Apple Valley senior Grace Alagbo had just won her second state title, claiming the 170-pound championship, when moments later, fellow Eagles senior Gloriann Vigniavo won the 190-pound title via pin.

As Alagbo walked into the tunnel at Xcel Energy Center she yelled, “Is that three titles for Apple Valley? Don’t play with us!”

A dominant force in Minnesota high school girls wrestling has arrived.

Apple ValleyÕs Cassandra Gonzales, top, takes control of GMLOSÕs Diann Smith during the Girls 136-pound championship match of the State Wrestling Tournament at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Saturday, March 2, 2024. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Apple Valley did claim three girls titles Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center, with the third going to Cassandra Gonzales, who finished off a perfect season.

Gonzales won a state title at Shakopee last season, but came to Apple Valley this year and has thoroughly enjoyed the team room that is Apple Valley’s girls wrestling team.

“I think this community of girls is so much bigger. I had a bigger family with girls, and it was just so amazing,” Gonzales said. “Everyone is just lifting each other up and working to get each other better. We have girls practices and we would do each other’s favorite moves on each other, so you just learn things from different girls and it was just so much fun doing practices like that. You just learn so much being in a bigger group of girls.”

Apple Valley coach Josh Barlage said the Eagles had 23 wrestlers this season. The Eagles are taking pride in developing and growing their program in the third year of girls wrestling as an MSHSL sport.

“We’ve made an emphasis to try and give our girls the most opportunity and really just kind of put them on a level playing field as the boys,” he said, “and they’ve really just blossomed.”

Alagbo has been the head of the snake. Her state title two years ago seemingly got the ball rolling for Apple Valley, and she’s proud to see what the program has become.

Apple ValleyÕs Grace Alagbo takes on Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers PrairieÕ s Abby Ervasti during the Girls 170-pound championship match of the State Wrestling Tournament at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Saturday, March 2, 2024. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

“These girls are my children. They’re my little babies,” she said with a laugh. “It’s an honor to be a part of this team. I know Apple Valley was always going to have a great team, and I was just fortunate to be the first. I thank God every day for that opportunity.”

It never hurts to have someone like that be the face of a program.

“I can’t say enough good things about Grace Alagbo. She is an incredible human being. She is the most charismatic, hard-working leader,” Barlage said. “She is going to be the CEO of a company someday.”

There is not yet a girls team state championship. Perhaps, as programs follow Apple Valley’s lead and continue to flush out numbers, that will come soon. But if there was such a competition this season, the Eagles are pretty sure how that would’ve turned out.

“Definitely us. Apple Valley. There’s so much talent on that team. Everyone is amazing,” Gonzales said. “It’s great here, and if there was to be that title, it would have to go to Apple Valley.”

Perfect ending

Hastings senior Skylar Little Soldier ended her high school career by becoming the Raiders’ first three-time state champ, capping an undefeated campaign to win the 148-pound title.

“I’m going to look back on it in 20 years and be like, ‘Wow, I really did that,’” she said.

Much in the same way everyone else around the sport currently looks at her now. She knows all eyes have been on her for years, and has taken that as an honor and a responsibility.

“It’s really helped me, because it just makes me look at the positive side of things all the time,” Little Soldier said. “It just takes me away from all the negative.”

CHASE FOR SIX CONTINUES

EastviewÕs Riley Myers, top, takes on MinnetonkaÕs Phoebe Kunerth during the Girls 130-pound championship match of the State Wrestling Tournament at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Saturday, March 2, 2024. (Craig Lassig / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Simley freshman Charli Raymond won her third straight state title, winning the 118-pound crown to cap an undefeated season.

Raymond still has a shot to win six state titles by the end of her high school career.

MYERS WINS AGAIN

After winning as a sophomore but then taking second last season, Eastview senior Riley Myers capped her high school career as a champion, winning the 130-pound bracket.

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Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles and coach Matt Eberflus are working on revamping their coaching staff.

After firing five coaches earlier this month, including offensive coordinator Luke Getsy, the Bears began the offseason seeking at least new offensive and defensive coordinators and position coaches for the quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs.

