It did not take long for the Knights to send a message to the wrestling world as on opening night they dispatched a pair of fellow Section 6A squads, one being the then #8 ranked Ottertail Central Bulldogs and the other unfortunate were the Pelican Rapids Vikings, both by quite handy scores.  The effort was enough to scratch their way back in the rankings and finding themselves seated at the #22nd spot.  In the sports world rankings are not the end all be all, teams upset other teams, are over and under rated.  The teams move up and down the system much like we scale and descend a ladder.  What is worth noting though is that many times these rankings are not too far off from what reality at the current time is.  They recognize situations in which great effort and or talent are at hand.  Coach Gruchow and his Knights have for the last seven years earned themselves the opportunity to be mentioned with the best teams in Class A wrestling.  With all the new faces on this years grappling squad it will be interesting to see the development...will they scale, stay on the bottom rung or step back off the ladder?

About Tuesday night Coach Gruchow’s synopsis went as follows:”I was excited about the way the guys wrestled this evening in both duals.   The duals ended in our favor and that is always a plus!  I was more excited about the fight that they had in them.  In both the matches that we won and lost individually, you could see that they wanted to compete.  Each guy was making contact with a purpose, trying their hardest to be in control of the match all the way through from our light weights to our heavier weights.  We are excited about tonight but know we have things to work on.  Overall just a fun group of young men that love the fight and enjoy the battle that the sport brings.”

Saturday brought the annual Grant County Tournament.  Eight teams comprised of four single A and four double A units met in Barrett.  As always there was plenty of talent.  The Knights took to the mats and fought hard to defend their home turf.  At the end of the day they produced 1 champion, 4 runner-ups, a pair of 3rd placers, a trio of 4th placers, a pair of 5th and a 6th place finisher.  The team finished in second place, behind #5 ranked BBE.  There were also three unattached wrestlers, all of whom placed on the podium with a 2nd, a 5th and a 4th place finish.   

Coach Gruchow explains the day, ”It was a fun day of wrestling today in the Barrett gym!  I am glad we decided to add the JV portion of the tournament to the varsity Grant County Tournament.  It allowed those older wrestlers the opportunity to get a few more matches, which always seems to be tough to do throughout our season.  Our JV did a great job and we had 7 champions in the JV portion of the tournament.

Our Varsity also wrestled very solid.  We had 17 varsity wrestlers on the mat today and 16 made the podium.  I felt that they gave it their all in their matches and most feel good about their day.  Senior Bret Duncan had a great tournament and was our lone GCT champion.  Landing in second place as a team says a lot about these guys…they are scrappers and like to battle.  When the team wrestles their hardest good things come and second place behind BBE was a pretty decent day.”

The Knights enter a busy and grueling week competing three times.  Tuesday night the team heads to Staples for duals vs. the hometown Staples-Motley Cardinals and the Osakis Silverstreaks.  Thursday the group goes the other direction to Morris for a quadrangular including the MAHACA Tigers, the #3 Minnewaska Area Lakers, and the Border West Buccaneers.  Saturday they head north to Crookston and take part in an 11 team tournament.  Much will be learned about the team following the next seven days.  Best of luck Knight Wrestlers!

Tuesday, December 3,  Barrett, MN  (numbers following hashtags represent the state ranking via the ‘Guillotine’ website)

WCAA 60 over Pelican Rapids (PERA) 18

106: Adam Lohse (WCAA) over Jed Carlson per fall 0:18.

113: Hunter Gruchow (WCAA) over Reece Henkes per fall 0:09.

120: Solomon Wales (WCAA) over Oakley Carlson per decision 9-3.

126: Mark Lapoint (PERA) over Zachary Fagre per fall 1:31.

132: Carter Johnson (PERA) over Ashton Danner per fall 1:06.

138: #8 Anthony Sykora (WCAA) won per forfeit.

145: Kaleb Getz (WCAA) over Troy Bell per fall 0:11.

152: #7 Jordan Lohse (WCAA) over #6 Matthew Ziebell per decision 6-2.

160: Bret Duncan (WCAA) over Max Dykhoff per fall 2:34.

170: Nathaniel Kisgen (WCAA) over Johnny Ziebell per fall 0:08.

182: Matt Osborne (PERA) over Colton Lindquist per fall 0:28.

