For the third time in history, the Prior Lake wrestling team crowned two individual state champions in the same season.

Junior Alex Hart and senior Luis Pinto became the 11th and 12th winners in program history, capping off a stellar three days at the Xcel Energy Center for the Lakers.

It started Feb. 27 when Prior Lake finished a program-best second in the team tourney to Apple Valley. It ended March 1 with Hart and Pinto claiming titles at 220 pounds and heavyweight, respectively, along with four other Laker place-winners.

Junior Rylee Striefel was third at 195, while seniors Blake Carlisle and Sean O'Neil were fifth at 145 and 160, respectively and junior Dylan Sogge was sixth at 120.

Overall, the Lakers had 10 wrestlers at state, which tied a school record (10 were also there in 2008). Senior Robby Schultz and eighth-grader Kenny O'Neil both went 1-2 at 170 and 126 pounds, respectively, while eighth-grader Zach Smith (106) and junior Tyler Hanson (132) were both 0-1.

Pinto and Hart join eight other Lakers with one state title - Brad Thompson in 1969 (98 pounds), Bill Sauter in 1974 (125), Bruce Johnson in 1975 (145), Bill Craven in 1975 (140), Chad LeMair in 1986 (112), Cory Forar in 1997 (189), Ryan LeBeau in 1999 (130) and Calvin Wolff in 2007 (135).

Jake Kahnke is the only Laker to win two state titles - 2007 (189) and 2008 (215).

Hart can shoot for that distinction next year. He capped off a 45-3 season with an 8-5 win over Apple Valley's Paul Cheney in the final. It was the fourth time the two have wrestled this season. Hart won the first meeting, Cheney the next two.

Hart said the goal was to get up on Cheney early and try to wear him down. Easier said than done. Cheney and Hart were ranked No. 1 and 2 in the state, respectively, going into state.

"I didn't know if I was going to win or not, but it's a cool feeling to be a state champion," said Hart, who was third at state last year 195 pounds. "This was a match that came down to who was going to make the least mistakes and who executed better. He's a strong, stocky guy."

Hart earned his way to the finals with a 7-6 win over third-ranked Cody Linssen of Park in the first round and by fall over Kenny Maclin of Rochester John Marshall in the quarterfinals Feb. 28.

In the semis, Hart earned another fall, pinning fourth-ranked Caleb Butler of Blaine.

Meanwhile, Pinto was facing No. 1 Spencer Sorenson in the final. The Owtonna junior was 20-0 at the time. But Pinto set the tempo early and wore down Sorenson en route to a 7-4 win.

Last year, Sorenson beat Pinto 7-2 at state.

The win capped off a 33-5 season for Pinto. Back on Jan. 24, Pinto's season nearly ended in a dual at Rosemount injuring his shoulder. At time, it looked much worse as he laid on the mat for about 20 minutes.

He ended up suffering nerve damage, instead of a more serious neck or shoulder injury. He missed a few weeks of action, but was back right before the regular season ended.

"When I was injured, I thought I was done," said Pinto. "But the doctor cleared me and I got back on the mat and worked really hard to get a state title."

Ranked No. 3, Pinto's goal for the finals was to stay off his back, try to get a lead and wear down Sorenson, who hasn't had many third-period matches.

"He beat me last year, but I wanted to come back from it and be a state champion," said Pinto. "I had to get him tired. I knew he couldn't make it to the third period."

Pinto earned his way to the finals with 1-0 win over Adam Blue of St. Francis in the first round and by fall over No. 7 Jason Telin of Tartan in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Pinto pinned No. 8 Eriq Smith of Irondale.

For Strefeil, he finished the season with a 46-4 record, earning a 5-2 win over No. 3 Jake Briggs of St. Michael-Albertville for third. Streifel also beat Briggs in the quarterfinals (2-0) and had a 4-1 win over No. 8 Jordan Lemcke of Rogers in the first round.

In the semifinals, the No. 2-ranked Striefel lost 8-5 to No. 1 Gable Stevenson of Apple Valley. Streifel came back to win 4-0 over No. 9 Dakota Johnson of Cambridge-Isanti in the consolation semis.

For the No. 7-ranked Carlisle, he finished his final season with a 26-10 mark, earning a 12-4 decision over No. 10 Justin Jenks for fifth. Carlisle also beat Jenks by technical fall (15-0) in the first round and followed with a win by injury default over Nick Warne of Rocori.

In the semifinals, Carlisle fell 5-2 to No. 1 Mark Voss of St. Michael-Albertville, before falling 3-1 to No. 4 Brock Morgan of Apple Valley in the consolation semis. Carlisle finished third at state last year at 138.

Sean O'Neil finished his senior season with a 36-11 mark, earning a 5-1 win over Jackson Graham of Apple Valley for fifth. The No. 3-ranked O'Neil also beat Graham in the first round (5-2) and followed with a 7-1 win over Tom Handley of Centennial in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, O'Neil fell 3-1 to No. 4 Cody Skog of Cambridge-Isanti and lost 3-1 to No. 2 Matt Njos of Anoka in the consolation semis.

For Sogge, he lost his fifth-place match 7-2 to No. 3 Sam Bennyhoff of Mound Westonka. The No. 7-ranked Sogge (31-16) won by fall over Jack Herbes of Mable Grove in the first round and 2-1 over Brenden Buryska of Owatonna in the quarterfinals.

In the semis, Sogge lost 9-2 to No. 6 Maik Stewart of Blaine and fell 4-2 to No. 2 Gannon Volk of Apple Valley in the consolation semis.

For Schultz (34-13), ranked No. 4, and Kenny O'Neil (29-19), both won in the first round, but lost their next two matches. Smith, ranked No. 10, finished with a 28-14 mark, while Hanson ended 20-14.

To see photos of the Lakers in the finals, go to Scoreboard's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.755645691127450.1073742083.197190936972931&type=3

For photos of the 10 Lakers from the first-round: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.754905731201446.1073742073.197190936972931&type=3.