On Tuesday, the Bears officially announced the hiring of former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron as their new offensive coordinator. A deal had been reported Monday to be in the works.

“This was a very exhaustive search, but in the end I’m grateful the journey led us to Shane,” Eberflus said in a statement. “He is a great teacher and communicator with a diverse coaching background among some of the game’s most elite head coaches. I look forward to partnering with him as we build out the rest of the staff and get him started here.”

Waldron said in a statement: “I appreciate this opportunity given to me by Coach Eberflus and Ryan Pole. We can’t wait to get to work at a franchise with such a storied history and passionate fan base.”

Here’s how the offensive coordinator hiring process unfolded.

Jan. 18

The Bears are expected to interview former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury, ESPN reported.

The rundown: Kingsbury, 44, spent this past season as a senior offensive analyst and quarterbacks coach at USC, where potential No. 1 draft pick Caleb Williams played. The Bears are getting deeper into their evaluations of Williams as they determine whether to draft a quarterback with the No. 1 pick this spring. Williams threw for 3,633 yards with 30 touchdowns and five interceptions in 12 games in 2023.

In four seasons as the Cardinals coach, Kingsbury was 28-37-1. The Cardinals fired him last January following a 4-13 season after the team made the playoffs a year earlier behind quarterback Kyler Murray. Before that, Kingsbury was the head coach for six seasons at Texas Tech, where he coached quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

He also was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas A&M and Houston. Kingsbury played quarterback at Texas Tech and in the NFL, NFL Europe and CFL.

The Bears are interviewing Los Angeles Rams passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported.

The rundown: Robinson, 37, has been part of Sean McVay’s coaching staff in Los Angeles for the last five seasons and in his current role the last two years. In 2021, Robinson also served as Matthew Stafford’s quarterbacks coach as Stafford matched a career high with 41 touchdown passes and led the Rams to a Super Bowl title.

This season Robinson contributed to a passing offense that ranked in the top 10 in yards and yards per play.

Robinson was a standout quarterback at Oklahoma State and a seventh-round selection by the New England Patriots in 2010. He spent four seasons in the NFL with the Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Detroit Lions and Cincinnati Bengals.

The Bears have requested an interview with Philadelphia Eagles senior offensive assistant Marcus Brady, ESPN reported.

The rundown: Brady, 44, spent the 2023 season on Nick Sirianni’s Eagles staff after five seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

He worked on the same Colts coaching staff as Bears coach Matt Eberflus for four years under Frank Reich, though on the opposite side of the ball from Eberflus. With the Colts, Brady rose from assistant quarterbacks coach (2018) to quarterbacks coach (2019-20) and then to offensive coordinator (2021-22) after Sirianni left for the Eagles. The Colts offense was one of the best in the league at running the ball in 2021, but it ranked 27th in total yards per game with 311.6 in 2022.

Brady also spent nine seasons coaching in the Canadian Football League.

Jan. 17

The Bears are interviewing Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, The Athletic reported.

The rundown: Brown, 37, completed his first year as the Panthers coordinator after three seasons with the Rams, with whom he won a Super Bowl under McVay.

The Panthers struggled behind rookie quarterback Bryce Young in 2023, averaging a league-worst 265.3 yards per game. With the Rams, Brown coached running backs and then tight ends and had the title of assistant head coach in his last two seasons.

The former Georgia running back was a running backs coach in college for eight seasons, including with Wisconsin, Georgia, South Carolina and Miami, where he also was the offensive coordinator. Brown also is scheduled to interview with the Tennessee Titans for their head coaching position.

Jan. 15

The Bears interviewed former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman, NFL Network’s Peter Schrager reported.

The rundown: Roman, 51, is a longtime NFL coach who served as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills and Ravens. Among his accomplishments is crafting the Ravens offense around dual-threat quarterback Lamar Jackson and helping Jackson to an MVP season in his second year in 2019. The Ravens had the best rushing offense in the league that year.

However, Roman and the Ravens parted after the 2022 season after the offense declined. The Ravens went from averaging 33.2 points in 2019 to 20.6 in 2022.

