Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Knight Wrestlers Improve to 15-3 By: Kevin Fick


The past week found the WCAAE Knights on the road on three consecutive nights.   The Knights wrestled a section match in Breckenridge dismantling the Cowboys with ease.  The following evening the boys in red traveled to Osakis to dual the Silverstreaks and stay in the hunt for a conference championship.  After a gutsy display the Knights found themselves down by one point with one match to go when Buzz Miller pulled out a decision giving the Knights a victory and putting them in a three way tie for the title with Osakis and Royalton.  By 6:30 am the boys were back on the bus in route to Osakis for the Park Region Conference Individual Tournament. 
This is the time of year when athletes in any sport feel the mental and physical strain after two months of hard competition.  Wrestling is no different.  Coach Brandon Gruchow has consistently put together a team that is ready to compete in the duals and in doing so was recognized by his peers as the Park Region Conference ‘Coach of the Year’.  Congratulations Coach Gruchow!  During last week several other career milestones were reached.  Jake Larkin secured his 75th career victory in Breckenridge.  Hunter Fick and Kyle Mickelsen both reached their 50th career victories during the PRC tournament.  Congratulations Jake, Hunter and Kyle!

Thursday, Jan. 30th  Breckenridge
WCAAE 69, Breckenridge 11
Coach Gruchow…”On paper with the size of the team Breckenridge has been wrestling with the dual was in our favor.  We also knew Breckenridge had some good individuals and it was important that our individuals that had matches were focused and ready.  This can be difficult when there are so many forfeits; it’s hard to keep the momentum going.  I was happy with the performance of our wrestlers who had a match.  Keaton Long bumped up a weight class to wrestle Conrad Kondos, and even though he lost he managed to save a team point by not giving up the pin.  Doing these kinds of things is what makes a person a better wrestler.  Tyler Onstad has been wrestling with much more confidence, it showed in his dominant win by fall in the second period.  Larkin, Mickelsen, and Fick all completed their duties on the mat with wins as well tonight.  Braeden Long was winning until he got a nagging injury while wrestling that prevented him from wrestling like he could have.  We hope it heals soon and he can get back into action.”
106 lb. Drake Swanson (WCAAE) won per forfeit
113 lb. Jake Nohre (WCAAE) won per forfeit
120 lb. Levi Larkin (WCAAE) won per forfeit
126 lb. Conrad Kondos (BRECK) defeated Keaton Long per tech fall 20-3
132 lb. Tyler Onstad (WCAAE) defeated Tony Emerfoll per fall 3:34
138 lb. Jake Larkin (WCAAE) defeated Mark Erickson per fall 1:11
145 lb. Kyle Mickelsen (WCAAE) defeated Devin Larson per dec. 13-6
152 lb. Royal Crow (WCAAE) won per forfeit
160 lb. Travis Miranowski (BRECK) defeated Braedon Long per fall 5:19
170 lb. Blake Amundson (WCAAE) won per forfeit
182 lb. Sid Kamrath (WCAAE) won per forfeit
195 lb. Hunter Fick (WCAAE) defeated Zach Hasse per fall :49
220 lb. Buzz Miller (WCAAE) won per forfeit
285 lb. T.J. Waskosky (WCAAE) won per forfeit

Friday, Jan. 31st   Osakis
WCAAE 32, Osakis 30
Coach Gruchow…”Going into this dual tonight we knew it was going to be a barn burner.  If things went our way we were going to win.  To beat Osakis we had to wrestle with confidence and attitude.  We needed to want it!  The boys wanted it tonight and they wrestled like they wanted it.  They wrestled for the team all the way through the line-up.  There were some great matches throughout the dual, some went our way, and some didn’t.  It was a great atmosphere in the Osakis gym; both teams were good, the benches on both sides were into the dual, the crowd was into it and it was intense.  It was fun to be a part of and even made it just that much better that we came out on top.  It was a big dual to get tonight, I think we have worked our way out of the little slump we had last week!”
106 lb. Jake Nohre (WCAAE) defeated Devyn Johnson per major dec. 16-8
113 lb. Levi Larkin (WCAAE) defeated Darrin Stoetzel per major dec. 11-0
120 lb. Trenton Coyer (O) defeated Keaton Long per dec. 11-8
126 lb. Brendan Coyer (O) defeated Tyler Onstad per fall 2:52
132 lb. Colton Waldvogel (O) defeated Wyatt Olson per fall :22
138 lb. Jake Larkin (WCAAE) defeated Ryan Engfer per dec. 3-1
145 lb. Kyle Mickelsesn (WCAAE) defeated Garret Sunder per dec. 9-3
152 lb. Kode Seifort (WCAAE) won per forfeit
160 lb. Royal Crow (WCAAE) won per forfeit
170 lb. Blake Amundson (WCAAE) defeated Austin Sunder per dec. 14-8
182 lb. Nils Hagen (O) defeated Sid Kamrath per fall 1:28
195 lb. Tyler Spanswick (O) won per forfeit
220 lb. Peter Hagen (O) defeated Hunter Fick per dec. 3-1
285 lb. Buzz Miller (WCAAE) defeated Mitch Sunder per dec. 6-4

