Wrestler of the Week Braeden Long

Braeden Long is this week's wrestler of the week.  He proved that he can fight to the end and win big no matter what the match score might be during the match.  I am proud of Braeden as he is the only senior that has been able to stick with this program.  He has been with us through thick and through thin; which I am sure has been a struggle at times, especially during the low points that almost every wrestler/team goes through.  He has done this without anyone else from his grade to help him out.  He has a high level of perseverance, a great work ethic, and has great leadership skills.  Braeden is a captain of the Knights wrestling team for these reasons.  Keep up the great work Braeden!  And congratulations on being this week's wrestler of the week!”

WCAAE Wrestlers Improve to 9-2 By: Kevin Fick

The Knight wrestlers had another roller coaster of a week that included a Gophers match, a win over MAHACA and a postponed dual  with Osakis due to weather.  Sunday, Jan. 12^th found the team traveling to the University of MN for a dual that showed the #2 ranked Gophers dispatching the Wisconsin Badgers with relative ease.  Tuesday, Jan. 14^th brought the Morris Area/Hancock/Chokio-Alberta Tigers to town.  The ever improving Knights showed a great amount of poise and patience when facing the AA opponent and put up a score of 44-27 on the Tigers.  Due to weather the dual with Osakis that was scheduled for Jan. 16^th has been moved to Jan. 31^st.  The team has also cracked the ‘Mean and Lean’ list, which are the teams getting votes for state rankings.

”We added this dual to our schedule to get another match against a good team.”…said Coach Gruchow.   “MAHACA has and up and coming team just as we do and we knew it was going to be a fun and action filled dual.  It was great to see a team with a full varsity line-up and a good number of JV/JH wrestlers.  The Knights went 5-7 in the JV/JH matches.  Chase Veldhouse, Hunter Mickelsen, Aiden Winter and Austin Clavin all won by fall; Kode Seifort  won by major decision.  It was nice to see the JV getting the big wins, we like to see all the pins!

The Varsity came out strong and set the tempo and expectation after capturing the first four matches of the dual.  We knew we had to come out strong to make it through the middle of MAHACA’s line-up.  They are a solid team….with a team like that you cannot afford to give them any breaks.  We had five pins on the evening; Drake Swanson, Jake Larkin, Braedon Long, Hunter Fick and Buzz Miller all earned those big points which help so much in tight duals.

Our plan is to keep on keeping on.  We are going to push it in the practice room, on the mat, and hopefully the boys are pushing themselves where it matters most….when no one is watching.  It was another fun night and I feel we improved as a team.  Hopefully that continues to be the trend.”

Tuesday. Jan. 12^th  Barrett, MN    Star Spangled Banner was sang by Marrissa Heyward

WCAAE 44, MAHACA 27

106 lb. Drake Swanson (WCAAE) defeated Christian Athey per fall 1:11

113 lb. Jake Nohre (WCAAE) defeated Matt Munsterman per major dec. 14-2

120 lb. Levi Larkin (WCAAE) defeated Jared Rohloff per dec. 2-0

126 lb. Keaton Long (WCAAE) defeated Mitchell Ascheman per dec. 15-10

132 lb. Travis Ostby (MAHACA) defeated Tyler Onstad per fall 2:37

138 lb. Jake Larkin (WCAAE) defeated Trenton Nelson per fall 2:30

145 lb. Myles Smith (MAHACA) defeated Kyle Mickelsen per major dec. 13-3

152 lb. Royal Crow (WCAAE) defeated Jerid Berning per major dec. 9-1

160 lb. Braedon Long (WCAAE) defeated Steven Koel per fall 5:19

170 lb. Danny Trac (MAHACA) defeated Zach Salo per fall 1:37

182 lb. Jordan Thooft (MAHACA) defeated Koel Seifort per tech. fall 16-1

195 lb. Aaron Nelson (MAHACA) defeated Sid Kamrath per fall 1:05

220 lb. Hunter Fick (WCAAE) defeated Alec Gausman per fall 2:25

285 lb. Buzz Miller (WCAAE) defeated Jacob Sperr per fall 1:30

KKOK ‘Wrestler of the Match’ was awarded to Braedon Long

An extra thanks goes to Orvin “Buggs” Erickson.  If there was a greatest fan award from a school it should be given to ‘Buggs’ from WCA.  It is a rare home event that the Elbow Lake native is not cheering from the stands.  Upon chatting with him at most of those contests it is evident that he is not just proud of his hometown but all the kids that participate in it, a pleasure to talk with about sports history.  We’ll see you at the next meet ‘Buggs’!