Jan. 12

The Bears interviewed Seahawks quarterbacks coach Greg Olson, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The rundown: Olson, 60, has been a college and NFL quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator since 1990. He has extensive experience as an NFL offensive coordinator, holding the position with the Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams, Oakland and Las Vegas Raiders in separate stints and Jacksonville Jaguars.

He most recently was the Seahawks quarterbacks coach in 2023 and a senior offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. Olson spent the 2003 season as the Bears quarterbacks coach.

The Bears planned to interview Kentucky offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Liam Coen, CBS Sports reported.

The rundown: Coen, 38, has one season of NFL offensive coordinator experience with the Rams in 2022, though McVay called the plays. He was an assistant wide receivers coach and assistant quarterbacks coach with the Rams from 2018-20.

Beyond that, Coen has been a college quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator since 2010 at Brown, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine and most recently Kentucky in 2021 and 2023.

Jan. 11

The Bears planned to interview 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak, ESPN reported.

The rundown: Kubiak, 36, is in his first season with the 49ers under Kyle Shanahan. Before that, he was the Denver Broncos passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2022 for Russell Wilson and their QBs coach from 2016-18.

Kubiak, the son of longtime NFL coach Gary Kubiak, also worked for the Minnesota Vikings as offensive coordinator in 2021 and quarterbacks coach from 2019-20, working with Kirk Cousins.

Jan. 10

The Bears requested an interview with Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, NFL Network reported.

The rundown: Waldron, 44, was the Seahawks offensive coordinator the last three seasons, helping quarterback Geno Smith to a comeback season in 2022. Before that, he spent four seasons with the Rams as passing game coordinator, quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach under McVay.

He also served as an offensive assistant with the Patriots (2008-09) and Washington (2016) and worked in operations with the Patriots early in his career. He has coached in college, high school and the UFL.

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There’s a special place on the wall of Simley’s wrestling room reserved for the names of state champions.

Austin Grzywinski’s name was not on there prior to this week. It’s going up now.

After placing second at state a year ago, the Spartans senior got the job done in his last go at it Saturday, winning the Class 2A, 114-pound title with a 7-0 decision over Watertown-Mayer’s Joel Friederichs in St. Paul.

Grzywinski’s name isn’t the only new addition to Simley’s winner wall.

Simley freshman Turner Ross completed a 48-win season by winning the Class 2A, 107-pound title — his first state championship.

Eighth grader Justus Heeg also claimed his first title, winning at 133 pounds.

Simley senior Cash Raymond had a chance to do the same in the 152-pound bout, which wasn’t completed at the time this edition went to print.

Cash’s sister, Charli, won her third straight state title. The freshman completed an undefeated season with a major victory to win the 118-pound crown and is still on pace to win six titles for her career.

Two titles

Eastview’s Riley Myers won a state title in 2022 — the inaugural season of girls wrestling under the MSHSL umbrella. After a second-place finish a year ago, the senior wrapped her high school career Saturday with a 130-pound crown.

Myers noted this time around, she managed to truly savor the entire experience.

The hard way

The 139-pound, Class 3A bracket may have been one of the toughest in the state. There is no better example of that than the first-round match — usually a no-contest in favor of the favorites — where top-seeded Davis Parrow of Farmington trailed Shakopee’s Connor Warren for much of the match before emerging with a 9-6 victory.

Fast forward 36 hours, and Parrow edged out another tight one — a 3-2 decision over Eden Prairie’s Charles Vanier — to claim a state crown.

Vengeance

After falling to St. Michael-Albertville eighth grader Lincoln Robideau in Thursday’s Class 3A team final, Mounds View junior Brett Swenson got his vengeance Saturday night via a 5-1 decision over Robideau to win the Class 3A, 114-pound individual crown.

History maker

Northfield’s Caley Graber, who became the first girl in state history to win a match in the individual tournament against a boy and reached the Class 3A, 107 pound semifinals, placed fifth in her bracket.

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State wrestling tournament primer