BGMR FINISHES STRONG TO BEAT PIRATE WRESTLERS

The Crookston Pirate Wrestling team gave a solid effort, but ran into one of the top teams in the state in a 47-24 loss to the Badger-Greenbush-Middle River Gators in a Section 8A dual in Crookston.  “I thought we got off to a great start and they are a very good team and we were hoping to knock them off,” said Pirate Coach Wes Hanson. “Our guys wrestled pretty well tonight.”
The recap of each match is below – 

106 pounds – Ethan Bowan gave up a takedown early and trailed BGMR’s Tony Olson 2-0 before he had a reversal, but in a scramble, his opponent countered with a reversal and Ethan trailed 4-2 going into the second period.  Ethan was close to a takedown at the end of the first period, but he ran out of time as the buzzer sounded before he could get points.  In the second period with 37 seconds left Ethan got two points for a takedown and the match was tied 4-4 going into the third period.  Bowman started the third period down and was inches from an escape, but the whistle sounded with point-four seconds left for blood time and the match went to a sudden victory session.  In sudden victory, it looked like BGMR’s Olson was close to a takedown, but Bowman made a quick move and was able to get a takedown to win 6-4 in overtime to give Crookston a 3-0 lead.  “It was awesome for Ethan.  He wrestled him up in Thief River Falls and he gave up some bonus points,” said Coach Hanson. “He tied the match and forced overtime and was able to put him to his back to get the win and that was great for Ethan and a good start for the team.”

113 pounds – Carter gave up a takedown late in the first period and trailed 2-0 after the first period.  Coauette started the second period down and earned an escape halfway through the period to get within a 2-1 deficit and that was the score at the end of the second period.  Coauette started the third period up and gave up a takedown and trailed 4-1 with under a minute left in the match.  Carter gave up two more points before he countered with a reversal and trailed 6-3 and a late takedown made it 8-3 and that was the final score.  The team score was tied at 3-3.

120 pounds – #2 ranked Zach Brown came out strong for the Pirates with a takedown for an early 2-0 lead.  Zach dominated the first period and scored some back points to take a 5-0 lead into the second period.   Zach started the second period down and got an escape before getting a takedown for an 8-0 lead.  A little bit later, Zach got a pin at the 2:55 mark to give Crookston a 9-3 lead.  “He is wrestling well,” said Coach Hanson. “He got a nice takedown and was looking for some turns and got the big pin and was able to lock it up.”

126 pounds – Braxton Volker gave up an early takedown and trailed 2-0 and had an escape to cut the deficit down to one point (2-1) 40 seconds into the match.  Volker gave up a takedown and after an escape he was taken down again, had an escape and was taken down again and with a few seconds left in the period Braxton escaped again and was inches away from a takedown but the buzzer sounded and he was awarded two points and trailed 8-5 going into the second period.  Volker was taken down right away in the second period and trailed 10-5 before he recorded another escape and once again he was taken down and trailed 12-6 with one minute left in the period.  The escape to takedown trend continued and Braxton trailed 14-7 and fought off a pin in the final seconds of the period and gave up some back points and trailed 17-7 going into the third period.  The third period started with Braxton getting taken down and recording an escape before he was pinned at the 4:26 mark and the team score was tied at 9-9.

132 pounds – Andrew MacGregor recorded a win by forfeit with BGMR having the weight open giving Crookston a 15-9 lead.  “Andrew is relatively new to the sport and was nice to have him out there,” said Coach Hanson. “He is a good wrestler and he is going to have his time soon.”

138 pounds – Came Weiland was taken down early in the match and was pinned in 62 seconds and the match was tied at 15-15.

145 pounds – Hunter Knutson was taken down early by BGMR’s #4 ranked Owen Novacek and was pinned in 58 seconds and BGMR led 21-15.

152 pounds – Crookston’s #5 ranked Lukas Meier scored an early takedown and led 2-0 going into the second period.  Lukas added three more points halfway through the second period and he took a 5-0 lead into the third period.  Lukas started the third period with a reversal, but he was taken down right away and Lukas led 7-2.  Lukas was awarded a point and each wrestler added another point before he won the match 9-4 and BGMR had a 21-18 lead with six matches remaining.  “It was great with a takedown early and he took a 5-0 lead,” said Coach Hanson. “He got into a couple scramble situations late but wrestled a good match for a nice win.”

160 pounds – Ethan Boll was taken down right away and trailed 2-0 and that was the score going into the second period.  Ethan went for a takedown in the second period and his opponent was able to slip loose and get a reversal and a few seconds late another takedown and Ethan trailed 6-0 halfway through the second period.  Ethan scored a point on an escape and it was a 6-1 score going into the third period.  Ethan was taken down early in the third period and he was allowed to escape and trailed 8-2 with over a minute left in the match.  Ethan had a nice move with 40 seconds left for a reversal and trailed 8-4 and his opponent got an escape and Ethan lost 9-4 and BGMR took a 24-18 team lead.

170 pounds – Cade DeLeon started the match with a big scramble that went to the end of the match before he got stuck by a nice move by his opponent and was pinned in 33 seconds and BGMR took a 30-18 lead with Crookston only having two wrestlers in the next four matches.

182 pounds – Damian Hodgson started the match with a takedown for a 2-0 lead and worked his opponent onto his back for a pin in 1:21 to bring Crookston within a 30-24 deficit.  “The kid tried to take a shot on Damian and he locked him up for the pin,” said Coach Hanson. ”

195 pounds – Crookston didn’t have a wrestler and gave up the forfeit and trailed 36-24.

220 pounds – Blake Fee took on #1 ranked Dominik Vacura and was taken down right away and trailed 11-0 when he was taken down with two points awarded followed by three back points and the match was called with Vacura leading 16-0 due to the tech fall at 2:39.

Hwt – Crookston didn’t have a wrestler and BGMR’s #7 ranked Zach Evans won and BGMR won the match 47-24.

Crookston drops to 11-4 on the year and will travel to Fertile on Saturday for the Northwest Invitational at 11:00 a.m.