CROOKSTON WRESTLERS BEAT MOORHEAD AND FOSSTON/BAGLEY

The Crookston Pirate Wrestling team beat the Moorhead Spuds 44-26 and then beat Fosston-Bagley 48-27 on senior night at the Crookston High School gymnasium.  Crookston honored the five seniors, Nolan Dans, Zach Brown, Cameron Weiland, Cade Coauette, and Greg Gonzalez.  “Between the five of them, they have over 400 wins,” said Crookston Coach Wes Hanson. “It is fun to see them get recognized for their contribution to the program over the years and all the hard work they have put in.”

CROOKSTON vs. MOORHEAD
Crookston is still open at 106 pounds, and Moorhead took a 6-0 lead to start the match.  
At 113-pounds, Nolan Dans won by a pin in the second period to tie the match at 6-6.  “He wrestled well,” said Pirate Coach Wes Hanson. “He had a nice move to jump out to a 5-0 lead and was able to get the pin to get us going.”
Carter Coauette had a good match at 120 pounds when he won by a 12-7 decision, wrestling a solid six minutes. “Carter stayed on his attacks,” said Coach Hanson.  “At the end of the second period, he had a great exchange and scored a takedown.  He continued to wrestle well the rest of the way and had a nice win.”
Crookston had a little bit of a different line-up in the middle as they used Zach Brown at 126 pounds as he beat #10 ranked in Class AAA Evan Fankhanel by a 6-3 decision in a hard-fought victory. “Zach wrestled well and was able to score on a nice takedown,” said Coach Hanson. “He really had good defense in that match and wrestled sound in all positions.”
Ethan Bowman followed up with a win by pin in 40-seconds at 132 pounds to give the Pirates an 18-6 lead. “Ethan stays on his attacks, and he’s hard to hang with,” said Coach Hanson. “It was a dominate performance by him.”
Moorhead answered with a win at 138 pounds as Arzheen Shahin beat Cam Weiland by Tech Fall right before the buzzer sounded to end the match.  
Crookston answered with two wins as Braxton Volker won at 145 pounds by a pin in 39 seconds.  Spencer Ness won by a pin in the second period, and Crookston took a 30-13 lead.  “Both Braxton and Spencer wrestled well,” said Coach Hanson. “Braxton was dominating and got the quick pin, and I thought Spencer had a nice second period while staying on his attacks, and that was a big win by pin.”
Moorhead won the next two matches by pin to get within a 30 to 25 deficit with four matches remaining. 
Cade DeLeon had a great match at 182 pounds, and after three periods, he was tied, forcing an overtime session.  In overtime, Cade got a takedown and a pin to win the match in a big win to give the Pirates a 36-25 lead.  “It was really a huge win for us,” said Coach Hanson. “He had a nice ankle pick right before the buzzer in the third period and then went into overtime, and he got the big pin.  It was a huge moment in the dual because it put us in a good position to win the dual.”
Ethan Boll had to go a full six minutes and came away with a tough 11-3 victory.
Hunter Kresl came out strong at 220 pounds and went the full six-minutes to win his match by a 9-0 score, and Crookston led 44-20.  “Ethan wrestled well and extended his lead to get the win,” said Coach Hanson. “He was pushing the action and was able to keep moving and extending the lead.  It was a nice win for Hunter.”
Crookston lost at heavyweight but won the team match by a 44-26 score. “I thought it was a nice match for our guys, and it was a fun one to coach,” said Coach Hanson. “There were a lot of matches that went the full six minutes, and it was a nice win for us.”
Crookston improved to 15-6 in duals, while Moorhead drops to 4-13.

CROOKSTON vs. FOSSTON/BAGLEY
Crookston was in a rare position early in the match as they trailed 9-0.  “I don’t believe we have been down 9-0 this year,” said Coach Hanson. “We knew the match at 113 was going to be tough.”
The deficit didn’t last long as they won the 120-pound match by forfeit.  Zach Brown won his match at 126 pounds by a pin in 63 seconds.  The win by pin was the 75th of his career.   “Zach was pretty aggressive tonight,” said Coach Hanson. “He wrestled well in the match, and to get his 75th career pin is an impressive feat.”
Ethan Bowman followed with an 11-4 win at 132-pounds, and Crookston led 15-9.  “We tell Ethan to create situations, and he was working trying to get bonus points,” said Coach Hanson. “Ethan has a great work ethic, and he is a pleasure to coach and wrestled well tonight.”  With the victory, Bowman improved to 22-0 on the year.
Fosston/Bagley won the next match by pin to tie the match at 15 before Crookston won the next three matches.  Braxton Volker came out strong for the second straight match and won by a pin in the first period.  “That was huge,” said Coach Hanson. “Braxton had two great matches tonight, and that was great to see.”  Spencer Ness followed with a 4-3 decision at 152-pounds, and Hunter Knutson wrestled a solid match for a win by pin in the second period, and Crookston led 30-15.  “Spencer won a pivotal matchup for us.  He was in on shots, and he made us coaches proud with his late takedown,” said Coach Hanson. “Hunter had a good match and had a nice move to turn his opponent over and get the pin.”
Fosston/Bagley responded with two wins by pin to get within a 30-27 deficit with three matches left.
At 195-pounds, Crookston’s Layten Fuentes won by forfeit.  Ethan Boll won the 220-pound match by a pin in 65 seconds, and Greg Gonzales finished off the match with a win by pin in the first period.  “Ethan was solid again and had a quick pin,” said Coach Hanson. “It was fun to see Greg get the pin to end senior night.”
Crookston won the match 48-27.  “I am proud of how the guys wrestled tonight,” said Coach Hanson. “We won a few tight matches, and we extended leads when we had to,” said Coach Hanson. “It was a strong overall effort tonight, and it was one of the best we have seen this season.”

Crookston improves to 16-6 in duals and will travel to Wadena-Deer Creek on Friday for a triangular with Staples-Motley.  Fosston/Bagley drops to 8-10 in duals.