Cambridge-Isanti boys shine at state wrestling tournament

Treytin Byers, a senior and 170-pound wrestler, earned that second medal, falling in the third-place match to take fourth. Byers suffered a tight loss in that final match, falling 6-5 to Noah Torgerson of St. Michael-Albertville.

Rounding out the field for Cambridge-Isanti, the freshman Henderson fell in his first match, pinned by Shane Carlson of Brainerd at 182, and did not receive a chance to compete further in wrestle-backs when Carlson lost his second match.

Edblad falls in title match

Despite being disappointed by the finish to his run through state, Bluejackets coach Neil Jennissen kept things in perspective for Edblad’s performance.

“He’s a state runner-up, not many people can say that,” said Jennissen.

Edblad’s run to the title match got off to a very strong start, with the junior pinning Logan Fu of Centennial in the first round to advance. The win was Edblad’s 150th of his career.

The second match had a bit more of a tighter result, with Edblad winning a 5-3 decision against Apple Valley’s Austin Laudenbach to move to the semifinals.

Picking up the action the following day, Edblad and his foe, Luke Koenen from Wayzata, needed extra time to decide a winner to advance to the championship match later that night. Tied at 5-5, Edblad used a takedown for the sudden victory to again advance in dramatic fashion.

Into the championship match, Edblad was matched with the top-seeded wrestler in the field in Beissel, while the second-seeded Edblad looked to pull the upset.

An early take down put the junior in a hole, as the opponent played strong defense to hold Edblad at bay, said Jennissen.

“This one got off to a little bit of a rough start, giving up that takedown. But we were in it, right there for it, but give credit to Beissel for having great defense to our shots,” said the coach.

Edblad’s second-place finish earned the junior all-state honors, wrapping up a 39-3 season for the Bluejacket.

Though suffering the hard-to-swallow loss, Jennissen believes the junior will be back and stronger next year.

“Leo is a junior, so he is still climbing. And he’s not done yet. I believe he will do everything in his power to be the champ next year. That’s just who he is.”

Byers bullies to fourth

In his final time suiting up for Cambridge-Isanti, Byers made the most of his trip to St. Paul, earning a fourth-place finish and a medal.

“It been a heck of a journey,” said Byers. “It feels good to finish with a medal and make it this far, I never thought I could.”

The senior opened the tournament on a victory via a technical fall and a decision to reach the semifinals, where he lost to top seed Adam Cherne of Wayzata on a 11-2 major decision.

Byers bounced back to beat Marcell Booth of Apple Valley, 5-1 to set up a match against a familiar foe to Byers for bronze.

Noah Torgerson of St. Michael Albertville — a former wrestler for Anoka who beat Byers in last season’s Section 7AAA Championship match — waited in the third-place match.

Byers opened the battle with a takedown for the early two points before Torgerson responded by escaping to finish the first round at 2-1. The second period saw Byers and his opponent each end with 2 points each, sending the rivals to the third round with Byers leading at 4-3.

“It was a good match; I thought I was doing pretty good working on my defense and trying to hit some offense,” Byers said.

Torgerson got an escape to tie things up before a takedown with 35 seconds to go put Byers in a 6-4 hole. Byers got away from the takedown to cut the deficit to 1, but that was as close as he got in the defeat.

Even with the loss, Byers took solace in the improvement made versus Torgerson.

“Last year I got majored by him, almost a tech, but this year I almost took him out. It feels good knowing I went out there and gave it my all for one last match,” Byers said.

Byers finished the season at 40-6 and joined Edblad with an all-state award.

“All-state is pretty dang good,” said Jennissen of Byers. “He put together a great tournament. He beat some kids he hadn’t beaten before so we were excited about that.”

Kami Senlycki also earned an all-state berth for the Bluejackets, claiming a title at 185 pounds in the girls meet.

Henderson bows out

Henderson’s appearance at state quickly ended as the freshman lost via a fall in a 1:38 to Carlson.

And that was it for Henderson when Carlson lost his second-round match, eliminating Henderson from wrestle-backs.

The freshman’s first-round exit placed the him at 14-29 to end his year on the mats.