“Battle at the Big Bear” By: Kevin Fick

Friday & Saturday, December 20^th & 21^st

The week of the 20^th found the West Central Area/Ashby/Evansville wrestlers smack dab in the middle of northern Minnesota in one of the largest tournaments the state has to offer.  Cass Lake-Bena high school hosted 33 teams that competed for bragging rights.  The talent at such a venue is tremendous as a pool of triple, double and single A schools squared off for two days on eight mats.  The schools range a broad area that covered metro schools such as Robbinsdale Cooper north to Roseau and most in between.

Having become a ‘mat rat’, one who spends a large amount of time around the wrestler’s and their domain, it has become very clear that there are two kinds of grapplers.  The first is a dual or triangular wrestler.  This is a fast paced athlete who is able to find life in the quick activity of a match.  This grappler has his entire team and coaching staff near him at all times, he is able to warm up and compete in a relatively short amount of time. There may be just one or two matches a night.  The second is a tournament wrestler; he is different from a dual wrestler in that he is patient.  He can warm up and relax himself while waiting for his match which sometimes takes hours.  This athlete can put life on hold and focus on the long-term task at hand.  The tournament wrestler does not have the support of his team as they may be off in their own matches and the coaches are split up between mats and sometimes different gyms. This athlete may have many matches in a couple days, sometimes up to six or seven.  With the state tournament being the goal of most competitors the ability to compete well at a tournament is where the end focus is held.  The WCAAE Knights are still a relatively young team.  There was a vast improvement as a group at this year’s ‘Big Bear’, in fact from dead last a year ago to the middle of the pack.  There was also great improvement in single athletes as WCAAE placed four athletes in the medal rounds compared to none a year ago.  There were a handful of athletes that ended just one round short of the medal rounds.  Hard work and growth are the motto of this team.  Some of the losses left a bitter taste in mouths even from those that medaled.  This should be an interesting season by the end.  If the hard work produces the growth intended our dual wrestlers will be successful tournament wrestlers by the time conference and sections roll around. 

About the week Coach Gruchow states…”We were able to focus in on the Big Bear Wrestling Tournament this week.  We didn’t have to focus on any duals, tri or weigh-ins other than Friday and Saturday.  We had four solid practices to prepare both physically and mentally for the 2 day tournament.  This tournament is no ordinary tournament, 33 teams show up at this event.  It’s a brutal 2 days of fierce battling, an emotional series of ups and downs, and a whole lot of ecstasy of winning and agony of defeat.  But it is expected when 33 teams get together and it is what we go there for.  It’s a great experience for our guys!

We set our goals to place in the top 10 at the tournament.  We knew we had to place at least 6 guys to get to 10th place.  We landed at 17th after the two day tournament was over and 4 individuals placed in the top 8.  We fell short of our expectations but that’s okay.  The individuals on this team are smart enough to figure out where we went wrong; they know what matches we should have won.  Some have already identified the things that went wrong in their matches.  Most importantly, these young men are willing to work to improve and learn from their mistakes.  

We were dead last with this same bunch of athletes last year at this tournament.  We are going to use this as a learning tool…just like we have with every other match and tournament so far this year and last.  Our guys wrestled well and I am proud of their efforts, we still have a lot of room for improvement and improve is what we intend to do!  There is no easy way…we just have to keep doing the work!”

The top ten teams from the tournament include the following….1. Hutchinson 199 pts, 2. Willmar 170.5 pts, 3. Black Duck/Cass Lake-Bena 132.5 pts, 4. Bemidji 124.5 pts, 5. Barnesville 119 pts, 6. Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus 117 pts, 7. Detroit Lakes 113.5 pts, 8. Badger/ Greenbush/Middle River 109.5 pts, 9. Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale 105 pts, 10. Fergus Falls 104 pts.  17. West Central Area/Ashby/Evansville 73 pts.

All wrestlers competing finished as follows….

106 lb.  4^th place Jake Nohre defeated Riley Eidesmoe (Roseau) per dec. 5-0, defeated by Andrew Nissen (Blackduck/Cass Lake-Bena) per dec. 3-4, defeated Heath Foster (Big Lake) per fall :44, defeated Austin Bitker (Dilworth/Glyndon/Felton) per major dec. 16-3, defeated Isaac Isane (Badger/Greenbush/Middle River) per dec. 3-2, defeated Brock Luthens (Hutchinson) per major dec. 9-0, defeated Brady Tweeton (Barnesville) per dec. 4-3, defeated by Anthony Kern (Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale) per dec. 4-6 in OT

113 lb. Levi Larkin defeated Kevin Blazek (Crosby/Ironton) per fall 5:02, defeated by Aj. Bethea (Hibbing) per major dec. 2-15, defeated Mike Bisek (Mahnomen/Waubun) per dec. 10-4, defeated Nash Sovde (BGM) per dec. 7-2, defeated by Lucas Reiplinger (BCB) per dec. 8-11

