Panthers targeting top-two team finish at regionals

The Ellsworth wrestling team had another strong performance this past weekend at the Rochester Century Panther Invite, as Ellsworth finished second as a team, and had four individual bracket winners and six total athletes who competed in championship matches.

Ellsworth’s champions include junior Willy Penn at 126, sophomore Levi Nelson at 145, senior Louis Jahnke at 170 and senior Anthony Madsen took home first in the 182-pound title match. Ellsworth head coach Mark Matzek spoke about the success at the Rochester Century Invite.

“We wrestled well on Saturday. A second- place finish only trailing Forest Lake, who is the No. 10-ranked team in Minnesota Class AAA, was a good performance,” Matzek said. “It was a very diverse mix of teams from Minnesota and we were able to find the level of competition we needed at this point in the season.”

While several Ellsworth wrestlers have been regulars on the podium this season, Nelson’s victory via 6-1 decision in the 145-pound bout was his first tournament title of the season. Nelson’s path to an individual championship included a pair of victories over Minnesota foes.

The aforementioned Penn also had one of his best days of the season on Saturday afternoon. Penn won his first two matches via pinfall and then squared off with Forest Lake sophomore Grant Marr, who entered the match as the No. 8-ranked wrestler in Minnesota.

Penn won a gritty 6-3 decision to claim the championship on Saturday. Coach Matzek spoke about what Nelson and Penn were able to do early in the championship rounds of the Rochester Century Invite.

“Willy Penn beat the #8 ranked wrestler in Minnesota in the finals match,” Matzek said. “He wrestled with a lot of intensity throughout the day and beat a quality opponent in the finals. Levi Nelson had his first tournament win of the season. He beat an opponent in the finals 6-1 who he had beaten earlier in the season 1 -0. It is always nice to see scores like this that show improvement.”

Jahnke and Madsen, Ellsworth’s two senior captains, also brought home individual titles. Jahnke won the 170-pound bracket by winning all three of his matches via pinfall. None of his matches lasted longer than four minutes. He pinned Burnsville senior Michel Douhe just three minutes into the title match.

Madsen competed in the 182-pound bracket and won his quarterfinal and semifinal matches via major decision to advance to the title bout. That’s where he squared off with Mahtomedi sophomore Evan McGuire. Madsen and McGuire battled down to the final seconds, where Ellsworth’s senior captain secured a 7-6 victory via decision to win the bracket.

The Panthers had two wrestlers reach title matches that ultimately came up just short. Ellsworth sophomore Noah Walker won his first two matches via pinfall in the 106-pound bracket before getting pinned in the championship match against Forest Lake sophomore Devin Struntz.

Ellsworth sophomore J.D. Minder-Broeckaert won two matches to get to the 126-pound title match. That’s where he ran into Forest Lake senior Jacob Aho, who defeated Minder- Broeckaert via technical fall in just under five minutes. Aho is one of Forest Lake’s best wrestlers, as his win over the Ellsworth freshman improved his overall record to 26-4.

The Panthers’ second-place finish at the Rochester Century Invite serves as a reminder that Ellsworth can compete against top-tier programs. Throughout the 2022-23 season coach Matzek has stated that the Middle Border Conference this year is as good as it has been in more than two decades.

Ellsworth will have to get past a couple of those elite teams if the Panthers want to achieve their goal of making it to sectionals as a team. The regional tournament is slated for Saturday, Feb. 11, at Neillsville Fieldhouse. Coach Matzek spoke about the upcoming postseason.

“Our goal is to put forth our best team at Regionals, finish in the top two as a team at regionals and qualify for team sectionals,” Matzek said. “Amery just beat Baldwin- Woodville last week in a dual. We lost 33-38 to Amery earlier this year. We can be a dangerous team in team sectionals, but we need to qualify for it first. So, we will continue to focus on our day-to-day training as we prepare for the postseason push.”

The Panthers will have to make their push to a sectional without at least one of their starting varsity wrestlers. According to Matzek, Ellsworth 160-pounder Jamison Resendez will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. Junior 120-pounder Logan Mueller will likely miss another week with an upper-body injury. It’s still unclear if he will be healthy for regionals on Feb. 11.

“In regards to health, we have a few setbacks,” Matzek said. “Logan Mueller has an upper-body injury keeping him out of the lineup for another week but we are hopeful he can make it back for regionals. We had some bad news on our 160-pound varsity wrestler Jamison Resendez as his knee injury will keep him out of the lineup for the remainder of the season.”

Ellsworth is back in action for a varsity quad against Eagan, Hastings and East Ridge at Hastings High School on Thursday, Feb. 2. Wrestling is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.