ST. PAUL — Both Tucker Ginther and Caledonia/Houston wrestling coach Shay Mahoney will admit it — they didn't necessarily always see eye-to-eye.
"Yeah, there were a couple of screaming battles in the hallways and what not," Ginther said.
"We have been through it together," Mahoney said. "I told his dad, back a few years ago — and I know his dad real well, great guy — his dad kind of gave me permission to be hard on him. I told him he's either going to really hate me or love me."
Ginther's reaction to what happened Saturday should tell anyone all they need to know to answer that last question.
The senior nearly knocked his coach off the stage and into the MSHSL workers, leaping high and powerfully into his arms after capturing a Class A 145-pound state championship with a 3-1 win by decision over Hunter Gruchow of WCAA at the Xcel Energy Center.
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Ginther gave a lot of credit to one man afterwards.
"Shay, man, he's the GOAT," Ginther said. "You are never going to find a coach that cares more just simply about you as a person, not as a wrestler, not as an athlete, but as a whole. He cares about you as a person. Shay Mahoney, I'm truly blessed to be able to be around somebody like that."
"Just really proud of him," Mahoney said with watery eyes.
Ginther was simply stellar all tournament long.
Using great quickness, Ginther allowed just one takedown across four matches. That one came against Jackson County Central senior Logan Butzon, who had defeated Ginther in the Class A state team championship by a 2-1 decision on Thursday.
But it was Ginther who had the last laugh, securing an escape and then a late takedown for a 6-4 win Saturday over Butzon to send him into the finals.
That's where Ginther secured a late takedown with seconds left in the second period to go up 2-1. A quick escape after starting on bottom made it 3-1. From there, that was all she wrote as Ginther was just simply too quick for Gruchow.
It had Section 1A buzzing.
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"Shout out to Tucker Ginther," fellow state champion and Dover-Eyota senior Brodie Kellen said. "Section 1A winning three titles back-to-back-to-back on one mat like that. It's really cool."
Ginther, meanwhile, is still waiting for someone to wake him up from this dream he's suddenly immersed in.
"This a childhood dream come true," Ginther said. "This is crazy. Like, I never thought, you know, you can think about it but to actually do it. It's a whole different thing. I mean, sitting here right now talking to you. I never thought I'd ever been in this situation. This is truly a dream come true."
Caledonia/Houston's Tucker Ginther is your Class A 145 state champion. pic.twitter.com/wyIR7wo7f5
— Alex VandenHouten (@AlexVandenhout1) March 5, 2023
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