NEW RICHLAND &045; After winning and emotional Section 2A championship as a team, the section individual tournament was almost an afterthought for the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva wrestlers.

Three Panthers placed in the top two and advanced to state as individuals, senior James Petsinger and juniors Anders Mattson and Kaleb Jacobson.

Though the Panthers had two other wrestlers just miss, coach Paul Cyr was satisfied with the showing.

&uot;Last year Anders and Kaleb were very close, so it was great to see them get in,&uot; said Cyr. &uot;James made it as a sophomore but didn’t last year, so it was nice to see him get there. They wrestled well all day.&uot;

Jacobson, a junior, won the section title at 171 pounds. He’ll take a 29-10 record to state, where he’ll meet Mille Lacs sophomore Tyler Walters (24-6) in the opening round.

Mattson, also a junior, was second at 145, running his record to 21-10. He’ll meet Browerville/Eagle Valley junior Nate Pachan (26-4) in his first state match.

Petsinger improved his record to 26-10 while taking second in the section at 275. He’ll meet Jordan Keltgen (31-7), a senior from BOLD, in the opening round.

Bill Root, a state tournament qualifier last year as a junior, finished third in the section at 189. Brandon Schlaak was third at 103.

Jacobson, Mattson and Petsinger will wrestle in the opening round at 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The Panthers face top-rated Frazee in the first round of team competition Thursday night at 8:15.

The tournament runs through Saturday.