CROOKSTON WRESTLERS WIN FIRST SEVEN MATCHES IN DUAL VICTORY OVER FOSSTON-BAGLEY

The Crookston Pirate Wrestling team won the opening seven bouts in a 43-30 victory over the Foston-Bagley Brawlers in a Section 8A dual wrestled in Fosston.

Carter Coauette opened the dual with a 5-0 victory at 106-pounds setting the tone for the night. “Carter (Coauette) had a sound performance,” said Crookston head coach Wes Hanson. “He wrestled well in all positions. He was able to open that match up with a nice turn in the second period. He’s tough with his rides and had good defense. It was just an all-around solid performance.” Ethan Bowman followed with a 7-5 victory in overtime at 113-pounds. “It was an overtime match, and Ethan (Bowman) had a really slick move in overtime to pick up the win, and that was a key match-up for the night,” added Hanson. Zach Brown won his match by pin 0:45 into his bout. “(Zach Brown) had a nice move from feet to back,” noted Hanson. “He locked up a pin, and we needed those bonus points.” Nolan Dans won the 126-pound match 7-1. “Nolan (Dans) wrestled well,” said Hanson. “He was able to score a couple of nice takedowns.” Cameron Weiland earned Crookston’s second pin of the dual in his 132-pound match in 28-seconds. “In our prematch talk with the team we discussed going out there and getting pins,” explained Hanson. “Cameron Weiland was able to do that and locked up a tight pin early.” Braxton Volker continued the Pirates’ hot start winning his match by pin. “Braxton (Volker) went out there right away and continues to be a guy who racks up team points,” noted Hanson. “He really looked sharp.” Cade Coauette closed out the 7-0 start winning his 145-pound match 17-5. “Cade (Coauette) really just wrestled well,” said Hanson. “He transitioned from one move to the next and was able to continue in a few scramble situations. We were close to getting a pin, but it was still a dominating performance for sure.” Ethan Boll won a difficult match-up over Henry Burrack at 182-pounds with a pin 3:08 into the match. “That was kind of the big match-up of the night,” added Hanson. “That was a very solid opponent that (Ethan Boll) was up against. Ethan had a nice takedown and ride out in the first period. Ethan chose the down position and got a quick escape in the second period before earning the pin that secured the dual.” Greg Gonzalez closed out Crookston’s final win of the night at 220-pounds with a pin 4:27 into the final bout of the night as Crookston closed out the dual victory. “Greg (Gonzalez) wrestled an outstanding match,” explained Hanson. “He was solid in all positions and able to score from the bottom position to take the lead into the third period before a nice mat return got his opponent on his back and ultimately got the fall.

“I’m really proud of the effort that our guys put out,” summarized Hanson. “They’ve continued to improve, and I thought we wrestled well on the things that we’ve been focused on, and that’s what we like to see.”

Crookston improves to 10-7 in duals this season. The Pirates return to the mat when Crookston travels to Hillsboro to take on Hillsboro-Central Valley at 6:30 P.M.