Two Crookston Pirate wrestlers are competing in the Minnesota State Individual Wrestling tournament at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Mauricio Arriaga, a sophomore, is wrestling at 107 pounds in his first state tournament appearance, and Gavyn Hlucny, a senior, is wrestling in his fourth state tournament.
GAVYN HLUCNY
In the first round, Gavyn took on Cayden Maly, a sophomore from Westerfield, who was 21-21 on the year. Hlucny dominated from the start as they scored a takedown 22 seconds into the match for a 3-0 lead. He added four near fall points with 47 seconds left in the period, and added four more near fall points at the end of the period for an 11-0 lead. Gavyn started the second period with an escape five seconds into the period. Seven seconds later, he got a takedown to win the match by a tech fall 15-0 at 2:12.
Gavyn improves to 27-1 on the year and will wrestle Tayden Soma of Ottertail Central, who is 28-12, after winning his first-round match by a medical forfeit. (The MSHSL has brought back consolation matches for anybody who loses the first round match)
MAURICIO ARRIAGA
In the first round, Mauricio took on Kiptyn Meiners, an eighth-grader from Caledonia-Houston, who was. There was no scoring in the first period, as both wrestlers were defensive throughout. In the second period, Arriaga started on the bottom and scored one point on an escape 16 seconds into the period and followed with a takedown nine seconds later. Arriaga led 4-0 until about 37 seconds left in the period when Meiners got a reversal with 37 seconds left in the period. Six second later, Meiners won the match by a pin (at 3:29) to win the match.
Arriaga drops to 29-5 on the year and will take on Brody Kopp of Luverne, who is 22-8 on the year, in the wrestlebacks on Friday.
