If you would have told Treytin Byers, senior 170-pound wrestler for Cambridge-Isanti, that he would win a section wrestling title after suffering a major injury as a freshman, he might not have believed you.
“Never thought I would be at this point after breaking my arm in ninth grade,” Byers said.
Nonetheless, he continued his career progression on Saturday, Feb. 25, during the Section 7AAA individual meet at Blaine High School, claiming the section title to secure a spot at the state meet.
“Last year, I didn’t win the whole section, and now this year I did and it feels pretty good,” said Byers, who pinned his opponent from Anoka in the second round to earn the spot, his second berth to state.
Seeing Byers experience the success was right on line for his career path, said Bluejackets coach Neil Jennissen.
“It’s been a steady climb for him,” Jennissen said of Byers.
That full progression was on display in Byers’ title match when he took on Ian Wittek, a junior wrestler from Anoka.
“Treytin caught fire in the final. The kid just couldn’t keep up with him,” Jennissen said.
Byers burst out to a lead against Wittek before overwhelming the opponent for the pin in the second round.
“He’s a hardworking kid. When he gets on the mat, you don’t see him stop. He pushes the pace pretty hard and keeps it coming,” said Jennissen on Byers’ wrestling style.
While Byers had a strong day on the mat, he wasn’t the only one for the Bluejackets wrestling team.
Edblad joins Byers
To punch his ticket to state, Leo Edblad, 113-pound wrestler, had to do something that hasn’t been done all season: hand Andover’s Brandon Board a loss.
Edblad and Board, who came into the final at 42-0, drew each other’s name for the section championship.
Board’s undefeated status didn’t alter Edblad’s mindset for the match.
“You just wrestle the same, no matter who it is. It doesn’t matter what they are ranked, just go out there and have fun,” said the junior.
With that philosophy, Edblad remained cool and calm on the mat, grinding out a 7-3 decision to hand his opponent his first defeat of the year. Edblad held a 5-3 lead in the third round before a big takedown helped him seal the win.
“It was a great win, fast-paced match, and I would say the best match of the tournament in terms of quality wrestling at a high level. Talented kids bringing it all the way; it was fun to watch,” Jennissen said.
The duo of Edblad and Byers have starred all season long for the Bluejackets, dominating more often than not. The third and final member of the Cambridge-Isanti boys wrestling team to make the state tournament had yet to reach the level of his teammates — until Saturday.
Henderson tags along
Shawn Henderson, a freshman wrestler at 182 pounds, had shown flashes to his potential all season long.
“We’ve seen it several times this year, where he was right there, beating good kids but couldn’t quite finish the match,” said Jennissen.
That all changed on Saturday for Henderson as, after an opening defeat, the young athlete rallied with four straight wins to earn second and join Byers and Edblad on their journeys to state.
Reaching the match for true second, Henderson grappled his way to a 6-0 decision over Jackson Armour of Andover.
“In the section tournament, he finished all his matches strong, and that was the difference,” said Jennissen. Henderson moved to 14-28 on the season after the showing in sections.
The trio from Cambridge-Isanti now prepares for the trek to St. Paul, where they will compete in the Minnesota State High School League’s Class AAA individual tournament, hosted by the Xcel Center.
Edblad and Byers received seeds into the tournament as they are second and fifth in their respective brackets.
As both have sights set on placing high at the tournament of Minnesota’s best, Jennissen hopes to keep their eyes set on what is in front of them.
“It’s going to be the old cliché, ‘one match at a time,’ ‘cause everybody is good,” he said.
Henderson was not seeded into the tournament but if able to wrestle his match can be pretty tough, said Jennissen.
Kami Senlycki, a member of the Cambridge-Isanti girls wrestling team, will also join the three at state as she punched her ticket to that event two weeks ago. Senlycki earned the top seed at 185 pounds and is expected to compete for a state title.
The four representatives of Bluejackets wrestling will take on state, starting with the boys on Friday, March 3, as action starts at 9 a.m. at the Xcel Center. Senlycki will compete the next day, starting at the same time.
Bouncing back
While not quite able to join the state entrants, many of the other Bluejackets had a bounce-back showing after the upset loss to Elk River in the Section 7AAA team tournament.
“We wrestled quite a bit better than we did last weekend. It showed more of who we were as a team,” Jennissen said.
Quinton Harcey (138), Maverick Henderson (145) and Darren Spencer (195) all earned third place in the meet, while Wyatt Wald (106) and Brady Andersen (285) both came in fifth.
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