195: Justin Blascyk (WCAA) won per forfeit.

220: Deklin Goeden (WCAA) over Jacob Willits per fall 2:22.

285: Devin Stone (WCAA) over Isaac Olson per fall 0:11.

 

WCAABE 40 over #8 Ottertail Central Bulldogs (OCB) 21

106: Adam Lohse (WCAA) won per forfeit.

113: Hunter Gruchow (WCAA) over Kolby Peters per fall 0:14.

120: Solomon Wales (WCAA) over Kalen Kraft per fall 4:29.

126: #10 Laredo Bugbee (OCB) over Zachary Fagre per fall 2:20.

132: Ashton Danner (WCAA) over Blake Malone per fall 3:00.

138: #8 Anthony Sykora (WCAA) over Hayden Hart per decision 9-7.

145: Logan Schleske (OCB) over Kaleb Getz per decision 5-4.

152: #7 Jordan Lohse (WCAA) over Reed Leabo per decision 7-0.

160: Matt Hendricks (OCB) over Bret Duncan per decision 9-5.

170: Nathaniel Kisgen (WCAA) over Connor Tierney per major decision 12-0.

182: Colton Lindquist (WCAA) over Tristan Evavold per decision 9-4.

195: Justin Blascyk (WCAA) over Will Ehlert per decision 3-1.

220: #5 Zane Swanson (OCB) over Deklin Goeden per fall 1:33.

285: #3 Cian Buehler (OCB) over Devin Stone (WCAA) (Dec 4-2)

 

Saturday, December 7,  Barrett, MN (new rankings were released December 5th)

Team Scores: 1st #5 Class A Brooten-Belgrade-Elrosa (BBE) 220 Points

                       2nd #22 Class A WCAABE 191.5 Points

                       3rd Class AA Morris Area/Hancock/Chokio-Alberta     (MAHACA)  187 Points

                       4th Class AA United  (DBLPM) 140 Points

                       5th Class AA Alexandria (ALEX) 102 Points

                       6th Class A Benson (BEN) 101 Points

                       7th Class AA Fergus Falls (FF) 86.5 Points

                        8th Class A Pelican Rapids (PR) 66 Points

106 lb. Adam Lohse (2-1) placed 2nd and scored 20.0 team points.

Quarterfinal – Defeated Blake Nagler (BEN) per fall 2:30.

Semifinal – Defeated Daniel Gunlogson (DBLPM) per fall 5:04.

1st Place Match -Wyatt Engen (BBE) won per fall 1:08.

 

113 lb. Hunter Gruchow (2-2) placed 4th and scored 14.0 team points.

Quarterfinal – Defeated Fox Huber (DBLPM) per fall 3:40.

Semifinal - #1 Walker Bents (BBE) won per fall 4:00.

Cons. Semi – Defeated Ethan Moravetz (DBLPM) per fall 1:43.

3rd Place Match - Fox Huber (DBLPM) won per injury default 0:44.

 

120 lb. Solomon Wales (1-2) placed 5th and scored 7.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Zander Clausen (DBLPM) won per major decision 14-2.

Cons. Semi - Caden Rose (MAHACA) won per decision 4-1.

5th Place Match – Defeated Soren Nelson (DBLPM) per fall 2:37.

 

126 lb. Zachary Fagre (0-2) DNP and scored 0.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Mark LaPoint (PR) won per fall 1:24.

Cons. Round 1 - Alex Whitcup (BEN) won per fall 4:56.

 

132 lb. Ashton Danner (1-3) placed 6th and scored 6.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - AJ Sparr (ALEX) won per fall 0:31.

Cons. Round 1 – Defeated Jordan Grussing (BEN) per fall 1:33.

Cons. Semi - Dain Mortenson (DBLPM) won per fall 1:27.

5th Place Match - Carter Johnson (PR) won per decision 4-3.

 

138 lb. Dierk Goeden (2-2) placed 5th and scored 7.5 team points.

Quarterfinal - #6 Dylan Rose (MAHACA) won per decision 12-7.

Cons. Round 1 – Defeated Jayden Zimmerman (BEN) per tech fall 16-1.)

Cons. Semi - Maximus Hanson (BBE) won per fall 0:56.

5th Place Match – Defeated Kadin Huntley (DBLPM) per decision 8-2.