What a Week!

The Crowd

Gruchow vs Zdrazil AWF

Gopher Day Sunday

Little Guys With Tony Denucci

Little Knights take 2nd in Minnewaska

Wrestler of the Week

Hunter Fick earns my vote for Wrestler of the Week.  Hunter is only a second year wrestler.  His strength and natural God given talent has allowed him to accomplish things that wrestlers who have wrestled their whole life want to accomplish.  Hunter is an extremely hard worker, very self-disciplined, and loves competition.  This is a great recipe for success on the wrestling mat.  Hunter shined this week with a great triple overtime win over state ranked Brad Jacobs of Minnewaska and a pin over his Browerville opponent.  Hunter has so much potential to continue to grow and improve as a wrestler.  His knowledge content that he has for wrestling is limited due to his inexperience; however his willingness to learn and train hard makes up for it!  What a super athlete and a pleasure to coach…keep up the great work Hunter!

Trojans Trampled, Lakers Sunk, Tigers Destriped By: Kevin Fick

Dominant: Exercising controlling power or influence

The 5^th week of the wrestling season found the Knight Wrestlers shredding through their competition.  With convincing road victories in Glenwood and Browerville the boys in red looked more like raging bulls than high school students.  The funny part of success is that it is infectious.  Coach Gruchow and his staff may have these athletes conditioned and ready to wrestle but the team seems to feed on itself and when the winning starts the victories begin to pile up.  The Knights are now 8-2 in team duals.

The grapplers are growing in skill and confidence by the week.  One of the most noted accomplishments witnessed lately is a presence of mat awareness.  If the reader can imagine what this means the wrestlers are beginning to use the mat as a tool instead of just a work bench.  To further explain this a wrestler needs to score points to win.  The athlete that can score points without endangering themself is typically the one with a hand raised at the end of a match.  A month ago many of the wrestlers were blowing in hard on an opponent anywhere on the mat, this week it was clear most of the Knights positioned themselves near the edge of the mat which equates to safety if the move is not successful.  This team is no longer frustrated when a move does not work but instead works to frustrate an opponent with a move.  From the fast paced antics of the light weights to the brute force of the heavier weights there has been growth in every athlete…most enjoyable to watch.

“It was great to get back into some well needed wrestling action”…stated Gruchow.  “We missed out on the Benson Tournament this past weekend due to the weather and a few of our wrestlers haven’t had any live competition since the week before Winter Break. Due to the long break of competiton and practice I was a little skeptical on how the wrestlers would perform.   We went into the triangular with high expectations for our Team.  We pulled the boys into the Minnewaska practice room before the tri to get a quick but intense workout in.  We didn’t want them to be overconfident but we wanted them to be physically and mentally prepared…we wanted to make sure they were ready to be dominant in both the Ortonville and Minnewaska duals.  They came out ready and prepared.  The boys were on a mission and it was fun watching them throughout the two duals.  There were a lot of great things that went on during the triangular.  Some of the highlights included Braeden Long earning his first pin of the season, Tyler Onstad really opened it up on his feet, and Hunter Fick beat the 6th ranked guy in the state at 195 pounds in the third and final overtime.  It was a good night; however there are definitely techniques and positions we need to improve on and tune up before the end of the season.  That’s what the boy’s will be doing at 6:30 tomorrow morning!”   

