagles’ state champions. “It’s just an unreal moment,” Larson said. In total, he gave about 20 hugs and high fives to his vast rooting contingent. “I was like, ‘OK, mom,’ and I ran up there, gave her a hug, gave my dad a hug, gave all my friends and family hugs.” “My mom told me, she was like, ‘Nate, if you win today, I expect a hug,’ ” Larson said. Larson said everything was a blur after the referee slapped his hand on the mat, but he didn’t forget a promise he made earlier in the day. “That’s been my move for so long, and that I ended it that way in the state championship is unreal.” It was the perfect ending to his high school career. Just proud of him, but he earned it, man. He just does all the little things right, then took care of the big things today. To be a state champ, there’s so many things that have to go right. “He’s just one of the best kids I’ve ever had. “He was just on a mission all year,” McLay said. McLay said only two opponents all season kept a match within seven points against Rogers. Rogers finished his senior season with an unblemished 49-0 record – the best single-season record in program history – fulfilling the goal he set for himself this season. He executed the strategy to a “T.” Rogers was dominant throughout in his 17-7 victory over Buffalo’s Jacob Scherber to win the Class 3A, 195-pound state title.Īs they walked out of the arena, Hastings coach Josh McLay turned to Rogers and said, “perfection.” He was referring to the match, but the word fits in so many ways. “I came out and I was wrestling not to lose,” the Hastings senior said. Trey Rogers reached the state title match as a junior, but it didn’t last long.
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