Saturday, Feb. 1st    Osakis
Gruchow…”We were a little banged up going into today’s Conference Tournament.  We had some of our big point getters out due to injuries.  We finished in 6th place…. which I know we are better than but just not today.  In general we wrestled well, we did have one round that took the wind out of us a little.  I thought Levi Larkin wrestled very well today.  Jake Nohre also wrestled well.  He fell a little short of his goal to be conference champ, but wrestled a great match in the finals against state ranked Noah Becker.  Royal Crow also had a fantastic day; he wrestled a smart match in the finals and brought home his second gold medal for the season.  It would have been interesting to see how we would have finished with Jake Larkin, Braeden Long, and T.J. Waskosky in the line-up.  We hope to have them all back this upcoming week as we have another action packed week ahead of us!”
1. Osakis 158.5
2. United North Central 156
3. New York Mills 155
4. Royalton/Upsula 147
5. Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale 121
6. West Central Area/Ashby/Evansville 111
7. Long Prairie/Grey Eagle 83
8. Ottertail Central 75
9. Browerville 46
10. Prairie Valley 42

106 lb. Jake Nohre  2nd place
Defeated Cole Scofield (R/U) per fall 4:40, defeated Ben Johnson (UNC) per major dec. 17-5, defeated by Noah Becker (BROW) per dec. 4-2
113 lb. Levi Larkin 3rd place
Defeated Brayden Bertram (BHV) per fall 1:14, defeated by Jeremiah Harper (NYM) per dec. 4-0, defeated Levi Cochran (UNC) per injury default, defeated Jose Funes (LPGE) per dec. 5-4
120 lb. Keaton Long
Defeated by James Holen (OTC) per dec. 1-0, defeated Toby Hintzman (UNC) per dec. 3-2, defeated by Justin Gordon (BHV) per dec. 4-1, defeated by James Holen per major dec. 13-3
126 lb. Tyler Onstad 5th place
Defeated by Sam Naddy (OTC) per major dec. 8-0, defeated by Nicholas Middendorf per major dec. 12-5, defeated Darrin Stoetzel (O) 11-0
145 lb. Kyle Mickelsen 4th place
Defeated by Taylor Ericksrud (NYM) per dec. 3-0, defeated Garrett Sunder (O) per dec. 5-2, defeated by Wyatt Puttonen (UNC) per dec. 4-0
152 lb. Royal Crow 1st place
Defeated Shawn Urbanski (R/U) per dec. 3-1, defeated Sam Tellers (UNC) per dec. 3-2
170 lb. Blake Amundson
Defeated by Nick Bennett (BHV) per major dec. 10-1, defeated by Brian Pyle (NYM) per fall 2:41
182 lb. Sid Kamrath 5th place
Defeated by Nils Hagen (O) per fall 1:11, defeated John French (BHV) per dec. 2-1, defeated by Sam Erckenbrack (NYM) per fall 2:11, defeated Gavin Brendefur per injury default
195 lb. Hunter Fick 3rd place
Defeated Keegan Cavellero (LPGE) per fall :23, defeated by Tyler Spanswick (O) per fall 3:43, defeated Tyler Ukkelberg (OTC) per dec. 7-1, defeated Charlie Neinaber (BHV) per fall 5:20
220 lb. Buzz Miller 3rd place
Defeated by Taylor Carlson (UNC) per fall 3:19, defeated Mitch Sunder (O) per fall 2:59, defeated Cole Graybow (NYM) per fall 1:15

Gruchow will lead his team to its last regular season dual when Long Prairie/Grey Eagle Thunder comes to Barrett Monday, Feb. 3rd for the final conference dual.  The Knights find themselves in control of their destiny and will be wrestling for the conference championship.  Saturday, Feb 8th the wrestlers will travel to Morris for the Morris Invitational Tournament.  This is the last competition before section wrestling starts.

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