The short-handed Crookston Pirate Wrestling team had two champions and finished fifth place out of 12 teams at the Northwest Invitational tournament in Fertile. Crookston had 98 points while Bemidji won the tournament with 155 points, two points better than Valley City, North Dakota.
Crookston’s two champions were Ethan Bowman and Zach Brown. Ethan won all three of his matches in impressive fashion. He won his first match by a pin in the second period before winning his final two matches by 5-0 and 14-2 decisions. “Ethan was solid all day and really had a dominant performance,” said Crookston head coach Wes Hanson. “He was really tough to score on. He showed some great defense and he always has a lot of offense. I’m really proud of how hard he’s competed over the last three days.” Zach Brown won all three of his matches to win the championship at 120 pounds. Zach won his first match by pin, won the semi-final match by an 11-2 decision before winning the championship by pin with one second left in the second period for the championship. “I thought Zach really put the gas pedal down,” added Hanson. “That’s what he needs to do. Score early and often, and dominate. It was a nice day for him and good to see him wrestling well.”
Cameron Weiland took third place at 132 pounds winning his final two matches by pin to reach the podium. Weiland’s win in the third-place match was also the 100th win of his career. “Cam had a solid performance today,” explained Hanson. “He wrestled hard in that semifinal match. In his third-place match, Cameron had a great effort. He was trailing at the time when he got a takedown. He wrestled from the top position, secured the hold and pin with very little time left in the period against a good opponent. It was a good day for Cameron.” Carter Coauette won two of his four matches at 106 pounds to take fourth place in his weight class. “Carter wrestled better as the day went on,” said Hanson. “He had a tough out in his first match, but he was able to wrestle his way back and get another shot at him. He had it close to within one-point but just came up a takedown short. It was still an overall good day for him.” Braxton Volker won his final match at 138 pounds, his second win of the day, to earn a fifth-place finish. Hunter Knutson was the final Pirate wrestler to reach the podium winning his final match of the day to finish in fifth place at 145 pounds. “I think our guys got a lot of wrestling in over the last three days,” summarized Hanson. “Today was a good day for us. We’re ready for a week off and then getting ready to peak in the post season. That’s what it’s all about. I like where we’re at at this point.”
TEAM SCORES
1. Bemidji-176
2. Valley City- 172
3. Thief River Falls-162
4. Deer River-141.5
5. CROOKSTON-98
6. Pelican Rapids-93.5
7. Fertile-Beltrami-88.5
8. United Clay Becker-67.5
9. Red Lake County Central-56.5
10. All Saints Home School-24
11. Grafton-16
12. Roseau-7
Crookston returns to the mat on Tuesday, February 11 when the Pirates will compete in the Section 8A Team Tournament first round. The location and opponent for the first round of the team tournament are both to be determined.
| PIRATES | Opponent/Results | Place | |
| 106 | Carter Coauette | Lost to Zachary Ikola (DR) pin 1:25 Beat Kotlyn Grebel (VC) pin 2:25 Beat Taylor Johnson (UCB) Inj. Def Lost to Zachary Ikolas (DR) 10-7 |
4th |
| 113 | Ethan Bowman | Beat Pat Locklear (Ros) pin 2:25 Beat Coy Olsen (Bem) 5-0 Beat Jayce Ross (DR) 14-2 |
1st |
| 120 | Zach Brown | Beat Oakley Carlson (PR) pin 1:53 Beat Bennett Rogelstad (VC) 11-2 Beat Seth Lavalier (FB) pin 3:59 |
1st |
| 126 | OPEN | ||
| 132 | Cam Weiland | Beat Carter Johnson (PR) 15-6 Lost to Cody Wienen (TRF) 13-7 Beat Levi Qualley (FB) Pin 1:48 Beat Logan Willard (Bem) pin 1:48 |
3rd |
| 138 | Braxton Volker | Lost to Sebastian Centeno (PR) 11-3 Beat Evan Mielke (VC) pin 2:46 Lost to Hunter Hitchen (FB) 5-1 Beat Alex Ibanez (Graf) Inj. Def |
5th |
| 145 | Cade Coauette | Lost to Trey Fairbanks (DR) pin 1:30 Lost to Xavier Strehlow (UCB) pin 4:24 |
DNP |
| 145 | Hunter Knutson | Lost to Dane Jorgenson (Bem) pin 1:13 Beat Jack Kapenga (PR) pin 2:12 Lost to Tyson Hovland (VC) pin 3:46 Beat Race Knochenmus (Ros) Inj. Def. |
5th |
| 152 | OPEN | ||
| 160 | OPEN | ||
| 170 | OPEN | ||
| 182 | OPEN | ||
| 195 | OPEN | ||
| 220 | Greg Gonzalez | Lost Wyatt Dunham (UCB) pin 3:52 Lost to Zach Howard (RLCC) 6-1 |
DNP |
| 285 | OPEN |
