The Prior Lake wrestling team pinned down four state berths in the Section 2AAA individual tournament Feb. 24 in its own gym.  Plus Angelica Benitez qualified in the Girls Section tourney last weekend and will represent PL in the Girls MSHSL State bracket.

Ninth grader Liam Collins, senior Finn Bloomquist and juniors John Graham and Brock Zurn will represent the Lakers at the Class AAA state tournament March 1-2 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

All four boys won their respective weight classes at sections and Angelica was runner-up, and all five will be competing at state for the first time.

Collins will be one to watch. He goes into state ranked No. 1 at 107 pounds with a 37-1 record.

At sections, Collins got a bye in the quarterfinals, then rolled in his next two matches, winning by fall in the semifinals and then beating Saitaro Kong of Apple Valley by technical fall (15-0) in the title match.

Collins’ only loss on the season was back in December at the annual Christmas tournament. He fell 10-1 to Turner Ross of Smiley, ranked No. 1 at 107 in Class 2A.

Bloomquist and Zurn also go into state ranked. Bloomquist is No. 5 at 133, while Zurn is No. 7 at 215. Both went a combined 6-0 at sections with four wins by fall.

Bloomquist (40-8) earned a 9-7 decision over Sebastian Castin of Apple Valley in the 133-pound title match. Zurn (41-6) earned a 2-1 tiebreaker in overtime over Antonio Menard of Lakeville North to win the 215-pound crown.

Graham will take a 34-11 record into the state, winning 5-0 over Riley Forar of Lakeville North in the his title match at 152 pounds. Graham won by technical fall (17-2) and major decision (14-5) in his first two section matches.

Other place-winners for the Lakers included ninth grader Wyatt Smith (4th, 121), senior Jaxon Mikolyzk (4th, 145), sophomore Charlie Nelson (4th, 172), ninth grader Rocco Mikolyzk (5th, 114), senior Clint White (5th, heavyweight), sophomore Owen Trondson (6th, 127), junior Anthony Beauvais (8th, 139), senior Zach Landhuis (8th, 160) and junior Thomas Wycoff (8th, 189).

Team-wise, Prior Lake went 1-1 in the section tourney Feb. 16 in Farmington.

The fourth-seeded Lakers won 46-17 over Eastview in the quarterfinals, before giving top-seeded Apple Valley a tough battle in the semifinals losing 30-27.

Against Apple Valley, Nelson earned a 3-1 decision at 172 pounds to tie the match at 21-21 with three weights to go. But the Eagles won the next two matches by fall and decision to clinch the victory.

Collins won by pin for the Lakers at 107, as did White at heavyweight. Ninth grader Devin Lechuga won 11-9 at 121 pounds, while Bloomquist won 8-2 at 133.

Jaxon Mikolyzk followed Bloomquist’s win with a 3-2 victory at 139 pounds. Apple Valley won the next two matches by fall, before Graham earned a 5-2 decision at 160 pounds.

In beating Eastview, wins for Prior Lake came from Rocco Mikolyzk at 107 (technical fall, 16-0), Collins at 114 (technical fall, 17-0), Smith at 121 (9-3), Trondson at 127 (fall), Bloomquist at 133 (fall), Jaxon Mikolyzk at 139 (fall), Graham at 152 (fall), Nelson at 172 (fall) and Zurn at 215 (10-6).

Prior Lake finished the season with a 10-6 duals record, going 6-3 in the South Suburban Conference.

The last time Prior Lake made state as a team was in 2015, which was the seventh appearance for the program. The Lakers won the Section 2AAA title five straight years from 2011 to 2015 and was the state runner-up in 2014.