Tuesday, Jan 7^th   Glenwood, MN

WCAAE 74, Ortonville 6

106 lb. Jake Nohre (WCAAE) defeated Ben Eustice per fall 4:50

113 lb. Levi Larkin (WCAAE) defeated Tristan Eastman per fall 4:40

120 lb. Keaton Long (WCAAE) defeated Jordan Karasch per fall 4:47

126 lb. Wyatt Odegaard (WCAAE) won per forfeit

132 lb. Tyler Onstad (WCAAE) defeated Elijah Cloos per fall 4:16

138 lb. Jake Larkin (WCAAE) won per forfeit

145 lb. Kyle Mickelsen (WCAAE) defeated Joseph Eustice per fall :45

152 lb. Royal Crow (WCAAE) defeated Dylan Pillatzki per fall 2:46

160 lb. Braedon Long (WCAAE) defeated Cody Bedore per tech. fall 16-0

170 lb. Isaac Cloos (ORT) defeated Koel Seifort per fall 4:45

182 lb. Sid Kamrath (WCAAE) defeated Robert Wood per fall 3:06

195 lb. Hunter Fick (WCAAE) won per forfeit

220 lb. Buzz Miller (WCAAE) defeated Kyle Rockensock per fall :44

285 lb. T.J. Waskosky (WCAAE) defeated Hayden Knip per dec. 7-0

KKOK ‘Wrestler of the Match’ T.J. Waskosky

WCAAE 57, Minnewaska 14

106 lb. Drake Swanson (WCAAE) won per forfeit

113 lb. Joseph Weaver (MINN) defeated Levi Larkin per dec. 11-4

120 lb. Aiden Winter (WCAAE) won per forteit

126 lb. Keaton Long (WCAAE) defeated Spencer Winter per dec. 4-3 in OT

132 lb. Tyler Onstad (WCAAE) defeated Garret Kelling per fall 1:56

138 lb. Jake Larkin (WCAAE) won per forfeit

145 lb. Kyle Mickelsen (WCAAE) defeated Weston Lardy per dec. 2-0

152 lb. Royal Crow (WCAAE) defeated Marcelo Arredondo per fall 2:14

160 lb. Braedon Long (WCAAE) defeated Andrew Troen per fall 1:50

170 lb. Caleb Blaisdell (MINN) defeated Koel Seifort per tech. fall 19-4

182 lb. Ryan Stottler (MINN) defeated Sid Kamrath per fall 1:49

195 lb. Hunter Fick (WCAAE) defeated Brad Jacobs per dec. 2-1 triple OT

220 lb. Buzz Miller (WCAAE) won per forfeit

285 lb. T.J. Waskosky (WCAAE) won per forfeit

KKOK ‘Wrestler of the Match’ Hunter Fick

About the night in Browerville Gruchow states…”It is said that 90% of wrestling matches are won before they are even wrestled….this is the big message we are trying to push onto our wrestlers.  They are in a much different place than they were last year…they are better, more experienced, have bigger goals and we are seeing a different mindset.  These wrestlers want to be better, they want to learn techniques, and they are willing to push themselves to the next level.  In our last three duals including our dual tonight, they boys knew they could win, they knew they had to win, and they got the win.  Browerville had some open spots so we knew we were sitting in a good spot to win the dual but we wanted to be dominant.  This desire to win was shown during Kyle Mickelsen’s win in the last 3 second of the match when he scored a takedown with a nice whip-over which won him the match.  He wasn’t satisfied with loosing, he wanted the win, and he made it happen.  These types of things are happening more and more, the boys are finding the ways to win, or score the points that they need to help out the team and themselves.  The mind is a powerful tool in the sport of wrestling and a key to success.  I think the wrestlers are catching on to it!   Hopefully they can lock it in in our next two duals against Morris and Osakis.”

Thursday, Jan. 9^th    Browerville, MN

WCAAE 69, Browerville 6

106 lb. Drake Swanson (WCAAE) won per forfeit

113 lb. Noah Becker (BROW) defeated Jake Nohre per dec. 3-0

120 lb. Levi Larkin (WCAAE) won per forfeit

126 lb. Keaton Long (WCAAE) won per forfeit

132 lb. Tyler Onstad (WCAAE) won per forfeit

138 lb. Jake Larkin (WCAAE) defeated Dalton Butler per fall :50

145 lb. Kyle Mickelsen (WCAAE) defeated Jackson Wollenburg per dec. 3-2

152 lb. Royal Crow (WCAAE) defeated Nic Becker per fall 1:46

160 lb. Braedon Long (WCAAE) defeated Austin Twardowski per fall 1:46

170 lb. Koel Seifort (WCAAE) defeated Devin Lange per fall :56

182 lb. Jake Gaida (BROW) defeated Blake Amundson per dec. 6-5

195 lb. Sid Kamrath (WCAAE) defeated Bo Olson per fall 3:14

220 lb. Hunter Fick (WCAAE) defeated Damion Lange per fall 5:55

285 lb. Buzz Miller (WCAAE) defeated James Gaida per fall 2:26

The Knights find themselves back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 15^th in a home dual against Morris Area/Hancock/Chokio-Alberta.  Wrestling begins at 6 pm in the Barrett gymnasium.  Thursday, Jan. 17^th the wresters travel to Osakis.  The dual is scheduled to start at 6 pm.