Sam Baier is state champion wrestler

Redwood/ River Valley wrestler Sam Baier won the State Championship at the Minnesota Class AA State Wrestling Tournament at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul Saturday.

Baier, 160 lbs.,  won the championship in Class AA individual competition.  The son of Randy and Amy Baier, he is a senior at Springfield High School.

Baier defeated E. Kirchert of Smiley in the first round, 3-2.  In round two, he defeated P. Hale from GMLOKS 6-3, and in the semi-finals, Sam pinned C. Hoff of Litchfield.  During the championship match, Baier faced S. Nielsen from Luverne, where he won the championship match, 5-2.  This was the third time Sam beat Nielsen this season.  

Sam is the first Redwood-River Valley State Champion (second year of the wrestling co-op) and the fourth Springfield wrestler to win a state title in the past eight years.       

This was Sam’s third trip to the state tournament  and his first state medal.  

For more  pictures and information about the state tournament action, turn to pages 8 and 9 in this week's Springfield Advance-Press