ETHAN BOWMAN AND ETHAN BOLL WIN CHAMPIONSHIPS AT GRAND RAPIDS TOURNEY

The Crookston Pirates wrestling team finished with championships won by Ethan Bowman and Ethan Boll while Carter Coauette finished third place, Zach Brown and Cameron Weiland finished fourth, and Cameron Hulst and Greg Gonzales finished fifth place at the 15 team 62nd Annual Skip Nalan Wrestling tournament in Grand Rapids.

Crookston finished fourth place out of 18 teams with 129 points. The tournament was won by Grand Rapids with 193 points. Deer River was second with 155 and Fosston-Bagley was third with 143. Fertile-Beltrami was 10th with 82.5 points, Mahnomen-Waubun was 13th with 41.5.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES –
Ethan Bowman had an impressive day and won by a pin in the first period, followed by a pin in the third period in his second match to advance to the semi-finals. Ethan continued his outstanding wrestling in the semi-final match with a 14-3 victory to advance to the championship.  In the championship, Ethan came out strong with a takedown early for a 2-0 lead. The takedown set the tone for the match, and Ethan received a penalty point and had a 3-0 lead after the first period.  In the second period, Ethan scored three more points for a 6-0 lead going into the third period.  63 seconds into the third period, Ethan won by pin to win the championship at 113 pounds. “Ethan had a couple really nice take downs in his final match,” explained Crookston head coach Wes Hanson. “He really wore his opponent out. He used a physical move in the third period to get the win and the title.”

Ethan Boll received a bye in his first round and won his second-round match by pin in 67 seconds. In the semi-final match, Ethan won a thriller 3-2. The two were scoreless in the first period, and Ethan’s opponent scored the first point on an escape, and Boll trailed 1-0 going into the third. Ethan scored a point with an escape 37 seconds into the third period to tie the match at 1-1. Ethan was called for stalling a second time in the period, and his opponent received a point for a 2-1 lead with 39 seconds left in the match. Time was running out late in the third period, and Ethan scored two points on a takedown with five seconds left and won the match 3-2 to advance to the championship. Ethan won his championship match with a pin in the third period to claim the title at 182 pounds. “Ethan closed out his championship with a pin in the third period,” noted Hanson. “He really got better as the day went on. He had a nice showing in the final match and just continues to get better each day.”

THIRD PLACE MATCHES –
Carter Coauette won his first two matches with a pin in 37 seconds and a 10-0 decision to advance to the semi-finals. In the semi-final match, Carter lost a heartbreaker to Fertile-Beltrami’s Daunte Yost 4-2 in overtime/sudden victory to advance to the third-place match at 106 pounds. In the third-place match, Carter jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a takedown in the first period. In the second period, Carter started with a takedown for a 4-0 lead. After his opponent scored two points on a reversal, Carter answered with an escape to take a 5-2 lead into the third period. Carter started on the bottom in the third period and had an escape, and 13 seconds later, he followed with a takedown. After Carter gave up an escape, he countered with a takedown, gave up another escape, and got another takedown late in the period for a 14-4 victory to finish third place. “Carter showed some great things,” said Hanson. “He had some great defense and was able to get to his offense. He had some good flurries where he was scoring a lot of points.”

Zach Brown won his first two matches by pin in 3:14 and 53 seconds to advance to the semi-finals. In his semi-final match, Zach lost by pin in the second period and advanced to the third-place match. Zach had a great battle in his third-place match with Connor Wakefield of Grand Rapids. The two were scoreless at the end of the first period. Wakefield started the second period on the bottom and scored an escape for a 1-0, and that is how the second period ended. Zach began the third period in the down position and scored an escape in seven seconds, and 14 seconds later, he took the lead 3-1 with a takedown. With 1:20 left in the match, Wakefield scored on an escape, and Zach led 3-2. It looked like Zach was going to win until Wakefield scored two points on a takedown with eight seconds left in the match, and Zach lost 4-3 to finish fourth place. “If I’m being honest, it was a little bit of a tough day for Zach,” explained Hanson. “He had a big lead in his semifinal match, but got caught in a move and pinned. He bounced back and did some good things in the third-place match but gave up a takedown late, and it was a tough day overall. He still showed some good things and will bounce back.”

Cameron Weiland won his first two matches by pin, both in the first period, to advance to the semi-finals. In the semi-final match, Cameron lost by a 14-3 decision putting him in the third-place match. Cam ran into a very good opponent and trailed 6-0 after the first period. In the second period, Cameron trailed 11-0 before he was pinned to finish fourth place. “Cam had a few matches that were high scoring bouts,” noted Hanson. “He started the day really strong and had some good offense. He just ran into a couple of good kids late in the tournament.”

FIFTH PLACE MATCHES-
Cameron Hulst had a busy day with five matches. He lost the first match by pin in the first period but bounced back to win then next match by pin in the second period. He won another wrestle back match by a pin in 41 seconds and followed with another wrestle back win by pin in three minutes to wrestle in the fifth-place match. In the fifth-place match, Cameron came out strong and got a takedown and a few seconds later a pin 37 seconds into the match to finish fifth place. “Cam started out with a tough kid out of the gate,” explained Hanson. “He was on his back and fighting and gave up a pin. Cam really turned it around and was wrestling some of his best wrestling that I’ve seen in his career to finish the day winning four in a row.”

Greg Gonzales had a bye in his first match and lost a heartbreaker 4-2 in overtime to advance to wrestle backs. Greg won his wrestle back match by a pin in 1:41 to advance to the fifth-place match.  In the fifth-place match, Greg came out strong and got a takedown 39 seconds into the period and won the match with a pin a few seconds later to finish fifth place. “Greg had a tough draw right away and lost that one,” said Hanson. “Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he rallied back and kept fighting. He was really wrestling better as the day went on while picking up some pins to give the team bonus points.”

“I thought our guys started the day really strong,” summarized Hanson. “We ran into some tough kids along the way, but I’m proud of how our team finished. We scored a lot of team points. I’m proud of the guys who battled back to place. This was a great day for Ethan Boll and Ethan Bowman. For them to both walk away with titles is pretty special.”

Crookston will be back in action on Thursday when they have a big Section 8A dual at Badger-Greenbush-Middle River on Thursday.