WHS gymnasts heading to state for 12th consecutive season

The Worthington Trojans accumulated a season-high 142.675 points on Saturday and earned their 12^th consecutive trip to state by winning the Section 3A title in Redwood Falls.

Jada Milbrath of the Trojans was the meet's all-around champion with a score of 35.95, and teammate Isabella Lazzu was right behind in second at 35.9. On the vault, Lazzu received top marks with a 9.05 and the Trojans' Marley Phomsatry was second at 8.5. WHS gymnasts held down the top three spots on the bars as Milbrath was at 9.075, Lucy Thier at 8.875 and Claire Meyer at 8.5.

On the beam, Lazzu's 9.25 placed her second, and teammate Brooklyn Dykstra was third at 9.15. Thier's score of 9.325 earned her third place on the floor.

In addition to the WHS team winning a state meet, several athletes qualified for individual competition at state. Milbrath and Lazzu will compete in the all-around, Thier on both the bars and floor, Phomsatry on the vault, Meyer on the bars and Dykstra on the beam. The state team competition is Friday, while individuals will face off Saturday.

The Trojans also were named Academic Champions for Section 3A with a grade point average of 3.959. Lastly, Worthington's Joni Reitmeier was recognized with Coach of the Year honors.

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In the Section 3A Team Wrestling Tournament on Thursday, top-seeded Jackson County Central dominated Red Rock Central 69-6, Fulda-Murray County Central beat Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook Walnut Grove 49-20 and Adrian Area defeated Redwood Valley 58-15. 

That set the stage for Saturday's semifinals, during which JCC beat Fulda/MCC 51-18 and Adrian Area edged Pipestone 30-27. Then, in the finals, it was the Huskies defeating the Dragons 48-18 for the section title.

Payton Sorbel got two pins Saturday for at JCC 107 pounds, as did Dallas Gossen at 152 and Evan Bartholomaus at 160. Also posting two wins in two matches for the Huskies were Colten Gossen at 114 pounds, Jacob Peterson at 121, Isaac Rodriguez at 139 and Cael Entriken at 215.

For Adrian Area on Saturday, Jackson Jenniges won by fall in one match at 160 pounds and another at 172. Travis Weiss (133), Caleb Wolf (189) and Garrett Penning (285) all went 2-0. Weiss had earned his 150^th career victory and 75^th pin on Thursday, a day on which the Dragons' Jesse Bullerman got his 100^th win.

For Fulda-MCC, Colby Kesteloot boosted his team at sectionals by winning both of his matches via fall at 285, and Quintin Lewis was victorious by fall in one match at 160 and another at 172. Kaston Clarke also went 2-0 at 127 pounds. 

In the Section 3AA Team Wrestling Tournament on Thursday night, third-seeded Worthington was defeated by the No. 6 Martin County Red Bulls 45-23.

Dominic Larson got the Trojans six points with a win by fall in 29 seconds at 107 pounds — his 60^th career triumph. Jace Riemersma-Feit won by fall in 1:45 at 121 and Sam Dagel won by fall in 53 seconds at 127 for 12 more points, and Christopher Santiago got the other WHS points with a victory by technical fall at 139. 

Sectional individual tournaments will take place this coming weekend.

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The Worthington Trojettes dance team competed at state Friday in the jazz competition and place ninth. Additionally, WHS head coach Taylor Hastings was honored as the Section 3A Jazz Coach of the Year.

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In high school boys hockey Saturday, La Cresecent-Hokah skated past Worthington 10-2 in the Trojans' regular-season finale. Colby Darling and Ryker Thier had goals for WHS, which will next play at Fairmont in the Section 3A Tournament, which begins Tuesday.

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In a high school girls-boys basketball doubleheader Friday night in Belle Plaine, Worthington was defeated 73-26 in the girls matchup and 77-72 in the boys game. The Trojan girls play in Fairmont tonight, while the boys are at Redwood Valley on Tuesday.

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In area girls basketball Friday night, it was:

Windom 99, GHEC-T-ML 74

Blue Earth 66, Martin County West 44

Southwest Minnesota Christian 64, Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey 54

Brandon Valley, S.D. 69, Marshall 68

In area boys basketball Friday night:

Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda 60, Westbrook-Walnut Grove 43

Jackson County Central 64, Blue Earth 55

Edgerton 64, Adrian-Ellsworth 28

Windom 78, ML-GHEC-T 48

Murray County Central 85, Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey 48

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 73, Canby 55

Southwest Minnesota Christian 81, Red Rock Central 49

Hills-Beaver Creek 70, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 48

Martin County West 60, Cedar Mountain 50

West Lyon 54, Okoboji 46

Harris-Lake Park 52, Akron-Westfield 43

In area boys hockey Friday night:

Windom Area 4, Morris-Benson Area 2

Waseca 6, Luverne 2

In area girls basketball Saturday, it was:

Fairmont 79, Jackson County Central 54

Pipestone Area 69, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 35

Marshall 98, Tri-City United 29

In area boys basketball Saturday:

Jackson County Central 63, Fairmont 60

Pipestone Area 57, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 44

Mountain Lake Area-Comfrey 67, Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart 51

Marshall 85, Tri-City United 36