CROOKSTON WRESTLERS BEAT FOSSTON-BAGLEY IN 1ST ROUND, KNUTSON WINS 50TH

The #4 seed Crookston Pirate Wrestling team had one of their strongest matches of the year as they beat the #5 seed Fosston/Bagley 54-18 in the first round of the Section 8A Team Wrestling tournament in Crookston. “I was really proud of the guys,” said Pirate Coach Wes Hanson. “I thought it was one of the best, if not the best performances of the year.”  The Pirates had another milestone win as Hunter Knutson won the 50th match of his career. 

The first time the two teams met this season, Evin Trudeau wasn’t able to wrestle and he came out strong and was able to win his match by a pin in the third period.  “We knew it was going to be a good matchup and he was able to get the first takedown,” said Coach Hanson. “He stayed solid in the top position and was able to get the fall late and that was a huge start for us.”

At 113-pounds, Nolan Dans led 6-4 late in the match but lost to Aiden Wolfe 10-6. “It was a heartbreaker for Nolan,” said Coach Hanson. “Aiden is a very good wrestler and it was great for Nolan to have a lead and be in that position.  We definitely learned something from the match.”

At 120-pounds, Carter Coauette came out strong and won by pin in 49 seconds. “It was awesome,” said Coach Hanson. “It was great to see him be dominant from start to finish and it was good to have him back there (at 120).”

Zach Brown won his match at 126-pounds by a pin in 30 seconds. “Zach understands the importance of putting six points up for his team,” said Coach Hanson. “For him to crank it up a notch is what we need.”

At 132-pounds, Ethan Bowman won by a 7-2 decision. “He was close to picking up the fall towards the end,” said Coach Hanson. “It was a really good match and he got the first takedown and he stayed focused and it was a nice win for him.”

Fosston-Bagley won their second match of the evening when Keegan Senger beat Crookston’s Cam Weiland 7-2. “For us to lose that match by a decision and keep it close was good,” said Coach Hanson. “It was a solid match for Cam and he came close to getting a fall at the end of the match.”

Crookston won by a forfeit at 145 pounds.

At 152-pounds Spencer Ness won by a 3-1 decision. “Last time it was 4-3 so we knew it was going to be a close one,” said Coach Hanson. “Spencer did a good job of creating angles and opportunities and that was a big win.”

Hunter Knutson kept things going for the Pirates and came out strong and won by a pin at 160 pounds in the second period for his 50th career win.  “Hunter is physical and coachable.  He is technically sound and it was another good performance by him,” said Coach Hanson. “It was his 50th career win for him and it is an accomplishment and to reach that as a sophomore is impressive.”

At 170-pounds, Cade Coauette came out to the mat to take on #1 ranked Carter Sorenson.  Coauette had missed the last several weeks of the season with a meniscus tear and he came out to start the match and then injury defaulted and Sorenson won.  The Pirates elected to injury default because if you forfeit the match, the Pirates would have to forfeit the same weight throughout the rest of the tournament.  “We just wanted to keep our options open for future matches,” said Coach Hanson. “That is the route we elected to go this time and with Fosston-Bagley having the number one ranked wrestler made it an easy decision.”

Fosston-Bagley won the 182-pound match by a pin in the first period. 

Ethan Boll won his match at 195-pounds by a pin in 25 seconds. “We won the flip so we got the matchup and Ethan had a lift maneuver to a pin to get the fall,” said Coach Hanson.  

Hunter Kresl won by a forfeit at 220-pounds and Greg Gonzalez won by a pin at Heavyweight. “Greg stayed in a good position and got a takedown,” said Coach Hanson. “He got the cradle and picked up the pin and it was a nice way to end the match.  I thought it was a strong performance for our guys and they wrestled well and it is nice to advance.”

Crookston improves to 20-10 on the year in duals and will travel to #1 seed Frazee on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.  KROX Radio will have the match on the radio with the RiverView Health pre-game show at 6:30 p.m.
Fosston-Bagley ends the team season with a 12-17 record.