CROOKSTON PIRATE WRESTLERS BEAT G.F. RED RIVER AND G.F. CENTRAL IN BORDER BATTLE

FThe Crookston Pirate Wrestling team had three open-weights, but it didn’t matter as they beat Grand Forks Red River 52-21, and Grand Forks Central 40-36 in the Border Battle in Grand Forks, ND.  

CROOKSTON vs G.F. RED RIVER – 
The match started at 113 pounds and Crookston didn’t have a wrestler at the weight and lost by a forfeit and trailed 6-0 right away. Crookston tied the match with a forfeit win at 120-pounds as Gavyn Hlucny picked up the win.  Neither team had a wrestler at 126 pounds and Red River won by a pin at 132 pounds to take a 12-6 lead.  Crookston rattled off seven wins in a row to take a commanding lead.  It started with Casey Weiland at 138-pounds with a pin in the second period.  Carter Coauette won by a forfeit at 145, Braxton Volker won by a pin late in the first period at 152-pounds, Ethan Bowman won by a pin in 53-seconds at 160, Spencer Ness won by an 11-2 decision at 170, Layten Fuentes picked up a pin later in the third period at 182, and Ethan Boll finished off the string of seven wins with a forfeit for a 46-12 lead with three matches remaining.  Red River won the 220-match with a 2-0 decision and the heavyweight match with a forfeit.  The final match was at 106-pounds with Evin Trudeau getting a pin in the second period for a 52-21 victory to improve to 4-2 on the year. “I thought our guys wrestled well, especially in the middle of the lineup,” said Coach Wes Hanson. “Casey Weiland had a really big win for us, Spencer Ness is wrestling well, and Layton Fuentes had a big pin and a big win on his birthday.  Evin Trudeau has had a great start to the season and when he sticks to his technique, he is a pinner.”

CROOKSTON vs GRAND FORKS CENTRAL –

The match started at 120-pounds and the eighth grader Gavin Hlucny won by a forfeit to go 7-0 on the year for the first seven matches of his Pirate career.  Central won the 126-pound match by a pin, they 132-pound amtch by forfeit, and ended a three match streak with a 2-0 decision victory at 138 for a 15-6 lead.  Crookston responded with three straight wins with a Carter Coauette pin in the second period. “Carter built up a nice lead and was wrestling well,” said Coach Hanson.  Braxton Volker followed with a big 15-4 decision victory. “He was able to get some bonus points and overall a great performance,” said Coach Hanson. Ethan Bowman wrapped up a three-match streak with an exciting pin with 14 seconds left in the match for a 22-15 lead. “Ethan had a cradle locked up and his opponent slipped out and all of a sudden Ethan pinned him,” said Coach Hanson.  After a Central victory by a 15-10 decision at 170-pounds, Crookston responded with a pin at 182-pounds when Layten Fuentes won by a pin with five seconds left in his match for a 28-18 lead. “Layten was able to get the fall in short-time and that was a nice win for us,” said Coach Hanson.  Ethan Boll didn’t waste any time as he won by a pin in 31-seconds and Crookston had a 34-18 lead with four matches left. “Ethan came out strong and made quick work of it,” said Coach Hanson. Central won the next two matches by a pin and forfeit to get within a 34-30 deficit with two matches left.  Crookston won the 106-pound match by forfeit, and Central won the 113-pound match and Crookston held on for a 40-36 victory. “It was an exciting dual and the guys keep getting better each dual,” said Coach Hanson.

Crookston improves to 5-2 on the year and will host the Rod Olson Invitational tournament on Saturday at the Crookston High School gymnasium.