Totino-Grace Student is State Wrestling Champion

After making quick work of his first three opponents, Totino-Grace sophomore Lance Benick needed triple overtime to finish off his state championship quest.

Benick had a pin and two technical falls in his first three matches to advance to the finals at 195 pounds. There Benick, the state champ at 182 pounds a year ago, ran into defending 195-pound state champion Broc Berge of Kasson-Mantorville. It took six periods, but Benick eventually prevailed 2-1 in triple overtime.

Benick headlined a group of four Totino-Grace wrestlers who placed in the top six in their respective weight classes in the state Class AA tournament.

At 152 pounds, Walker Thiele won his first match, lost to eventual state champion Jake Short of Simley in the quarterfinals, then won four straight consolation bracket matches to finish third.

Isaac Florell followed a similar path at 170 pounds, splitting his first two matches, then winning three straight to reach the third-place match. But Florell came out on the losing end of that match and finished fourth.

Joe Schiller won his first two matches at 220 pounds to reach the semifinals, but went 1-2 the rest of the way for a fifth-place finish.

Totino-Grace's other state qualifiers—Jaxon Sommers at 106 pounds and Kez Flomo at 160 pounds—both lost in the first round, then did not get to wrestle again after the wrestlers who beat them lost in the quarterfinals.

In team competition Wednesday, Totino-Grace lost to Foley 35-23 in the first round and was eliminated.