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