ZACH BROWN WINS 150TH, CROOKSTON PIRATE WRESTLERS BEAT BARNESVILLE AND DGF

The Crookston Pirate Wrestling team won seven matches by forfeits and cruised to a 62-18 victory over the Barnesville Trojans and won six matches in a row and held on for a 38-33 victory over the Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Rebels in a triangular at Barnesville.  Crookston’s Zach Brown won the 150th match of his career in the DGF match. 

CROOKSTON vs. BARNESVILLE

Crookston lost the night’s first match as they were open at 106 pounds and trailed 6-0 out of the gate.
Crookston responded with two forfeit wins at 113 pounds (Nolan Dans) and 120 pounds (Carter Coauette).
At 126 pounds, Ethan Bowman scored the first points of the match with a takedown for a quick 2-0 lead and led 2-1 at the end of the first.  Bowman came out strong and had a takedown to start the second period and got a pin in three minutes for the victory.  “He was the first competitor to get a match,” said Coach Wes Hanson. “He did a lot of things well, wrestled well in the top position, and was able to get a win.”
Zach Brown had no problems in his match at 132 pounds.  Zach had a takedown and got a pin in 1:16 for a 24-6 team lead. “He did a good job on his feet and some different setups to get some leg attacks,” said Coach Hanson.
Braxton Volker had a great start in his 138-pound match with a takedown a few seconds into the match and dominated the first period, and had a 7-0 lead. The second period was the opposite as Volker wasn’t able to break free, and nobody scored.  Volker started the third period on the bottom, and he scored two points with a reversal for a 9-0 lead.  Volker went into survival mode in the final minute of the third period as his opponent scored 5 points, but Braxton held on for a 9-5 victory to give Crookston a 33-6 lead.  “Braxton wrestled well, especially in the first period,” said Coach Hanson. “He was able to hold on and get a nice win for us.”
Crookston won by forfeit at 145 (Cam Weiland), 152 (Spencer Ness), 160 (Cade Coauette), and 170 (Hunter Knutson) for a 50-6 lead.
Barnesville won the match at 182 pounds to get within a 50-12 deficit, but Crookston’s Layten Fuentes won the 195-pound match by a forfeit.  Ethan Boll struck with a quick takedown at 220 pounds and won by a pin in 60 seconds. “He was able to get a little mat time,” said Coach Hanson. “He was in control and made quick work of it.”
At heavyweight, Barnesville won by a pin in the second period, and Crookston won the match 62-18.  “We wrestled pretty well,” said Coach Hanson. 

CROOKSTON vs. DGF –

Crookston lost the 106-match by forfeit, but Nolan Dans got the Pirates going with a win by pin at 113 pounds in the first period. “Nolan wrestled hard,” said Coach Hanson. “He was aggressive and wrestled well in the top position and got a tight move for a pin to get us going.”
Carter Coauette followed suit with a pin in the second period to give the Pirates a 12-6 lead. “He wrestled a pretty good match,” said Coach Hanson. “He locked up a cradle against a good opponent to get the pin.”
Crookston’s Ethan Bowman won a hard-fought 8-0 decision at 126 pounds.  “He had some scrambles and came out of a good position each time,” said Coach Hanson. “He wrestled a good match and picked up some bonus points.”
Zach Brown won his match at 132 pounds by a 5-0 decision to win his career’s 150th match. “A dominating performance for Zach, and it was a really good night for Zach. “He is seventh all-time for Crookston and has a pile of wins and really didn’t wrestle as a seventh-grader, so it is pretty impressive to have 150 wins.”
The Pirates continued to pick up some wins, with Braxton Volker winning by a pin at 1:24. “Braxton had a good day,” said Coach Hanson. “He had a nice move and had a tight move to get the pin.”
Cameron Weiland capped a six-match Pirate winning streak with a pin with one second left in the second period to give Crookston a commanding 31-6 lead. “That was a huge win for us and Cam,” said Coach Hanson. “He locked up a tight move late in the second period, and to get the pin with one second left was a huge win.”
DGF won the next two matches by a decision and pin to get within a 31-15 deficit, but Hunter Knutson had a big 4-0 win to give Crookston a 34-15 lead with four matches left. “He did a nice job of countering a few shots early on,” said Coach Hanson. “He wore his opponent down and found a way to come away with a victory.”  All Crookston had to do was win one more match, and they lost the 182-pound match by pin.  
Crookston loves the fact they have the #2 ranked wrestler, Ethan Boll, at 195 pounds, and Boll had another impressive effort with an 11-1 victory to solidify the team victory with a 38-21 lead. “That was a fun match for Ethan, and he had a chance to score early but couldn’t get the points,” said Coach Hanson. “Then he had an explosive takedown and controlled the match the rest of the way and gave us a big win.”
DGF won the final two matches by pin, and Crookston held on for a big 38-33 victory.  “I was proud of the guys and a big win,” said Coach Hanson. “Hopefully, this will keep the confidence going into a tough weekend this weekend.”

Crookston improves to 11-3 in duals this season.  Crookston will travel to the Bertha-Hewitt triangular for two big matches on Saturday.  They will take on #3 ranked Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, and #7 ranked Bertha-Hewitt.  DGF drops to 6-3 in duals.