“Just keep working on it,” Blaine Brenner gave his advice to younger wrestlers after winning a history- making third state title for Stanley-Boyd Saturday. “Just keep putting in the hours and enjoy it while you can,” he said. Brenner, who made relatively quick work of three opponents at the Division 2 State Wrestling Tournament Saturday, had more to say as well.

“I feel pretty excited,” the Stanley-Boyd senior and future Minnesota Gopher said Saturday of capturing the 2021 Division 2 State Wrestling Championship title in the 132-pound weight class. “Definitely a feat to do. It’s fun.”

To capture the state title for the 132-pound weight class, Brenner first defeated Joe Quaglia of Belleville, the fall coming in just 3:24. Next, he faced Nathan De La Hey of Freedom, with the fall coming in 1:43. To win the final match and with it the title, Brenner pinned Markus Brown of Northwestern in 4:43, while De La Hey (Brenner’s opponent for the second match Saturday) finished third overall in the same weight class. After pinning Brown to call the match, Brenner stood to his feet, hand raised in victory, before circling around to hug Coach Greg Burzynski and mom Heather Brenner, who was taking her pictures for family. Blaine’s dad Bob Brenner (S-B Class of ’92) was also present for the major feat, having wrestled some himself in high school. Meanwhile, caught in the hallway after the second match, wrestling coach

See CHAMPIONSHIP, page 12 DIVISON 2 STATE WRESTLING

CHAMPIONSHIP

FROM PAGE 1 Greg Burzynski shared hopes to come.

“Hopefully state title,” he said prior to match 3, adding that the change of venue from the Kohl Center to Adams- Friendship High School changed the calculus a bit. “It doesn’t feel like a state meet,” Burzynski said of the unusual venue due to COVID, with the stands relatively packed at an estimated 200+ plus present Saturday, but nothing compared to the Kohl Center. The change of venue could help less-experienced wrestlers like freshmen and sophomores, while the Kohl Center had more theatrics.

“The lights are out,” Burzynski said of the usual state level meet, while an estimated 13 years as head wrestling coach at Stanley-Boyd had made him used to the Kohl Center routine, whereas on Saturday “we won’t wrestle again for a long time,” he said of the hours-long wait for the third and final match, which included dimmed lights and parading in and circling from each side of each of the first place wrestling contenders, lined up by weight class. Asked about technique, Brenner said it was more about mindset.

“I don’t really have a specific technique,” he shared, “just a specific mindset.” Among that was a studious attention during the match to figure out potential weaknesses, “so I can score off them,” he said. As to the overall result for the day?

“I felt good about the three matches I wrestled,” Brenner shared recently. “The first one was a little bit rough but I still sealed the deal,” he said, adding that the main thing to staying in top shape was “training hard.” With livestreaming information posted to the Stanley-Boyd/O-W Wrestling Club Facebook page and live updates to this newspaper’s Facebook as the day progress, congratulations began to pour in for Brenner.

“Keep going young man! Good Luck!” Maureen LaBlanc Fisch wrote after the first match was decided, with Debbie Karlen also sending her congratulations. “So proud,” she wrote after Brenner won the second match against De La Hey. And while it was a slight wait to the final match, once it was over the congratulations continued.

“Congratulations Blaine!” Paul Wozniak posted. “Awesome wrestling career. Wow!”

As to his future career at the University of Minnesota, Brenner was equally excited Saturday after match 3.

“Yes I am,” he said of looking to the future as a wrestler at the U of M. “That’ll certainly be a lot of fun.”

Nearing the goal at Adams-Friendship High School Saturday.

Blaine Brenner on the Champion’s stand in the 132-pound weight class for Division 2.

The final match begins at the 2021 Division 2 state wrestling tournament.