Crookston Pirate wrestlers, Zach Brown and Lukas Meier, competed in the second day of the Minnesota State Individual wrestling tournament at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Zach Brown, the #2 ranked wrestler in Class A at 113 pounds, ran into the #1 ranked Charley Elwood of Medford in the semi-finals. The first period had a lot of scrambling early on and Zach fought off a takedown attempt, but later in the period, Elwood was able to get a takedown for a 2-0 lead after the first period. In the second period, Elwood scored two more points on a reversal and than scored two points on a reversal for a 6-0 lead. Each wrestler was warned for stalling and Elwood took a 6-0 lead into the third period. Zach started the third period with a takedown and trailed 6-2 and he let Elwood escape and with 40 seconds left in the match Brown had another takedown and trailed 7-4. Elwood answered with another takedown and Brown scored a point on an escape but ran out of time and Elwood won the match 9-5.
In Zach’s consolation semi-final match, there was a scramble early in the match and it looked like his opponent was going to get a takedown before Zach countered and scored two points on a takedown for a 2-0 lead. Zach was riding and Bartels scored on a reversal to tie the match at 2-2. Zach scored a point on an escape to lead 3-2 going into the second period. Bartels started down and scored an escape to tie the match at 3-3. Later in the period the Pirate coaches were instructing Zach to go for a foot sweep and he listened and scored two points on a takedown and led 5-3 going into the third period. Zach started the third period down and got an escape right away for a 6-3 lead and with 50 seconds left in the period he had a takedown for an 8-3 lead and held on to win the match.
Zach wrestled freshman Ayden Horner (Tracy-Milroy) in the third-place match.
Horner would get an outside single leg early and dropped Zach on his hips for a two-point takedown. Although just a freshman, Horner showed tremendous power and after a chop and armbar on his far wrist, Horner showed a power move on a near armbar and flipped Zach on his back and it was solid and Horner got the pin at 1:45. Zach Brown, the Pirate sophomore finishes fourth at State at 113 pounds and finishes the season with a record of 42-3!!! “It’s exciting,” said Crookston Pirate Wrestling head coach Wes Hanson. “It’s kind of a progression from last year when he got one match away from placing. He was really excited to wrestle in this tournament this year and to make it to the semifinals was a good experience for him. He wrestled hard, scored a lot of takedowns and definitely belongs in day two at the state tournament and coming away with a fourth-place finish is just awesome so I’m really proud of him too.”
Lukas Meier was in the wrestlebacks at 152 pounds and wrestled Marcus Otomo (Dover-Eyota) in a wrestleback match. The one-minute first-period match started with Otomo trying for a takedown attempt early, but Lukas was able to fight it off and neither wrestler was able to score and they were scoreless going into the second period. Lukas started down in the second period and had an escape for a 1-0 lead. Lukas shot for the legs and Otomo was able to fight it off and got a takedown and back points for a 4-1 lead. There was a lot of action the next few seconds and Lukas scored two points on a reversal and added two more back points for a 5-4 lead going into the third period. Otomo started the third period with a takedown for a 6-5 lead. Lukas escaped to tie the match at 6-6 and that is how the third period would end, forcing overtime. In overtime, Otomo went for the takedown and about five seconds into the extra period, Otomo got Lukas’ legs and took him down for two points and an 8-6 victory. The loss ended Meier’s season with a 21-8 record and it wraps up his outstanding career. “Lukas wrestled a solid match,” said Hanson. “He found himself trailing after giving up a four-point move in the second period, but picked up a reversal and a near fall of his own to get back in the match and actually took the lead. It was a back and forth match and Lucas competed really hard. It went into overtime and he gave up a takedown, but overall he did wrestle a solid tournament going 2-2 and wraps up a really good career as a Pirate. I’m just really proud of his accomplishments throughout this tournament and his whole career.”
“It was just really fun this whole year,” summarized Hanson following the final Crookston wrestling match of the season. “It was a lot of fun coaching all of the Pirate wrestlers and to have these guys competing here on the last day of the whole season at the state tournament means a lot. They work hard and are deserving of their accomplishments.”
| Saturday’s Opponent | Result | |
| Zach Brown | Lost to Charley Elwood (Medford) 9-5 Beat Cael Bartels (Chatfield) 8-3 Lost to Ayden Horner (Tracy) by pin |
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| Lukas Meier | Lost to Marcus Otomo (Dover-Eyota) 8-6 | DNP |
