CROOKSTON WRESTLERS COME UP SHORT IN DUAL WITH THIEF RIVER FALLS

The Crookston Pirate Wrestling team took the lead early in the match, but the Thief River Falls used a strong second half of the line up to win the match 46-22.

Crookston jumped out to a 16-0 lead after Ethan Bowman won his match at 113 pounds by a major decision, Nolan Dans won by a pin in the first period, and #3 ranked Zach Brown won his match at 126 pounds by a pin in 62 seconds. “We were anticipating getting three wins in the first three matches,” said Pirate Coach Wes Hanson. “Ethan was able to get a late takedown to get the major win, so that was nice to see.  Nolan got a reversal and a takedown for the pin, and that was nice.  Zach looked sharp and hit a nice move and picked up the pin and got his teammates fired up.” Thief River Falls won the next six matches, five of them by pins to take  34-16 lead. “That is the meat of their order, and they have some very good wrestlers in that stretch,” said Coach Hanson. “They have some ranked wrestlers in that part of the lineup, so we knew it was going to be tough.” Crookston’s Ethan Boll stopped the Prowler run with a win by pin in 50 seconds. “Ethan went out there knowing we needed a pin,” said Coach Hanson. Thief River Falls ended the match with two more pins to win 46-22. “There were some good things tonight, but it was a tough loss and got away from us,” said Coach Hanson. “We will use this as we get ready for a pretty solid tournament this weekend.”

Crookston drops to 4-7 on the year and will host the 11 team Rodd Olson Invitational Wrestling tournament on Saturday at the Crookston High School gymnasium.