A host of Northwood-Kensett wrestlers traveled to Graettinger-Terril High School Saturday morning for the GTRA Invitational.

As a team, the Vikings finished in sixth place out of 11 teams and placed nine wrestlers in the top six including three first-place winners.

The biggest story of the year for the Vikings is senior Giddeon Rollene rising to dominance at the 220-pound weight class. Rollene started the year unranked and now sits atop the Class 1A rankings with a perfect record of 26-0.

In this tournament, Rollene showed why he deserves that ranking, going 3-0 with three pinfall wins, two in the first period and one in the second. Rollene looks to be in peak shape for sectionals a little over three weeks away.

Fellow senior Caden Schrage has also been having a stellar year with a record of 24-2 and a current No. 9 ranking at 132 pounds. Schrage also won three matches en route to a first-place finish with two second-period pinfalls and a 13-3 decision win.

Sophomore 138-pounder Drake Tiedeman was the final first-place winner for the Vikings, going 3-0 on the day. Tiedeman breezed through the quarters and semis with two pinfalls and won the championship in a 7-2 decision victory.

Senior Ethan Thofson was the next-highest finisher for Northwood-Kensett, coming in fourth place at 285 pounds. Thofson won via a first-period fall in the first round, but fell victim to a first-period fall in the quarters. He earned his redemption with another pinfall victory in the consolation round, before falling in a tight 2-1 decision in the third-place match.

Freshman Treycen Rollene at 106 pounds, sophomore Josiah Kliment at 145 pounds and junior Brandon Varner at 152 pounds each finished in fifth place for the Vikings in their respective weight classes.

Rollene had a 3-2 record with three first-period falls, Kliment went 2-2 with two second-period falls and Varner went 3-2 with three first-period falls.

The final two place winners for the Vikings were sophomore Drew Wilder at 126 pounds and freshman Dante Sims at 132 pounds, both taking sixth place. Wilder was 1-3 with one pinfall victory and Sims was 2-3 with a fall and 11-6 decision win.

Also wrestling for Northwood-Kensett were freshman Monte Sims, 0-2 at 120 pounds; freshman Michael Janssen, 0-2 at 120 pounds; sophomore Dylan Tews, 1-2 at 145 pounds; and sophomore Mason Thofson, 2-2 at 285 pounds.

The Vikings will be back on the mat Thursday when they host three other teams in a quadrangular.