Bulldog seniors earn State bids

     DENVER — Three MFL MarMac senior wrestlers will close out their careers on the biggest stage of all - at the State Wrestling Tournament. Saturday seniors Michael Egan, Nathan Johanningmeier and Garret Keehner punched their tickets to state by winning district championships at the Cyclone Center in Denver.

     Egan (38-1) is making his fourth straight state tournament appearance while Johanningmeier (41-3) will be at state for the second time in the last three years and Keehner (44-0) heads to state for the first time as the first undefeated state qualifier in Coach Chet Bachman’s illustrious coaching career.

     “We’re happy with three district champions - those are always hard to get no matter where you’re at, and it’s been awhile since we’ve had that many champions,” Bachman said. “We’re happy for those guys. In districts like this there’s always some setbacks, it’s always sort of a roller-coaster day, and I think our seniors kind of responded at the end.”

     Egan enters the tournament ranked No. 6 by The Predicament as is the fourth seed at 145 pounds. He has not lost to a wrestler from Iowa all year. Johanningmeier, ranked No. 4 at 182, is seeded seventh at the weight while Keehner, ranked No. 3 at 220, is seeded sixth after setting a school pin record this year. All three won their first-round matches easily before having very different finals.

For more of this story see the Feb. 13 Outlook.