CROOKSTON WRESTLERS ZACH BROWN AND ETHAN BOLL ADVANCE TO STATE

The Crookston Pirate Wrestling team’s Ethan Boll finished first place and Zach Brown finished second place at the Minnesota State High School League State Wrestling prelims in Cass Lake to advance to the state Wrestling semi-finals next week at St. Michael-Albertville High School.  

PIRATES ADVANCING TO STATE INDIVIDUAL MEET

Ethan Boll, at 195 pounds, finished his strong day of wrestling at 3-0 to win the championship at the State Prelims. He won his first two matches with pins at 10 seconds and 28 seconds. “That is just the style I like playing with… better to just get it out of the way fast,” said Boll about his wrestling style. With just 38 seconds on the mat coming into the Championship match, Boll continued his domination with a victory by a tech fall by a 21-6 score 5:15 into the match. Without much wrestling time on the day, it played right into Boll’s style. “I did have a lot energy,” Boll said emphatically. “For him to pick up early pins in his first two matches and then be dominant getting a tech fall in the state preliminary is pretty impressive,” said Coach Wes Hanson.  He should be feeling really good and have a lot of confidence moving into next week.” Boll will advance to the State Individual semi-finals next week.

Zach Brown, at 120 pounds, won his first two matches in convincing fashion. He won the first round with a fall at 1:20. “He was good with his leg attacks and setting his guys up and keeping them guessing and able to get a fall in the first match,” said Coach Hanson. In the second match, he won with a major decision of 11-2. “In his second match, the early takedown was huge. He was close to getting some near faults at times but if you have a guy just trying not to get turned, it shows that you are being dominant in the top position,” added Hanson. Brown faced Marshall Larson of Aitkin in the championship match. He got an early 1-0 lead, but then fell behind 2-1 after the second period. He was down 3-1 in the final period when he was pinned at 5:34. “Marshall is ranked number one in the state for a reason. I had to try and cut him to gain the lead back but I just made a little, simple mistake and he capitalized on it like good kids do,” said Brown. “Today I thought I went out there and wrestled my type of match and didn’t try to do anything too big.” There was no true-second match needed in the 120 pound weight class so Brown advanced to the State Individual Semi-finals next week.

Now Boll and Brown have a few days of practice to get ready for the State Semifinals at St. Michael-Albertville. For Zach, he knows he has to work on finishing off some of his moves saying, “We will get those little touch-ups done and I will have to work on finishing my shots a little bit more and fix those ‘little things’ so I can capitalize on those opportunities I did miss.” Boll was definitive in what he wants to work on saying, “A lot of technique. That’s what I will be focusing on. A lot of technique for this last week.” Coach Wes Hanson was excited to get back to practice and work on cleaning a few things up heading into next week. He added a few main keys saying, “We have to make sure we are finishing our takedowns and we gotta have great defense going forward.”

OTHER PIRATE WRESTLERS AT STATE PRELIMS

Evin Trudeau, at 106 pounds, went 0-2 on the day. His first match with Zach Remer was a tough one as Remer jumped out of the gate with a 10-0 lead after the first period. Trudeau was able to get a point but Remer finished it off with a tech fall at 16-1. Trudeau’s day ended with a fall to Robby Sherk 33 seconds into the first period. “He was a game-changer for us at 106. We did lose him for about a month, but when he came back things really came together,” said Coach Hanson.

Nolan Dans, at 113 pounds, wrestled well but ended his day with a 1-2 record. He lost his first match to Nathan Trotter by decision 5-1, but bounced back nicely with a win over Wrigley Clark by fall 1:32 into the match. He faced Dawson Mcgee and lost by sudden victory in the extra period by a 10-8 score. Dans trailed 8-6 with 15 seconds remaining in the third period and fought his way to two points using the granby roll to send it into overtime. Coach Hanson said the granby roll, “is a move he’s really worked on and is very good at.” Despite the move sending it to an overtime period, he was unable to get the victory. He “nearly” came away with the takedown, according to Coach Hanson, but then took one himself on the edge of the circle. “I can’t say enough good things about Nolan Dans and what he has done for this team,” said Hanson. He added, “On a different day maybe he navigates his way through this weight class, but he ran into some really good opponents today.”

Ethan Bowman, at 126 pounds, finished the day at 2-2. He won by fall in the first round to earn his 100th career victory.  Ethan lost a well-wrestled match in the second round by a 5-3 decision. And in the third match, he held off Landon Umbreit in the final period for a win by an 8-5 decision. In his third-place match, a win would have given him a chance at true second. He fell behind early and could not recover against Hunter Skaro of United North Central and lost by a 6-0 decision. “This wasn’t the day we were hoping we’d have, but he is just a Sophomore and I know with his determination and dedication he will be back ready to go,” said Hanson. While Ethan was unable to advance to the State Meet, he earned his 100th career victory. “Advancing would have been great here, but earning that 100th victory is a big milestone for him and he should be proud,” added coach Hanson.

Cam Weiland, at 132 pounds, did not place after an 0-2 day. He lost in the first round to an early fall to Christian Pater. His second match he wrestled much better but came up just short to Callen Whitney by a 7-5 decision. “He was close to scoring at the end to tie it up but just wasn’t able to… but again there is only two advancing at each class so that makes it tough,” said Coach Hanson. Hanson added on, “Overall when you look back, Cam had an outstanding career for us and I am just proud of his season and career and what he has done for Pirate Wrestling.”

Hunter Knutson, at 160 pounds, went 0-2 on the day. He lost a tough first match by a 5-3 decision to top seed Beau Burk and in his second match he lost by fall at 1:31 to Jake Klancher. “His footwork and his ability to move forward and hit techniques that wear his guys out will bode well for him in the future,” said Coach Hanson. He added, “Just a tough day for him, but he has a bright future ahead of him and he just has to work hard in the offseason.”

Hunter Kresl, at 220 pounds, had a tough day losing to top seed Jojo Thompson by fall at 1:27 in his first match. In his second match, he fell to Nathan Stifter by major decision
12-2. “He has competed for us at 197 and 220 coming in here today and he was the four seed pushing through from Section 8, so we knew it was going to be a tough one today but he competed really well and I am proud of him for that,” said Hanson.

Greg Gonzalez, at 285 pounds, also went 0-2 on the day. In his first match, he lost to Brandon Doll via fall at 1:38. In his second match he lost a well wrestled match on each side to Marcus Peterson by a 3-1 decision. Peterson earned two points in the third period when they were tied at one after two periods. “Peterson was the one seed out of Section 8, and he was able to go out there and keep that match tight… and it came down to one exchange late,” said Hanson. He added, “He was another guy that was crucial… anchoring us up at the heavyweight position… he just made us much better.”

The Pirates will say goodbye to seniors, Nolan Dans, Cam Weiland, and Greg Gonzalez. “I’m really thankful for the opportunity to coach these guys and I am really proud of the seasons and careers they’ve all had. It is really cool that they can go out as Team Section Champions,” said Coach Wes Hanson about his Senior wrestlers.

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