The first was the fellow section 6A New York Mills Eagles. The Knights jumped out to a hot start as they controlled the first five bouts, albeit a pair of the wins were by forfeit. This gave the Knights a 24-0 advantage. The Eagles attempted a response with two wins at 138 and 145 lbs but WCA/A/B-E roared back with victories in all seven of the final matches...thus grounding the Eagles and winning the dual 55-9.

Next up were the section 5A foes Kerkoven-Murdock-Sunburg, the Fighting Saints. The Saints and Knights typically match up well, providing exciting duals. This season was no different. KMS grabbed the opening contest with a major decision for four points. Mason Richter of the Knights responded with a decision at 113 lbs. The Fighting Saints opened up their lead taking the next three matches and giving themselves a margin of 19-3. WCA/A/B-E went on a scoring spree during the next five matches as pins were gathered by Ashton Danner, Anthony Sykora, Kade Olson and Jordan Lohse. Dierk Goeden won his 145 lb bout in the middle of all that with an overtime time decision. Following the excitement, the Knights were on top with a score of 30-19. KMS earned a major decision at 182 and that would be as close as the Fighting Saints would get. The Knights took away any hopes that KMS may have had as Nathaniel Kisgen pinned his man at 195, Colton Lindquist won by decision and Austin Mattson, the master of the Peterson or Side Roll, stuck his heavyweight opponent to close out the contest. The Knights were victorious with a score of 45-23.

Anthony Sykora earned two wrestling milestones on Tuesday as he passed 100 wins and 50 pins.

Coach Gruchow followed the match with the following thoughts:”I felt like we did a much better job at keeping the matches close and not giving up bonus points as much.” He continued with:” We stayed in better position and kept within striking distance even when we were outmatched. These are things we worked on in the last three practices and its nice seeing them put it together on the mat.”

#15 WCA/A/B-E 55, New York Mills (NYM) 9
106: Carter Lohse (WCA/AB-E) won per forfeit.
113: Mason Richter (WCA/A/B-E) over Joe Mann per fall 0:17.
120: Adam /Lohse (WCA/A/B-E) over Nick Peters per decision 4-2.
126: Solomon Wales (WCA/A/B-E) over Chris Yoder per decision 9-5.
132: Grant Lindquist (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
138: Jacob Guck (NYM) over Ashton Danner per fall 1:14.
145: #7 Dane Niemi (NYM) over Dierk Goeden per decision 7-1.
152: #9 Anthony Sykora (WCA/A/B-E) over Hunter Rust per technical fall 16-1.
160: Kade Olson (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
170: #2 Jordan Lohse (WCA/A/B-E) over #10 Bren Salo per decision 4-0.
182: Beau Robinson (WCA/A/B-E) over Jon Rinerson per decision 4-0.
195: #4 Nathaniel Kisgen (WCA/A/B-E) over Cody Barthel per technical fall 19-3.
220: Colton Lindquist (WCA/A/B-E) over Bode Roberts per fall 1:02.
285: Justin Blascyk (WCA/A/B-E) over Braeden Peterson per decision 3-0.

#15 WCA/A/B-E) 45, Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (KMS) 23
106: Trey Gunderson (KMS) over Carter Lohse per major decision 14-1.
113: Mason Richter (WCA/A/B-E) over Noah Johnson per decision 4-0.
120: Ely Johnson (KMS) over Adam Lohse per decision 4-2.
126: #9 Chase Magaard (KMS) won per forfeit.
132: #4 Coy Gunderson (KMS) over Solomon Wales per fall 1:33.
138: Ashton Danner (WCA/A/B-E) over Jett Olson per fall 2:54.
145: Dierk Goeden (WCA/A/B-E) over Hunter Wilts per overtime decision 4-2.
152: #9 Anthony Sykora (WCA/A/B-E) over Luke Froehlich per fall 1:09.
160: Kade Olson (WCA/A/B-E) over Gavyn Feldman per fall 0:40.
170: #2 Jordan Lohse (WCA/A/B-E) over Masyn Olson per fall 4:11.
182: #8 . Richard Jones (KMS) over Beau Robinson per major decision 16-7.
195: #4 Nathaniel Kisgen (WCA/A/B-E) over Collin Johnson per fall 0:31.
220: Colton Lindquist (WCA/A/B-E) over Brody Forsell per decision 3-0.
285: Austin Mattson (WCA/A/B-E) over Jason Jones per fall 0:46.

