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Perfect mat ending for Hart

By Tom Schardin, 03/01/15, 10:00PM CST

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Alex Hart ended his Prior Lake wrestling career with perfection.

The senior dominated the heavyweight division in the Class 3A state individual tournament, earning a 10-1 decision over No. 4-ranked John Ziedler of Lakeville South in the title match Feb. 28 at the Xcel Energy Center.

Hart, ranked No. 1 all season long, capped off a perfect 38-0 season with a 4-0 run at state, including two wins by fall and one by technical fall.

After winning the 220-pound crown last year, Hart became the second Prior Lake wrestler to win two state titles. Jake Kahnke is the other, winning at 189 pounds in 2007 and at 215 in 2008 in his final two seasons.

Hart's title was the 13th individual crown in Prior Lake program history. He's also the first Laker to finish the season unbeaten season since Kahnke, who was a combined 87-0 in his final two years.

Prior Lake had six state qualifiers this year with seniors Rylee Streifel and Dylan Sogge and ninth-graders Kenny O'Neil, Zach Smith and Curtis LeMair also competing.

Streifel (220), O'Neil (145) and Smith (113) each ended up fifth at their respective weights.

Meanwhile, Hart dominated in the first three rounds en route to the title match. He earned a fall over Kolton Farnick of Sauk Rapids-Rice in first round, topped Mitchell Nelson of Apple Valley by technical fall (26-11) in the quarterfinals and pinned No. 6 Brady Reigstad of Willmar in semifinals.

The final was a rematch of the Section 2AAA title match. Hart beat Ziedler 4-1 there and was in control from start to finish the second time around.

Hart had a career record of 156-32, finishing 45-3 last year. He was third at state at 195 as a sophomore and also qualified at that weight as a freshman. He had a 14-3 career record at state.

Streifel was making his third state appearance. He was third last year at 195 pounds and qualified at 182 as a sophomore. He was ranked No. 2 at 220 all season long behind No. 1 Gable Stevenson of Apple Valley.

The two met in the semifinals with a berth in the finals on the line. Gable pulled out a 9-4 decision. Streifel lost in the consolation quarterfinals 2-1 to No. 6 Adam Treptau of Buffalo, before pinning No. 7 Kenny Maclin of Rochester John Marshall in the first period for fifth place.

Streifel won by fall in the first round over No. 6 Cullin Brendeland of Hastings and earned a 9-0 decision over No. 8 Brody Jerome of Moorhead in quarterfinals.

Streifel, who will wrestle at the University of Minnesota next year, finished the season with a 42-4 record. He had a career mark of 131-29.

For O'Neil, he was making his second state appearance. He qualified at 126 last year and went 1-2. This year, the eighth-ranked O'Neil got to the semifinals with win a 2-1 overtime win over Elijah Muedeking of White Bear Lake in first round and a 7-2 decision over Noah Peichel of Sartell-St. Stephen in quarterfinals.

O'Neil lost 7-4 to No. 1 James Pleski of Forest Lake in semifinals and fell 3-1 to No. 5 Estevan Navarro of Willmar in consolation semifinals, before securing a 5-2 decision over Ben Donnelly of Woodbury for fifth.

O'Neil finished the season with a 42-8 mark.

Smith was also making his second state appearance. He went 0-1 at 106 last year. This time around, the ninth-ranked Smith got to the semifinals with a 6-0 decision over Nicholas Carline of Osseo in first round and a 4-2 win over No. 7 Clay Carlson of Willmar in quarterfinals.

Smith lost 15-8 to No. 1 Ryan Molitor of Sartell-St. Stephens in semifinals and fell 5-3 to No. 4 Alex Crowe of Shakopee in consolation semifinals, before facing Carlson again for fifth.

It was the third straight day the two had wrestled. Smith also beat Carlson 4-2 in overtime Feb. 26 in the team tourney. In the fifth-place match, the two smiled at each other right before the match, as if to say, "again", and battled to the end with Smith pulling out a 4-3 win.

Smith ended the season with a 33-12 record.

Meanwhile, Sogge ended his Lakers' career with 105 career wins. He was making his second state appearance. He was sixth at 120 last year, but only got to wrestle one match this year at 132.

He lost 3-1 to No. 9 Logan Walkow of Willmar in first round and finished with a 25-9 record.

LeMair was making his first state appearance at 106. He also lost in the first round, falling 1-0 Zac Spohn of Sauk Rapids Rice. LeMair finished with a 31-15 record.