PIRATE WRESTLERS LOSE IN FINAL MATCH AS FOSSTON-BAGLEY WINS 40-37

The Crookston Pirate Wrestling team won seven matches and the Fosston-Bagley Brawlers won seven matches, but the Brawlers won the heavyweight match by a pin to win the match 40-37 in an exciting Section 8A match on Senior Night at the Crookston High School gymnasium.

Crookston had a good start to the match with an Ethan Bowman win by a 4-2 decision.  Ethan trailed 2-0 after an early takedown, but he answered with two back points to tie the match at 2-2.  In the third period, Ethan had an arm drag into a takedown for a 4-2 lead and held on the rest of the way for the victory. “I was really proud with how he wrestled after giving up the first takedown then from there he controlled the tempo and did a nice job from the top position and held on for the win,” said Coach Wes Hanson. “For us to get on the board first was huge.”

Carter Coauette had a nice win by pin in the second period at 113 pounds. He started with a takedown to start the match and built a 5-0 lead after the first period.  Carter continued to dominate in the second period and took a 9-1 lead before he got the pin at 3:01 to give Crookston a 9-0 lead. “He wrestled very aggressive and with confidence,” said Coach Hanson. “He had a couple pretty explosive takedowns where he was able to get him on his back and I am proud of Carter.”

Crookston won the 120-pound match when Zach Brown got a forfeit victory and Crookston led 15-0 after three matches.

Crookston lost the next match by pin and led 15-6.

At 132 pounds Braxton Volker won by a pin late in the first period. “It was a scramble situation and gets the first takedown and battled from there,” said Coach Hanson. “I think the kid almost had a cradle locked up and all of a sudden slipped the cradle into a headlock and Braxton is a pinner and got the win.” 

Fosston won the next two matches to cut Crookston lead down to 21-16.

The Pirates got back on track when Lukas Meier won his match at 152 pounds by a 9-1 decision.  Lukas started with a quick takedown for a 2-0 lead and led 5-0 and was close to a pin at the end of the first period, but the buzzer sounded.  In the second period, Lukas had a takedown for a 7-0 lead and added another takedown in the third period and won 9-1.  “His first leg attack for a takedown was impressive and Lukas is very quick and explosive,” said Coach Hanson. “Lukas fought hard and we gave his opponent an escape in the third so we could get a takedown and get the major decision and it was nice to get bonus points.”

Crookston added another win at 160 pounds when Ethan Boll got a pin in the second period.  The match was back and forth and was tied at 5-5 when Boll won by pin.  “It was an awesome match for Ethan,” said Coach Hanson. “It was back and forth and Ethan is wrestling well and 160 is a good weight for him.”  Crookston led the match 31-16.

Fosston-Bagley won the 170-pound match by pin and Crookston’s lead was 31-22. 

The Pirates had a big win by pin at 182 pounds when Damian Hodgson won by a pin in the second period. “That was a great match for Damian with a win by pin on senior night,” said Coach Hanson. “He kind of caught the kid out of possession and Damian was able to put him away.”

Crookston forfeited the matches at 195 and 220 and the Pirate lead was 37-34 going into the heavyweight match. “Fosston has some very good kids at the upper weights,” said Coach Hanson. “We thought moving Blake (Fee) to heavyweight would give us the best chance to win.”

At heavyweight, Blake Fee took on Fosston’s Axel Munter.  Fee who normally wrestles at 220 was giving up 66 pounds to Munter but the two were scoreless after the first period.  The official awarded a point to Fee after he noticed Munter has braces and didn’t have a mouth guard in (which you are required in wrestling), so Fee led 1-0 going into the second period.  Fee let Munter loose for a point and the match was tied 1-1, which was the score going into the third period.  Fee was close to getting a takedown, but Munter fought it off and with about 40 seconds left in the match he was able to get a headlock which led to the pin to give Fosston-Bagley a 40-37 victory. 

“It was awesome, it was a lot of fun and unfortunately it didn’t go our way but I thought our guys wrestled great and we had some huge pins and we fought hard out there,” said Coach Hanson.  “I was proud of how our guys wrestled tonight and hopefully we will get another shot at them.  Overall it was a great effort for us.”
Crookston drops to 11-3 in duals and will travel to the Thief River Falls Invitational on Saturday at Ralph Englestad Arena.  Fosston-Bagley improves to 8-4 on the year.