Four Crookston Pirate Wrestlers were competing in the 41 team Big Bear Invitational Wrestling Tournament being held at the Cass Lake-Bena High School. Ethan Bowman finished third place, Carter Coauette and Ethan Boll finished fifth place.  Zach Brown didn’t make weight in the morning weigh-in and had to forfeit his match and was eliminated.  “The first round matches were crucial for us in the first wrestle back round to make sure they placed,” said Pirate Coach Wes Hanson. “Zach was banged up and was a little over and wasn’t able to wrestle today. He will be ready to go in Fargo for the Rumble on the Red.”
Crookston finished 14th place out of 41 teams, while Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville won the tournament with 216 points.
The match stories and results for all four Pirates are below.

CARTER COAUETTE-
Carter wrestled Marshall Larson of Aitkin in the 106-pound semi-finals and lost 15-4.  Carter trailed 6-1 after the first period and 10-2 after the second period.  Carter was only able to score on four escapes.
Carter lost to Gage Clem of Elk River 9-3 in wrestle backs.  Carter trailed 5-0 going into the third period and trailed 7-0 early in the final period.  Carter answered with an escape and a takedown to get within a 7-3 deficit, but Clem got a reversal and won 9-3.
In the fifth-place match, Carter won by a forfeit to finish fifth place.  “Carter had an outstanding day yesterday,” said Coach Hanson. “It was a great tournament for him and he should be proud of a fifth-place finish.”

ETHAN BOWMAN –
Ethan won his first match on Saturday by beating Dallas Walton of MAHACA 9-4 in his first wrestleback match.  Ethan started slow and trailed 4-1 after the first period.  In the second period, Ethan got a takedown with 14 seconds left and added three nearfall points to take a 6-4 lead.  In the third period, Ethan got an escape 13 seconds into the period and a takedown halfway through and held on for a 9-4 victory to assure himself a spot on the podium.
Ethan added another 9-4 victory in his second match of the day over Cael Lorentz of Long Prairie-Grey Eagle.  After a scoreless first period, Ethan trailed 4-2 at the end of the second period. Ethan had a tremendous third period with a reversal 45 seconds into the final period.  He got a point after his opponent was called for stalling to take a 5-4 lead.  Ethan added a few more nearfall points and won the match 9-4.
Ethan beat Ethan Hendrickson of United North Central by injury default to advance to the third-place match.
In the third-place match, Ethan won a thrilling 1-0 decision. The first period was scoreless.  The only scoring of the match came about halfway through the second period when Bowman got an escape with 1:16 left in the period.  Bowman started the third period on top and was able to hold on for the 1-0 victory to finish third place. “Hats off to him to come back and win four matches today to finish third place,” said Coach Hanson. “He beat some very good wrestlers and it was an impressive day for him.”

ETHAN BOLL – 
Ethan won his first match of the day in an exciting 2-1 decision.  The match was scoreless after two periods and Ethan trailed 1-0 after giving up and escape.  Seven seconds later Ethan got a takedown and took a 2-1 lead and held on for the victory.
In his second match of the day, Ethan cruised to an impressive 15-1 victory over Jagger Greenwood of Hibbing (who is ranked #5 in Class AA).  After a scoreless first period, Ethan got an escape eight seconds into the second period.  Halfway through the period, he got a takedown and 11 seconds later he received nearfall points for a 6-0 lead.  In the third period, Ethan continued to dominate and got a takedown 13 seconds into the period.  He followed with some more nearfall points and cruised to a 15-1 victory.
Ethan lost his next match by pin at 2:39. After a scoreless first period, Ethan got stuck and was pinned 21 seconds into the second period.
Ethan beat Hayden VanderVoort of Hector by an 8-4 decision to finish fifth place.  Ethan started the match with a takedown nine seconds into the match and he led 2-1 after the first period.  Ethan scored two more points on a reversal 34 seconds into the second period, but he gave up an escape and led 4-2 going into the third period.  Ethan gave up an escape six seconds into the period and led 4-3, but he got a takedown 14 seconds later to take a 6-3 lead.  After Boll gave up and escape he got a takedown late and won the match 8-4 to finish fifth place. “Ethan had some great matches today and really wrestled well in his second match today to beat the #5 ranked wrestler in Class AA,” said Coach Hanson. “He wrestled hard in his fifth-place match and wrapped up a great tournament.”

ZACH BROWN – 
Zach was scheduled to wrestle in the wrestlebacks, but he didn’t make weight and had to forfeit his match and was eliminated.

The Pirates will be off until Friday, December 27 when they travel to the Fargodome for the Rumble on the Red wrestling tournament.