Five Little Knight Wrestlers compete at the Hawkeye National Tournament…Four Place!

Anthony Sykora, Hunter Gruchow, Colbe Tappe, Cooper Tappe, and Owen Gruchow who all wrestle with the Little Knight program in Barrett, participated in the Hawkeye National Tournament in Waterloo Iowa this past weekend.  There were over 640 registered wrestlers from 9 different states entered into the tournament.  This tournament was the first of a series of three tournaments.  This tour of tournaments will go into February with wrestling action taking place in Minnesota (Gogher State Nationals) and Wisconsin (Badger Land Nationals).  If a wrestler is able to place in the top six they are awarded a championship belt for their efforts.

Anthony Sykora competed in the 3rd and 4th grade 85 pound division. Sykora advanced with a bye in the round of sixteen, he then pinned his next opponent in his quarter finals match. He ran into an East Ridge opponent who is currently ranked #1 in the country by USA wrestling in the semifinals. Sykora was tech falled by this gifted wrestler. Sykora then beat his next opponent 6-0 to get into the 3rd place match. Sykora wrestled another dominating match in the third place match winning 7-2. 

Anthony Sykora Places 3rd

Four year-old Cooper Tappe wrestled in the Pk-K 40 pound weight division. Cooper gained some great exerience after going 0-2. Cooper will have another 2 years to wrestle in this division. Going into this tournament, it was all about the experience for him.

Owen Gruchow, who is a Kindergartner, took second place in the 55 pound PK-K division. Owen went 4-1. Owen's loss came in the first round. His opponent from Iowa beat him 8-4.  He wrestled his way back through the bracket winning his next four matches, one of which was won in overtime.

Owen Gruchow Places 2nd

First Grader, Colbe Tappe entered the tournament at the 54 pound 1st-2nd grade division. Colbe wrestled well against his opponents who were mostly second graders. Colbe went 3-2 and took 4th place. He wrestled hard and had this to say about his match, "I wrestled with one of the best wrestlers in the nation...he was a two time National champion and I only lost 3-7."

Colbe Tappe Places 4th

  

Second grader Hunter Gruchow went 4-1 on the day, earning second place. Hunter lost by fall in the second period to his Iowa opponent. Hunter was winning in the match, but was headlocked, and tried to roll through it. He ended up not getting off his back and was pinned.

Hunter Gruchow Places 2nd

 It was a great experience for all 5 of our Little Knight Wrestlers, competing against some of the best wrestlers in the Midwest.  This tournament will definitely give these young wrestlers a marking point of where they are at and what they need to work on going into the new season.  It was a great learning experience.

Knight Wrestlers Earn Pair of Section 6A Wins

The West Central Area Knights faced Barnesville and Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale on Thursday night in a triangular in Bertha.
“There was a little more pressure going into tonight’s tri against two great section 6A teams,” commented Head Coach Brandon Gruchow.  “Both teams have quite a few talented individual wrestlers and we knew we had to wrestle well to beat both teams.  The boys did a great job staying focused and getting prepared one dual at a time and one match at a time.  Most of them did their jobs and we are very pleased to see their continuous efforts pay-off.”
The Knights beat the Trojans 48-30 and defeated B-H/V 52-18.
“Drake Swanson earned wrestler of the match tonight, well deserved after pinning both of his opponents,” noted Gruchow.  “Drake has been putting in the time doing the extra work all summer and reaping the benefits.” 
Jake Nohre, Kyle Mickelsen, Jake Larkin, Royal Crow, and Hunter Fick each posted two more wins to their records on Thursday night.  Chris Onstad, Levi Larkin, Koel Seifert, Buzz Miller, and Sid Kamrath each added a win to their records as well.   
“We know that both teams rosters will most likely change by the next time we wrestle them,” said Coach Gruchow.  “And it’s likely that they will only get tougher.  It was an uplifting night; being able to go out and get both wins was exactly what we wanted to do.  We know we have to stay after it in the practice room, clean up our techniques, and keep healthy to do it again at the end of the season.”
It was a little tougher night for the Jv/Jr. High wrestlers.  “There were also fewer matches so not all of the boys got a match,” reported Gruchow.  “They wrestled well but had some unfortunate turn of events in many of the matches resulting in 5 losses.  Hunter Hanson earned the sole win for the JV/J.H. team.”
Austin Aufdenkamp 0-2, Kaleb Getz 0-1, Jared Lock 0-1, Hunter Hanson 1-0, Jannis Knothe 0-1.

