PIRATE WRESTLERS FINISH 2ND – WEILAND, COAUETTE, & KNUTSON CHAMPS

The Crookston Pirate Wrestling team had five open weights and had three champions, and four runners-up and finished second place at the 12th annual Rodd Olson Invitational at the Crookston High School Gym.  New York Mills won the tournament with 162 points, while Crookston had 155.5.

Crookston had three champions – Casey Weiland, Carter Coauette, and Hunter Knutson.  They also had four runners-up.  The team and individual results are below.

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHES –

152 Pounds – Casey Weiland won his first two matches by a 10-2 and 8-2 decision to wrestle for the championship in his round-robin bracket. In the “championship,” Casey dominated and came away with a 12-2 major decision victory to earn the first Pirate championship.  Casey was taken down to start the match and trailed 2-0 before he was awarded a penalty point, scored a point on an escape, and followed that with a takedown for a 4-2 lead after the first period.  Casey continued his domination in the second period with an escape, a takedown that also led to three near-fall points for a 10-2 lead.  In the third period, Casey scored on a takedown for a 12-2 lead, and that is how the match would end. 

160 Pounds – Carter Coauette received a first-round bye and had a late reversal in the semi-final match to win by a 5-4 decision.  In the championship, he will wrestled Lucas Kritzek of Park Rapids and built a 6-2 lead in the third period before he won by a pin with 40 seconds left in the match for the second Pirate championship.  Carter started the scoring with a takedown 30 seconds into the match and he took a 2-1 lead into the second period.  In the second, Carter gave up an escape.  Over one minute later he countered with a takedown and led 4-2 after two periods.  In the third period, Carter had a takedown with 1:12 left and that led to the pin.

195 Pounds – Hunter Knutson received a first-round bye.  In the semi-finals, he dominated in a 7-0 decision.  In the championship, Hunter controlled the match and beat Tyler Geray of United Clay Becker 8-2 to win the third Pirate championship. It was tied 2-2 after the first period and Knutson led 4-2 after two periods.  In the third, Knutson had an escape followed by a takedown.  He gave up and escape and for good measure, he scored two more points with a takedown with 13 seconds left in the match and won 8-3.

SECOND PLACERS – 
126 Pounds – Gavyn Hlucny won his first two matches by pins in a combined 2:04 to wrestle for the championship in his round-robin bracket.  In the “championship” match, Gavyn was pinned by Dawson McGhee of Walker-Hackensack-Akeley in the second period and finished second place.  The first period was scoreless, and the second period continued the defensive battle until McGee scored two points on a reversal late in the period and ended up getting the win by pin.

145 Pounds – Ethan Bowman won his first two matches by Technical Falls as he dominated his opponents.  In the championship, he wrestled Henry Nelson of Hillsboro/Central Valley.  Almost halfway through the first period, Nelson scored the first points with a takedown and took the 2-0 lead into the second period.  Nobody scored in the second period. Nelson started the third with an escape followed by a takedown for a 5-0 lead.  Bowman scored a point on an escape with 11 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough, as Nelson won 5-1.

220 Pounds – Hunter Kresl received a first-round bye.  In the semi-finals, he won a 1-0 decision and is taking on Bode Roberts of New York Mills in the championship.  The championship was a rollercoaster as Hunter was taken down 15 seconds into the match before he countered with a reversal, and it looked like he was going to get a pin. Still, the match was stopped as his opponent seemed to dislocate his shoulder.  After a brief stoppage, his opponent popped his shoulder back in place and resumed wrestling after Kresl was awarded three near-fall points for a 5-2 lead.  Kresl’s opponents countered with a reversal and three near-fall points to take an 8-5 lead.   Roberts had a reversal halfway through the second period, leading to a pin for the win.

Heavyweight – Jesse Sanchez received a first-round bye.  Jesse won by a pin in the second period in the semi-finals and wrestled on Grady Roberts of New York Mills in the championship. Roberts got a takedown halfway through the first period, which turned into a pin a few seconds later to win the championship.

The tournament’s Outstanding Wrestler award went to Henry Nelson of Hillsboro/Central Valley.

FOR COACH WES HANSON’S COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW-

TEAM RESULTS –
1. New York Mills  – 162
2. Crookston  – 155.5
3. Park Rapids  – 134
4. Walker-Hackensack-Akeley  – 119
5. United Clay/Becker  – 106
6. Hillsboro/Central Valley  –  81
7. Mahnomen/Waubun  – 77
8. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River  66
9. Roseau  –  16

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