120 lb. Keaton Long defeated Patrick Libel (BL) per dec. 9-8, defeated by Ian Frenzel (BCB) per major dec. 4-13, defeated Zach Champagne (CI) per fall 1:02, defeated by Jared Sunram (Park Rapids) per dec. 6-10

126 lb. Tyler Onstad defeated by Derek Helgoe (BL) per dec. 0-7, defeated by Marcus Jasken (Detroit Lakes) per dec. 5-9

132 lb. Wyatt Odegaard defeated by Ben Schindler (Fergus Falls) per fall 1:48, defeated by Trent Rosing (United Clay/Becker) per fall 3:48

138 lb. 6^th place Jake Larkin defeated Ethan Croatt (Aitkin) per dec. 4-1, defeated by Tristan Rubner (Pequot Lakes/Pine River/Backus) per dec. 1-6, defeated Hunter Gullikson (BGM) per dec. 8-3,defeated Luke Payne (DL) per fall 3:39, defeated by Tryston Kostelecky (Hutch) per dec. 0-7, defeated by Tristan Rubner (PPB) per dec. 1-9

145 lb. Kyle Mickelsen defeated Kyle Gagner (Red Lake County) per fall 1:11, defeated by Cory Hasbrouck (BGM) per dec. 6-8, defeated Kyle Caputo (Crookston) per dec. 1-0, defeated by Laine Jensen (PR) per dec.  6-10

152 lb. 5^th place Royal Crow defeated Jake Magnell (RLC) per dec. 3-1 OT, defeated Justin Dravis (PR) per dec. 4-1, defeated by Parker Jackson (DL) per dec. 3-9, defeated by Travis Deegan (Willmar) per dec. 4-7, defeated Justin Dravis (PR) 5-0

160 lb. Braedon Long defeated by Gannon Strain (Bemidji) per fall 3:51, defeated by Blake Skogstad (ROS) per fall 3:35

170 lb. Koel Seifort defeated by Cameron Lundeen (RLC) per fall 5:00, defeated by Dakota Gullickson (BGM) per fall 4:41

182 lb Sid Kamrath defeated by Charlie Nienaber (BHV) per fall 4:43, defeated by Chris Foster (PPB) per dec. 1-7

195 lb Hunter Fick defeated by John French (BHV) per dec. 6-7, defeated Kyle Lynn (AIT) per fall 1:09, defeated Colton Millner (ROS) per fall :52, defeated by Tanner Templin (BCB) per dec. 1-3 OT

220 lb. 8^th place Buzz Miller defeated Sergey Lemeshevsky (Robbinsdale Cooper) per dec. 8-3, defeated by Dillon Card (BHV) per fall 1:21, defeated Adam Lorenson (BGM) per fall 1:43, defeated by Wyatt Yoemans (BEM) per dec. 0-5, defeated by Luke Juve (Fosston/Bagley) per fall 1:25

285 lb. TJ Waskosky defeated by Owen Philbrink (HIB) per fall 5:07, defeated by Great Ogboru (RLC) per fall 5:47

Coach Gruchow on ‘Wrestler of the Week’….”This week I would like to point out Jake Nohre as out Wrestler of the week!  Jake wrestled through a pool of great wrestlers.  He wrestled extremely well!  He was able to adapt and change as the two day tournament went on.  He turned a lot of heads from everyone in the building when he nearly defeated the #3 and #4 ranked wrestlers at 106 pound class losing to one in the final seconds of the match and the other in overtime.  Jake did beat a wrestler who is currently ranked #9 in the state, Brady Tweeton of Barnesville.  If you remember or have been following us this season you know that Tweeton beat Jake a couple weeks ago after catching Jake in bad position and pinning him while Jake had been controlling and winning the whole match before the pin.  There is a quote that says, "Great accomplishments require great sacrifices."  Jake sacrificed time last spring and summer to wrestle.  While hard at work his friends enjoyed fishing the spring crappie bite/late spring walleye bite.  Jake is a huge outdoorsman and I know he would have loved being out there catching fish with his buddies but he sacrificed!   He gave up hundreds of hours traveling, practicing, and wrestling in tournaments to make himself better this season.  That’s what it takes to be great, that what it takes to improve, that what it takes to place in the top four in a tournament like this.  Congrats Jake…keep up the great work bud!”

The wrestlers open up competition following the Christmas break with conference and section rival New York Mills.  The Knights will host the Eagles on Thursday, January 2^nd. Wrestling will begin at 6 pm.  The WCAAE grapplers will travel to Benson Saturday, January 4^th for a 10 school tournament.  Action begins at 9 am.  Best of luck Knights!