#2 Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (ACGC) 43, #15 WCA/A)/B-E 25
106: Trey Schmidt (ACGC) over Carter Lohse per decision 8-5.
113: #5 Edwyn Gonzalez (ACGC) over Mason Richter per major decision 15-2.
120: #1 Jevon Williams (ACGC) over Adam Lohse per fall 1:38.
126: Solomon Wales (WCA/A/B-E) over Morgan Kidd per fall 0:45.
132: #8 Cole Holien (ACGC) won per forfeit.
138: #8 Hayden Straumann (ACGC) over Ashton Danner per fall 1:20.
145: #3 Brady Holien (ACGC) over Dierk Goeden per fall 0:23.
152: #9 Anthony Sykora (WCA/A/B-E) over Mason Studemann per major decision 13-1.
160: #2 Jordan Lohse (WCA/A/B-E) over #10 Jake Mortensen per decision 7-2.
170: Kade Olson (WCA/A/B-E) over Logan Straumann per decision 5-3.
182: #4 Nathaniel Kisgen (WCA/A/B-E) over #6 Jaxon Behm per fall 0:19.
195: #7 Taylor Fester (ACGC) over Beau Robinson per fall 4:53.
220: Colton Lindquist (WCA/A/B-E) over Terrell Renne per decision 1-0.
285: #5 Logan Sherwood (ACGC) over Austin Mattson per fall 1:10.

#3 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (BBE) 42, #15 WCA/A/B-E 27
106: Brett DeRoo (BBE) over Carter Lohse per fall 1:31.
113: Mason Richter (WCA/A/B-E over Ethan Mueller per decision 5-0.
120: #5 Ryan Jensen (BBE) over Adam Lohse per fall 0:54.
126: #4 Walker Bents (BBE) over Solomon Wales per fall 2:03.
132: Wyatt Engen (BBE) won per forfeit.
138: #6 Tyler Jensen (BBE) over Ashton Danner per fall 0:23.
145: #3 Blaine Fischer (BBE) over Dierk Goeden per fall 0:18.
152: #9 Anthony Sykora (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
160: #2 Jordan Lohse (WCA/A/B-E) over #9 Maximus Hanson per decision 10-4.
170: Dylan T. Kampsen (BBE) over Kade Olson per decision 7-1.
182: #4 Nathaniel Kisgen (WCA/A/B-E) over Cooper Wold per fall 0:37.
195: #9 Mark Jenniges (BBE) over Beau Robinson per decision 6-0.
220: Colton Lindquist (WCA/A/B-E) over Carson Gilbert per decision 1-0.
285: Justin Blascyk (WCA/A/B-E) over #10 Bryce Feuerhake per fall 4:06.

The second night of competition last week was all about opportunity. The teams the Knights faced were studded with top notch talent. The home town section 4A Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (ASGC) Falcons are ranked #2 and the section 5A Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa (BBE) Jaguars were seated #3. Between the two teams the talent is incredible, they boast a combined 16 wrestlers that the ‘Guillotine’ has ranked in the top ten. It was a test on many levels for the Knight mat men and although both duals equated to losses on the scoreboard, much more happened than a simple team loss. The evening was all about taking advantage of the opportunity to compete with great talent. To size up current ability, measure one's self against a proven product, put into action what was recently worked on in practice and jockey into better position for future wrestling. The Knights received the opportunity for all the above.

Coach Gruchow summed up the Grove City triangular with:”It's always tough when you wrestle teams like these two, especially when you wrestle back to back like we did tonight. With the right approach when wrestling tough teams, you can definitely get better much faster, and seeing two great teams like ACGC and BBE there is no doubt in my mind we got better tonight. Being the underdogs in the matches means that you need to make-up and save points to beat them. We knew we had work cut out for us. We came into the match knowing that we were going to have to wrestle very well, minimize the pins against us, pin, and get a couple of upsets to come out on top. Unfortunately, we didn't do all those things in either of the matches but I do feel like we did wrestle fairly well and gave a decent fight. In the ACGC match more than the BBE match, I think the guys felt like there was a chance to win the dual. We will get back on the mat tomorrow and get to work on cradle defense, finishing leg attacks, more defense when in the down position trying to eliminate those pins, and few other things that got us tonight.”

A few notable statistics for the week include: 4-0 wrestlers...Anthony Sykora, Jordan Lohse, Nathaniel Kisgen and Colton Lindquist. 3-1 grapplers include Mason Richter and Kade Olson. 

Justin Blascyk takes this editions spot as ‘Wrestler of the Week’. Justin is a sophomore for the Knights and is competing in his second campaign as a Varsity competitor. Justin wrestles at both the 220 and 285 lb weight classes. This week Justin was on the mat twice, both at heavyweight. He pitched in a decision against New York Mills which is always welcome but it was his performance in the BBE dual that earned him this spot. Justin wrestled in the final match of a dual that by the time he stepped on the mat was well decided. His team was not going to win the event. This can at times be defeating in itself to an athlete but couple that up with a top ten foe and the task is fairly daunting. Such was not the case for Blascyk last Thursday as he took on the #10 ranked Jaguar Feuerhake and dominated the better (on paper) opponent. It was a classic example of, this is why we compete, because the expected does not always happen. Justin was in clear control of the entire match and capped off his performance with a third period fall. Not only did Justin epitomize the definition of seizing the opportunity but if he was not on other team's radar yet, he made a strong case to get there last week!

The Knights will be back on the road twice this week. On Tuesday they travel to Wadena for a triangular with a pair of section 6A teams. The Wadena Wolverines and the Breckenridge Cowboys. Thursday the Knights head south to Marshall for a tri with a pair of AA opponents. The Marshall/Lakeview Tigers and the #4 AA Fairmont/Martin County West Red Bulls.