The first night of competition was in Wadena against a pair of section 6A opponents. The hometown Wolverines and another dual against the Breckenridge Cowboys. Both teams that were faced that night featured a crippled roster, blistered with open weights. The Knights made quick work of the evening and returned to Barrett with a pair of wins, 69-6 vs Wadena-Deer Creek and 66-9 vs Breckenridge.
Following the matches several Captains for the Knights gave their opinions of the duals. Sr. Jordan Lohse summed it up well with...”I feel we responded very well after last Thursday. We came out and wrestled hard, dominated both teams and came home with two more wins on the year. There is still room for improvement.” He was closely followed in thought by Nathaniel Kisgen, Kade Olson and Colton Lindquist in his last sentence….there is still room for improvement. The importance of that last statement cannot be overstated enough. Complaisance can be a killer during the middle of a season. Teams can become OK with the idea of beating who we are supposed to, dropping duals to those who on paper are supposedly better, leaning on the major point scorers and settling into routines. It takes good leadership and a strong team to overcome the length of a varsity wrestling season. Keeping an eye on the big picture and post season is not as easy as it seems, the Knights will attempt to gather a handle on this as they are striving towards loftier goals.
Ezekial Sieckert pins Eli Benning (WDC). PHOTO by TAMMIE OLSON PHOTOGRAPHY
Kade Olson pins Koby Endres (WDC). PHOTO by TAMMIE OLSON PHOTOGRAPHY
Thursday, the Knights headed south to Marshall. The matches were to include duals with the AA Marshall/Lakeview Tigers and the AA power house team of Fairmont/Martin County West. Old man winter caused the FMCW team to stay home as their school was canceled due to weather. The dual with the Tigers continued.
The dual pitted a pair of teams that never meet. The Tigers and the Knights seemed to match up well and it looked to be quite competitive, it could come down to the flip of the coin even to see who shows first on the mat. The fans in attendance and watching online were rewarded with a very sporting and exciting dual. It carried all the drama one wants out of sports as the Tigers jumped out to an early lead. The Knights responded and took over the dual during the middle bouts. With three weights remaining the Knights held a 12 point lead, however the Tigers were able to march out the meat of their lineup, a daunting group that were all highly ranked. WCA/A/B-E fought hard, and till the final seconds of each match, but one by one the Tigers closed the gap until at the end of the dual the score was tied at 33-33.
Wrestling does not end in ties. There is a long list of criteria that will separate a winner from the other. The first three all comply with penalty points and sportsmanship qualities. Neither team had any misconduct points or penalties so it moved to the 4th criteria….most bouts won during the dual. Although the Knights picked up great bonus points in the matches they did win, the 8-6 ratio in favor of the Tigers pulled out the dual. The criteria point was awarded and Marshall/Lakeview won the dual 34-33.
As stated above, the dual was exciting for a fan. We all crave good competition. However, those closest to the sport and wrestlers put separation between exciting and hard goals, they do not carry equal weight. Coach Gruchow knew what was left on the mat and followed the dual with a statement...”Tonight was just not our night. We had too many things go wrong before the dual even started. A few things that took us off our mental edge and focus.” He followed with,..”Don’t get me wrong, some of our guys wrestled fantastic but against a solid team we need everyone to do their part...that didn’t happen tonight and we now have to chalk up another loss on our record.” The coach chose some tough words, but wrestling is a tough sport. There is nobody to help when out on the mat. All one has is the preparation he walked out with. At times improvement does not come through winning and outright successes but instead by falling down and finding out why.
#15 WCA/A/B-E 69, Wadena-Deer Creek (WDC) 6
106: Mason Brauch (WDC) over Carter Lohse per decision 5-2.
113: Sam Olson (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
120: Adam Lohse (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
126: Solomon Wales (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
132: Ezekiel Sieckert (WCA/A/B-E) over Eli Benning per fall 0:52.
138: Simon Snyder (WDC) over Ashton Danner per decision 8-1.
145: Dierk Goeden (WCA/A/B-E) over Brandon Wheeler per decision.
152: #9 Anthony Sykora (WCA/A/B-E) over Nicholas Manselle per fall
0:13.
160: #2 Jordan Lohse (WCA/A/B-E) over Seth Stroeing per fall 1:35.
170: Kade Olson (WCA/A/B-E) over Koby Endres per fall 0:25.
182: Beau Robinson (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
195: #4 Nathaniel Kisgen (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
220: Colton Lindquist (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
285: Justin Blascyk (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
#15 WCA/A/B-E) 66, Breckenridge (BREC) 9
106: Matt Noll (BREC) over Carter Lohse per decision 6-0.
113: Sam Olson (WCA/A))/B-Ewon per forfeit.
120: Adam Lohse (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
126: Solomon Wales (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
132: Ezekiel Sieckert (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
138: Ashton Danner (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
145: Dierk Goeden (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
152: #9 Anthony Sykora (WCA/A/B-E) over #10 Aidan Ruddy per fall 2:50.
160: #2 Jordan Lohse (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
170: Kade Olson (WCA/A/B-E) over Grant Davis per fall 0:26.
182: Beau Robinson (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
195: #4 Nathaniel Kisgen (WCA/A/B-E) won per forfeit.
220: Wyatt Differding (BREC) over Justin Blascyk per decision 4-2.
285: #3 Daniel Erlandson (BREC) over Colton Lindquist per decision 7-5.
WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
First year varsity wrestler Ezekiel Sieckert takes this week's honors as featured wrestler of the week. Ezekial competes in the 132 lb weight class and in his first bout of varsity action in Wadena he put his opponents shoulders to the mat for a fall. He gathered a forfeit against Breckenridge and helped his team get back into the Marshall dual as he earned another pin in the second period. Welcome to varsity Ezekial!
Action continues this week as on Tuesday the 10-3 Knights host the 11-3 Crookston Pirates and the 7-4 Benson Braves. Thursday the team goes to Battle Lake for a dual with the 6-7 Ottertail Central Bulldogs.
The new rankings from the ‘Guillotine’ were released 2/3/21
#16 AA Marshall /Lakeveiw (MARS) 34, #17 A WCA/A/B-E 33
106: Landon Marthaler (MARS) over Carter Lohse per decision 5-0.
113: Drew Chandler (MARS) won per forfeit.
120: Adam Lohse (WCA/A/B-E) over Aidan Mattison per fall 2:05.
126: Brett Regnier (MARS) over Solomon Wales per fall 2:37.
132: Ezekiel Sieckert (WCA/A/B-E) over Christian Vlaminck per fall 4:34.
138: #6 Dylan Louwagie (MARS) over Ashton Danner per decision 4-1.
145: Tate Condezo (MARS) over Dierk Goeden per decision 6-4.
152: #6 Anthony Sykora (WCA/A/B-E) over Lukas Stelter per fall 0:54.
160: Kade Olson (WCA/A/B-E) over Tucker Fiene per decision 4-1.
170: #2 Jordan Lohse (WCA/A/B-E) over Mitchell Bouwman per fall 2:56.
182: #4 Nathaniel Kisgen (WCA/A/B-E) over Kaidin Otto per fall 0:53.
195: #7 Cole Felcyn (MARS) over Beau Robinson per decision 7-4.
220: #3 Spencer Wambeke (MARS) over Justin Blascyk per fall 5:59.
285: #5 Grant Louwagie (MARS) over Colton Lindquist per decision 3-2.
