Two Grand Meadow/LeRoy/Ostrander Kingsland wrestlers got off to solid starts at the Class ‘AA’ state wrestling meet at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul Wednesday.

Tyler Jennings, a 125-pound senior, beat Mitch Jobe (28-8 overall) of Grand Rapids with a 4-2 overtime win by getting a takedown in the extra session.

“Tyler’s worked really hard and I knew if it went to overtime he was going to have a pretty good chance,” GMLOK head coach Bill Simpkins said. “I could already see the other kid was getting tired. We looked fresher in the third period and going into overtime.”

Jennings (30-5 overall) will take on Jake Dorn (30-10 overall) of Adrian in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

Carter Brandt, a 215-pound junior, also won in dramatic fashion with an 8-7 decision over Alex La Schomb (32-8 overall) of Simley.

Brandt got a late takedown, allowed an escape, then got another takedown to help seal the win.

“After that, things just fell in,” Brandt said. “I think my conditioning helped me a lot. I just grabbed his leg and hoped for the best. I’m taking it one round at a time, I guess. I got beat out the round before placing last year. My motivation all year has been to try placing up here.”

GMLOK head coach Bill Simpkins said that Brand’s conditioning was a major factor in the win.

“Carter really pushed the action and we knew we had to be aggressive against the kid even if we gave up some points,” he said. “I think the other kid ran out of gas and Carter had a little bit left. Carter didn’t stop. He wrestled until the end of the match, that’s how much time he needed to win it.”

Brandt (35-6 overall) will take on New Ulm’s Jake Schmidt (32-4 overall) Thursday.

Class ‘A’

Southland junior Grant Hegge topped Bryan Andrews of Martin County West with a 3-1 decision in the first round at state Wednesday.

Hegge (23-6 overall) will take on Alex Cooling (33-6 overall) of Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther Thursday.

Hayfield’s Mason Moreno won his first match at state with a 10-3 decision over Jake Hickerson of Ogilvie.

Moreno (24-9 overall), a 119-pound eighth grader, will take on Will McCarthy (41-2 overall) of Border West in Thursday’s quarterfinals.