CROOKSTON WRESTLING BEATS WADENA-DEER CREEK AND STAPLES-MOTLEY

The Crookston Pirate Wrestlers continued their winning ways as they beat Wadena-Deer Creek 66-12 and Staples-Motley 51-24 at the Wadena-Deer Creek triangular held at Wadena-Deer Creek High School Gym.

CROOKSTON vs WADENA-DEER CREEK
Evin Trudeau was back in the line for the first time in several weeks and the layoff didn’t seem to affect him as he came out with a win by pin in the third period to spark a seven-match winning streak for the Pirates.  “That was huge and he wrestled well and came away with a nice win to get us going,” said Pirate Coach Wes Hanson. “Evin is a big part of this team and it was nice to have him wrestling again.”  Nolan Dans, Carter Coauette, and Zach Brown all won their matches by forfeit, and Ethan Bowman, Cam Weiland, and Braxton Volker won their matches by pin to give Crookston a 42-0 lead.  “Ethan Bowman beat a pretty good kid and was able to get a pin late,” said Coach Hanson. “Cam and Braxton had two pretty competitive matches and had a couple of nice wins.”
Wadena-Deer Creek won their first match at 152 pounds with a pin, but Crookston responded with Hunter Knutson pin in the first period at 160-pounds. “Hunter came out strong and got a takedown and went to work,” said Coach Hanson.  Neither team had a wrestler at 170-pounds for a double forfeit and after a Wadena-Deer Creek win by pin at 180-pounds, Crookston’s Ethan Boll, Hunter Kresl, and Greg Gonzalez won their matches by forfeit and Crookston won 66-12. “It was a good match for the guys,” said Coach Hanson. 
Crookston improved to 17-6 in duals and Wadena-Deer Creek dropped to 1-16.  

CROOKSTON vs STAPLES-MOTLEY 
Crookston won the first two matches with Evin Trudeau going a full six minutes for a 7-4 victory at 106-pounds and Nolan Dans won by a pin with one-second left in the first period to give the Pirates a 12-0 lead.  “Evin was trailing 4-2 late in the match and was able to score a takedown and then went right to his back,” said Coach Hanson. “Nolan was able to lock up a cradle maneuver and it was a race against the clock and got the pin with point-three seconds left.”
Staples-Motley won by a 3-1 decision at 120-pounds before Crookston rattled off four straight wins.  Zach Brown, Ethan Bowman, Cam Weiland, and Braxton Volker all won by pins to give the Pirates a 33-3 lead. “Cam Weiland had a great performance and wrestled one of his best matches of the year,” said Coach Hanson. “The guys were aggressive and it was nice to get the big lead.”
Staples-Motley won three of the next four matches with Crookston’s Hunter Knutson winning by a pin in the first period the only win in that stretch and the Pirates a 39-21 lead with three matches remaining. “Hunter is physical and came out strong to get the pin,” said Coach Hanson.
Ethan Boll (at 195-pounds), and Hunter Kresl (at 220-pounds) won by forfeit before Staples-Motley won the heavyweight match by decision and Crookston won the match 51-24.  “It was a good night of wrestling,” said Coach Hanson. “We had a good week with some good wrestling and now we get ready for a week with four very good opponents.”

Crookston improves to 18-6 in duals and will travel to Long Prairie to take on Long Prairie-Grey Eagle and Detroit Lakes in a couple of tough duals on Tuesday.  Staples-Motley drops to 10-9 in duals.