The history of high school wrestling in the state of Minnesota has been changed forever, and current Owatonna High School senior Rian Grunwald will forever be cemented into the history books as being the first of her kind.
As she leaped into the arms of Owatonna’s head wrestling coach Derek Johnson, she signaled No. 1 with her left hand — directly after making not just Owatonna High School history, but Minnesota high school history while she sported the Owatonna royal blue.
“It means a lot to me to represent Owatonna,” said Grunwald after her championship match. “I’ve been a part of this program for so long, and they just sanctioned girls wrestling this year, so I haven’t been able to support my team that way until this year, so it feels good to be able to get my name out there for the team.”
After years and years of petitions and pleas from wrestlers, parents and coaches, the Minnesota State High School League took to a vote in early May 2021 to determine if girls wrestling would be an officially sanctioned sport in Minnesota. Continue reading at southernminn.com →