The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons won three matches by pin, three matches by forfeit, one by tech fall, and one by decision to beat the Crookston Pirate Wrestling team 44-28 in a Section 8A dual at the Crookston High School gymnasium.
Fertile-Beltrami started the match with Bennett Whitcomb picking up a win at 107 pounds by a forfeit. Crookston responded with a win at 114 pounds with a nice match from Mauricio Arriaga. Mauricio scored a takedown in the first period and had a 3-0 lead. He kept it going in the second period and got a takedown and got his opponent in a spladel for a pin 28 seconds into the period to tie the match at 6-6.
Fertile-Beltrami’s Gregory Ramberg won his match at 121 pounds by forfeit. At 127 pounds, Crookston’s Gabe Perala got a takedown to take an early 3-0 lead. In the third period, Fertile-Beltrami’s Jaxon Grunwald got one point after a potentially dangerous point and added another point on an escape before getting a takedown late in the period for a 5-4 lead and held on for the victory. Fertile-Beltrami’s Max Ramberg and Levi Kresl won their matches by pin in the first period, and Gavin Broden won by forfeit for a 33-6 lead.
Crookston’s Gavyn Hlucny, ranked #3 in the state at 152 pounds, won by a forfeit before Jose Arriaga won his match by major decision at 160 pounds. Fertile-Beltrami’s Alex Molina started the 160-pound match with a takedown for a 3-0 lead. Crookston’s Arriaga answered with an escape followed by a takedown for a 4-3 lead. Molina answered with an escape and it was tied at 4-4 after the first period. In the second period, Jose started with an escape and a takedown. He gave up an escape before getting another takedown for a 15-5 lead. Molina ended the period with an escape and Arriaga took a 15-6 lead into the third period. The Falcons’ Molina started the final period with an escape and a takedown to get within a 15-10 deficit. Arriaga responded with an escape and scored a takedown with 12 seconds left and held on to win 19-10.
At 172 pounds, Crookston’s Jaron Knutson won by a forfeit to get within a 33-20 deficit. Fertile-Beltrami only needed one more win with three matches remaining to get a team win. They didn’t wait long as Jack Erickson was dominant in his 189-pound match as he took a 7-0 lead into the second period. Erickson started the second period with a takedown. After giving up an escape, Erickson had a takedown. He gave up an escape and followed with a takedown. He gave up another escape before getting another takedown with five seconds remaining to win the match by a tech fall with a 19-3 lead.
Crookston’s Miles Corneillie won by a forfeit at 215 pounds and Fertile-Beltrami’s William Howard ended the match with a first period pin and the Falcons won the match 44-28.
Crookston drops to 1-7 in duals on the year and will travel to the Minnewaska Area tournament on Friday. Fertile-Beltrami gets their first dual victory of the season and will travel to Blackduck on Thursday to take on BGMR and Blackduck.
| Weight | Crookston-28 | F-B-44 | Winner | Result |
| 107 | OPEN | Bennett Whitcomb | FB | Forfeit |
| 114 | Mauricio Arriaga | Boe Rasch | Crox | Pin 2:32 |
| 121 | OPEN | Gregory Ramberg | FB | Forfeit |
| 127 | Gabe Perala | Jaxon Grunwald | FB | 5-4 |
| 133 | Kolten Bahrenfuss | Max Ramberg | FB | Pin 1:12 |
| 139 | Jose Contreras | Levi Kresl | FB | Pin :32 |
| 145 | OPEN | Gavin Broden | FB | Forfeit |
| 152 | Gavyn Hlucny | OPEN | Crox | Forfeit |
| 160 | Jose Arriaga | Alex Molina | Crox | 19-10 |
| 172 | Jaron Knutson | OPEN | Crox | Forfeit |
| 189 | Lucas Perala | Jack Erickson | FB | Tech Fall 3:55 |
| 215 | Miles Corneillie | OPEN | Crox | Forfeit |
| HWT | Jack Odegaard | William Howard | FB | Pin 1:11 |
