Thursday night was the end of the team competition at the state wrestling tournament, which saw St. Michael-Albertville, Simley and Staples-Motley hoist trophies.

Thursday morning marked the start of the individual competition, where hundreds of wrestlers in 13 weight classes, boys and girls, began their journey toward Saturday’s individual championship matches in the round of 16.

The quarterfinals began Friday morning and the semifinals and the second round of wrestlebacks started this afternoon.

Wrestlebacks are an opportunity for wrestlers who lost in the first round to continue to have a state-meet experience. Wrestlers qualify for wrestlebacks if the wrestler who defeated him or her continues to win. It allows a wrestler a chance to finish as high as third place.

Pulk eyes fourth title

Most people do not have fond recollections of the Covid epidemic.

For Sarah Pulk, if it wasn’t for Covid, she might not be where she is today: One of the top girls wrestlers in the state.

Pulk, a junior 190-pounder at Badger/Greenbush-Middle River, remained on pace for her fourth-consecutive state championship with a pair of victories Friday. Pulk, one of three wrestling Pulk sisters (Emily is a seventh-grader and Maddie a freshman) has been one of the most dominant girl wrestlers in its young history. Over the course of her high school career, which already includes three state titles, Pulk compiled a 92-3 record. She’s 31-0 this season.

And to think, at one time Pulk thought her athletic future was on the ice.

She grew up a figure skater, but when Covid hit, she began looking for other athletic outlets. She settled on wrestling.

A wise choice. Her father Andy was a wrestling coach, and at the time, girls wrestling was on the brink of taking off in Minnesota.

“I had gone about as far as I could with skating,” Pulk said.

Pulk is thrilled by the growth of girls wrestling, which has taken her to competitions across the nation and internationally. She finished second at a national meet in Fargo last year and fourth at the prestigious Super 32 meet in North Carolina last fall. She has also competed in Bahrain, an island nation in the Persian Gulf.

“It was hot,” she said. “But it was a dry heat, not like in Minnesota.”

National and international competitions are typically conducted in the freestyle wrestling discipline, rather than the more restrictive folk-style manner of high school wrestling.

“I like freestyle over folk style,” Pulk said. “It allows me to explore options.”

The experience outside of Minnesota has given her opportunities to express her artistic side, having recently committed to developing her skills as a photographer. First, however, she’ll need her own camera.

“Right now, I’m borrowing my mom’s” she said.

— Jim Paulsen