TRF PINS THEIR WAY TO A WIN OVER THE PIRATE WRESTLERS

The Crookston Pirate Wrestling team knew it was going to be a tough match against one of the top teams in Section 8AA and the Thief River Falls Prowlers won 10 of the 14 matches as they cruised to a 59-21 victory in a match at Thief River Falls. “They have some guys that have a lot of mat time,” said Pirate Coach Wes Hanson. “They have some very good wrestlers.”

Crookston was open at 106 pounds and trailed 6-0 after the first weight.  The Pirates were open at 106 because they moved Evin Trudeau up to 113 pounds and he made quick work of his opponent and won by a pin in 45 seconds to tie the match at 6. “He was quick with his attacks and locked him up tight,” said Coach Hanson. “We moved him up because we thought it was our best shot to get the fall.”
Crookston’s Gavin Hlucny followed up with a pin in 37 seconds to give the Pirates a 12-6 lead. “He is a technical wrestler,” said Coach Hanson. “He was under control and got the quick win.”
Thief River Falls won the 126-pound match by forfeit before winning the next two matches by pin in a combined 45 seconds for a 24-12 lead.  
Crookston’s Carter Coauette wrestled the first and only six-minute match of the evening with an impressive 19-9 major decision.  Carter led 2-1 after the first period.  The match was tied at 2 early in the second period before Carter had a takedown in the middle of the period and he took a 4-3 lead into the third period.  It was the final two minutes that Coauette showed he is in great shape as he scored on an escape and followed with a takedown for a 7-3 lead.  Carter gave his opponent an escape and followed with a takedown and he would repeat it five more times and won the match 19-9.  “He wrestled well and kept a high pace and had his fakes going and scored on a lot of his attacks,” said Coach Hanson. “He wore down his opponent and picked up a lot of points.  Carter is a hard worker and opened things up in the third.”
Ethan Bowman ran into the toughest opponent he has seen in a while as he took on Brady Kasprick, the defending Class AA 145-pound state champ.  Kasprick won by a Tech Fall and gave the Prowlers a 29-16 lead. 
Thief River Falls won the next three matches by pin for a 47-16 lead. 
At 195 pounds, Ethan Boll came out strong and had a takedown 10-seconds into the match for a 2-0 lead. Boll gave up an escape before he had a takedown for a 4-1 lead and with 23 seconds left in the period he had a takedown and three near-fall points for a 7-1 lead going into the second period. Ethan started with a takedown for a 9-1 lead and continued to dominate the match and took a 17-2 lead in the second period for the tech fall victory to bring Crookston within a 47-21 lead.  “Ethan is physical and had him turned a couple of times, but wasn’t able to get the fall,” said Coach  Hanson. “Ethan wrestled a good match and he was dominating in the match.”
Thief River Falls won the next match by pin and the heavyweight match by forfeit to win the match 59-21.  “I thought things went okay for us tonight,” said Coach Hanson. “It was a tough score at the end, but we learned a lot from it.”

Crookston drops to 5-3 in duals on the year and will travel to the Jack Hammer Individual tournament at Pequot Lakes on Friday and Saturday.  Thief River Falls improves to 7-2 on the year and will also wrestle at Pequot Lakes on Friday and Saturday.