ST. PAUL &045; Adam Elseth got his shot at gold. Josh Hansen can still bring home a bronze. Adam Morreim joined Dustin Eggum in the seats.

Elseth advanced to the Class AAA 135-pound championship match in the Minnesota State High School Wrestling Tournament with an impressive 9-3 semifinal victory Friday night at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Albert Lea High School junior, who was third in last year’s state tournament, Elseth ran his record to 34-1 with a 9-3 triumph over Willmar sophomore Peter Johnson (35-6). Elseth was to face Anoka senior Justin Hulegaard (36-2) in Saturday’s title bout.

Hansen, a senior who won the 103-pound state title last year, ran into unbeaten, top-ranked Jayson Ness of Bloomington Kennedy in the semifinals at 112. Hansen kept it close through two periods, trailing 4-0, but got caught on his back in the third and was pinned at the 5:46 mark. Hansen, 31-5, dropped to the third-place match against Mike Meger of Owatonna, who beat him for the Section 1AAA title. Meger is 44-1.

Morreim, a 140-pound senior, was knocked to the wrestlebacks with a 10-2 loss to Andy Merkins of Hutchison in Thursday’s opening round. He fell 6-4 to Jared Bangs of Fergus Falls in his first wrestleback match. Morreim finished 20-6.

Eggum, a junior, lost his first match 7-4 to Tim Zahn of Minneapolis Roosevelt but, since Zahn fell in round two, Eggum did not qualify for the wrestlebacks at 152. He ended the season with a record of 17-13.