This weekend, senior Landon Koelling went to the state wrestling tournament for the third time in a row with his eyes set on being the first Onaga wrestler to place at the state meet in eight years. After a three days and six matches, he did just that.
Landon entered the tournament as the 5th ranked wrestler in the state in Class 3-2-1A's 138 pound weight class, and was coming off of a 2nd place finish at the regional meet. He was 29-6 on the season and had his first match on Thursday, where he squared off against Joel Abell (34-6) from Minneapolis. Landon would outlast the fellow senior, advancing to the quarterfinals after a 5-3 decision. In the next round, he would come up against the eventual state runner-up and last year's 3rd place finisher, Lukas Zodrow (34-2) from Oberlin. Though he gave him his closest match outside of the championship bout, Zodrow would eventually come out on top in a 6-0 decision.
On day two, Landon started on his path to the podium with a second round consolation match against Justin Patz (21-9) from McLouth. The freshman was no match for the senior from Onaga, as Landon pinned him in less than two minutes. Then, in the consolation quarterfinals, with a guaranteed state medal on the line, Landon faced off against Seth Welch (29-4) from Erie. Welch, a junior, was a regional champion and a tough draw. But in a back-and-forth match, it was Landon who would pull off the win in a 7-6 decision, guaranteeing him a medal and sending him on to the consolation semifinals.
On Saturday, his first matchup was against Blake Buresh (35-6) from Phillipsburg and a win would put him in the 3rd place match. Though just a sophomore, Buresh was the fourth place finisher in the 132 pound weight class last year as a freshman. It was a close match throughout, but Buresh would eventually get the better of Landon in a 4-2 decision. Buresh would move on to the 3rd place match, which he would wind up winning, with his only two losses in the tournament coming at the hands of the two wrestlers who made it to the championship match. The loss sent Landon to the 5th place match to face Reid Griffiths (37-7) from Herington, a wrestler who he had actually beaten in the semifinals of the Onaga Invitational back in December. Landon would get the better of the sophomore once again, winning the match by a 4-2 decision and earning a 5th place medal in the process.
The 5th place finish is the first medal an Onaga wrestler has won since Morgan Mayginnes won the girls state championship in 2020, and the first boys wrestler to medal since Quentin Lara also placed fifth in 2016. Landon finished his season with a 33-8 record after the state meet, and the 5th place finish wrapped up a successful career that saw him make the state tournament three times, accumulating a 92-22 career record along the way.
Congratulations to Landon on your state tournament finish and a great career at Onaga High School! We know you'll do great things at the college level as well!