SCORING SUMMARY:

West Central Area 52, Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale 18

SCORING SUMMARY:

West Central Area/Ashby/Evansville 48, Barnesville 30

Knights Open with Dual Meet Win Over WDC

By Craig Olson - Wadena, MN


The West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville Knights opened the high school wrestling season with an impressive 66-9 road win over Wadena-Deer Creek on Tuesday night.
“We were very pleased with our wrestler’s performances on the mat tonight,” said Head Coach Brandon Gruchow.  “The first match of the year is usually one of the hardest due to many reasons.  Conditioning usually seems to be one of the major factors that hinder a wrestler.  However, I feel that this team is in very good shape due to the fact that they work extremely hard in practice and have also done a great job preparing for the start of the season by practicing and competing in the spring and summer.  It was a great feeling as a coach to see these boys come in to a match focused, determined, and confident.”
Chris Onstad (106) got the Knights rolling with a 4-1 decision over Mason Snyder and back-to-back pins from Jake Nohre (113) and Drake Swanson (120) gave the Knights an early 15-0 lead.
“Chris Onstad pushed his way through a 3 period match earning a win in his first ever varsity appearance,” said Gruchow.
At 126 Chase Godel of the Wolverines posted a 9-3 decision over Aiden Winter.
“Aiden wrestled a hard fought match,” reported Gruchow.  “Although he came up just short on points, he saved the team 3 points.  In a match that can be huge.  In Aiden’s case tonight the scoreboard didn’t add up in his favor, but he found a way to help out his team by saving points.”
Forfeit wins by Levi Larkin (132) and Tyler Onstad (138) kicked the Knights lead up to 27-3, however, a fall by Carter Wright (145) of Wadena-Deer Creek over Wyatt Olson cut the lead to 27-9.
“Wyatt Olson an 8th grader, stepped up tonight for the team and weighed in at 145 pounds to fill a gap in the line-up due to a couple of different reasons,” added Gruchow. “Wyatt  lost by a fall against his Wadena opponent but stepped in to fill a gap for his team and that's just another example of how these guys are willing to do what it takes to help out their teammates.”
Jake Larkin (152), Kyle Mickelsen (160) and Royal Crow (170) each recorded a pin as the Knights increased their lead to 45-9.
Blake Amundson (182) made it 48-9 with a 7-5 decision over Kobe Weller.
“Blake scrapped his way through all three periods to win a close match,” noted Gruchow.
Hunter Fick (195) and Buzz Miller (220) continued the pin parade and TJ Waskowsky (HWT) won by forfeit, putting the final at 66-9.
“We will hit the practice room tomorrow morning at 6:30 am knowing that we need to continue to work hard, improve our conditioning, and fine tune our technique,” concluded Coach Gruchow.  “These guys know they need to have continuous improvement to reach their team and individual goals that they have set for themselves.  Once again, I am proud of these boys for their efforts and accomplishments in tonight’s dual!”
The JV rebounded very nicely against Breckenridge and Wadena’s JV following a tough outing at the BBE tournament last Tuesday.  “It was extremely pleasing to see how well they wrestled tonight,” commented Gruchow. “These young men wrestled tough and made their coaches and teammates proud.”
Chase Veldhouse went 1-0, Hunter Mickelsen went 1-0, Zack Salo 1-0, Jannis Knothe 2-0, Austin Aufdenkamp 0-2, Kaleb Getz 2-0, and Hunter Hanson 1-2.

SCORING SUMMARY:

WCA/A/BE 66, WDC 9 106 Chris Onstad WCA dec 4-1 Mason Snyder WDC 113 Jake Nohre WCA fall 1:32 Colton Knudson WDC 120 Drake Swanson WCA Fall 1:01 Cody Wheeler WDC 126 Chase Godel WDC dec 9-3 Aiden Winter WCA 132 Levi Larken WCA wins by Forfeit 138 Tyler Onstad WCA wins by forfeit 145 Carter Wright WDC fall :41 Wyatt Olson WDC 152 Jake Larkin WCA fall 2:41 Tyler Wheeler WDC 160 Kyle Mickelsen WCA fall 1:40 Blaine Snyder WDC 170 Royal Crow WCA fall 3:43 Steven Erkenbrack WDC 182 Blake Amundson WCA dec 7-5 Kobe Weller WDC 195 Hunter Fick WCA fall 2:46 Isaac Malone WDC 220 Buzz Miller WCA fall 1:29 Joseph Baker WDC HWT TJ Waskowsky WCA wins by forfeit