 

145 lb. #8 Anthony Sykora (2-1) placed 2nd, wrestled unattached.

Quarterfinal – Defeated Ethan Leopold (FF) per fall 0:17.

Semifinal – Defeated Kaleb Getz (WCAABE) per fall 4:16.

1st Place Match - #1 Canon Swanson (BBE) won per tech fall 16-1.

 

145 lb. Kaleb Getz (3-1) placed 3rd and scored 17.0 team points.

Quarterfinal -Defeated Selvin Hernandez (DBLPM) per major decision 13-0.

Semifinal - #8 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) won per fall 4:16.

Cons. Semi - Defeated Dain Schroeder (MAHACA) per fall 3:29.

3rd Place Match -Defeated Cole Vatnsdal (ALEX) per fall 2:27.

 

152 lb. #7 Jordan Lohse (2-1) placed 2nd and scored 18.0 team points.

Quarterfinal – Defeated Mason Teaser (ALEX) per fall 1:31.

Semifinal – Defeated #5 Matthew Ziebell (PR) per decision 3-1.

1st Place Match - #3 Trevon Johnson (DBLPM) won per fall 1:00.

 

160 lb. Bret Duncan (3-0) placed 1st and scored 22.0 team points.

Quarterfinal – Defeated Delvin Roberts (FF) per fall 1:30.

Semifinal – Defeated Taiton Linder (BBE) per decision 5-4.

1st Place Match – Defeated Noah Amundson (MAHACA) per decision 4-3.

 

170 lb. Nathaniel Kisgen (2-1) placed 2nd and scored 16.0 team points.

Quarterfinal – Defeated Layton Wittnebel (DBLPM) per decision 7-2.

Semifinal – Defeated John Ziebell (PR) per decision 4-2.

1st Place Match - Adam Zosel (BEN) 3-0 won per fall 5:11.

 

182 lb. Colton Lindquist (2-2) placed 4th and scored 13.0 team points.

Quarterfinal – Defeated Ethen Montantes (DBLPM) per fall 1:11.

Semifinal - Matt Osborne (PR) won per fall 3:37.

Cons. Semi – Defeated Ethan Spanier (BBE) per major decision 9-1.

3rd Place Match - Hunter Gibson (MAHACA) won per fall  4:40.

 

195 lb. Deklin Goeden (3-1) placed 3rd and scored 18.0 team points.

Quarterfinal – Defeated Nathan Severtson (FF) per fall 0:54.

Semifinal - #7 Thomas Dineen (BEN) won per major decision 15-2.

Cons. Semi – Defeated Quintin Garcia (DBLPM) per fall 3:43.

3rd Place Match – Defeated Tristian Raths (MAHACA) per fall 3:37.

 

220 lb. Mark Adams (2-2) placed 5th, wrestled unattached.

Quarterfinal - Dillon Nelson (MAHACA) won by decision 15-9.

Cons. Round 1 – Defeated Jacob Willits (PR) per decision 8-2.

Cons. Semi - Justin Blascyk (WCAABE) won per fall 4:37.

5th Place Match – Defeated Juan Rodriguez (FF) per fall 0:23.

 

220 lb. Justin Blascyk (2-2) placed 4th and scored 14.0 team points.

Quarterfinal – Defeated Juan Rodriguez (FF) per fall 0:42.

Semifinal - Alden Syltie (BEN) won per fall 4:00.

Cons. Semi – Defeated Mark Adams (WCAABE) per fall 4:37.

3rd Place Match - Dillon Nelson (MAHACA) won per fall 2:29.

 

285 lb. Austin Mattson (2-2) placed 4th, wrestled unattached.

Quarterfinal - Austin Mattson defeated Carter Gibson (MAHACA) per fall 2:42.

Semifinal - Devin Stone (WCAABE) won per fall 3:04.

Cons. Semi – Defeated Carlos Gonsor (BEN) per fall 2:54.

3rd Place Match - Trey Teichert (DBLPM) won per decision 4-0.

 

285 lb. Devin Stone (3-2) placed 2nd and scored 19.0 team points.

Quarterfinal – Defeated Trey Teichert (DBLPM) per major decision 14-3.

Semifinal – Defeated Austin Mattson (WCAABE) per fall 3:04.

1st Place Match - #2 Dustin Portales (FF) 2-0 won per fall 0:28.