Knight Grapplers Open Season With Big Wins
Thanksgiving is over and December has come, for some people that may mean preparations for Christmas or planning a winter get away but for this writer/fan it means wrestling season is finally back! Fortunately, our local matmen also happen to be one of the premium teams in Class A wrestling, which simply sweetens the pot. That team, is the West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville Knights.
Last season the team had a impressive run which ended in the Knights claiming 3rd place in the State Tournament. A high accolade to be sure. Not surprisingly, the group opens this year sitting in the 3rd ranked position. The Knights start the season with five ranked personnel in returning state champ and current #1 Anthony Sykora, #4 Hunter Gruchow, #7 Will Rustan, #8 Beau Robinson and #9 Solomon Wales. Right behind that quintet and probably knocking on the door to break into a ranked situation themselves are Owen Gruchow, Carter Lohse, Adam Lohse and Justin Blascyk. These nine grapplers all have years of starting varsity experience and will be leaned on heavily this season. The next level of defense is made up of wrestlers with some varsity experience. Kolby Peters, Jeremy Blascyk and Ezekiel Sieckert. Each of these three have varsity matches under their belt, they will be expected to contribute. They contributed as a whole quite nicely the other night in Pelican Rapids going 4-1. The final group, and this is nothing against ability, simply time on the mat, are the guys experiencing their first season on varsity. As we have seen so far, this group consists of Nathan Brethorst, Evan Dingwall, Tucker McGee, and Gavin Flint. Some of these four bring many years of lower level experience, some have less. This group held their own last week going 4-3. Again, this list means nothing when it comes to ability, it simply breaks the groups apart by time on the varsity mat. There will also be more names added as they break into the lineup. The thing about wrestling is this, wins are wins and points are points, whether your a senior ranked #1 or an entering first year 7th grader…you score the same. Coach Gruchow will lead his team, he has high expectations and progress will be inevitable. This is your current 22-23 Knights wrestling team.
Action for the season kicked off last Thursday, December 1st in Pelican Rapids. The Knights wrestled a pair of fellow Section 6A opponents in the Ottertail Central Bulldogs and the Pelican Rapids Vikings. Both duals were won in dominant fashion. Using the word dominant to explain the outing is not an exaggeration. The Knights kenneled the Bulldogs to the tune of 76-6 and thanked the Vikings for hosting with a 58-13 drubbing. A person can view the box scores below but to get an idea of how dominating this triangular was, there were a total of 28 matches. The Knights won 24 of those bouts, that is an 86% margin of victory. Then there is winning and winning with bonus points. Pin falls, tech falls and major decisions. There are forfeits too, which do count as six points but that is not the fault of the other squad if there is no wrestler at the weight to march out. The Knights scored bonus points in 19 out of the 24 matches won. That is winning by extra points in 79% of the matches won. Even more impressive is that 17 of those bonus point matches were ended by pin fall. That means that last Thursday, when a WCAABE wrestler won, 70% of the time it was by pinning his opponent. In total there were 17 matches won by fall, 2 by major decision, 2 by decision and 3 by forfeit. The Knights only lost 4 times. The team looked, fast, strong, resilient, decisive and had good (for this time of the year) gas tanks. In my book, that is the epitome of dominant.
Evan Dingwall vs Brock Resch (OTC). PHOTO by TAMMIE OLSON PHOTOGRAPHY
#3 WCAABE 76, Ottertail Central Bulldogs 6
106. Nathan Brethorst (WCAABE) won per fall over Lanston Barry :55.
113. Evan Dingwall (WCAABE) won per fall over Brock Resch :34.
120. Owen Gruchow (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
126. Mason Christianson (OTC) won per fall over Tucker McGee 3:03.
132. Carter Lohse (WCAABE) won per fall over Tayden Soma 3:48.
138. Adam Lohse (WCAABE) won per fall over Carson Roehl 1:33.
145. Kolby Peters (WCAABE) won per fall over Conner Nelson 5:50.
152. #4 Hunter Gruchow (WCAABE) won per fall over Tom Ehlert
3:50.
160. #9 Solomon Wales (WCAABE) won per fall over Gaiden Hoeper 1:07.
170. Jeremy Blascyk (WCAABE) won per fall over William Shwartz 3:05.
182. #1 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
195. Gavin Flint (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
220. #8 Beau Robinson (WCAABE) won per fall over Josh Larson: 16.
285. #7 Will Rustan (WCAABE) won per major decision over #10 Kale Rich 11-1.
#3 WCAABE 58, Pelican Rapids 13
106. Isaac Bergen (PR) won per major over Nathan Brethorst 12-0.
113. Evan Dingwall (WCAABE) won per fall over Hazen Milbeck 3:04.
120. Owen Gruchow (WCAABE) won per decision over Jackson Peasley 10-9.
126. Jed Carlson (PR) won per fall over Tucker McGee 1:25.
132. Carter Lohse (WCAABE) won per fall over Calvin Norton 3:46.
138. Adam Lohse (WCAABE) won per fall over Alex Carlson 1:49.
145. Kolby Peters (WCAABE) won per fall over Oakley Carlson 4:33.
152. #4 Hunter Gruchow (WCAABE) won per major decision over Jack Kapenga 17-9.
160. #9 Solomon Wales (WCAABE) won per decision over Carter Johnson 7-1.
170. Mark Kapenga (PR) won per decision over Ezekiel Sieckert 12-6.
182. Jeremy Blascyk (WCAABE) won per fall over Eli Valdovines 1:12.
195. #1 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) won per fall over Kaden Holt: 32.
220. Justin Blascyk (WCAABE) won per fall over Abe Gonzalez 3:39.
285. #7 Will Rustan (WCAABE) won per fall over Justin Jacobson: 24.
#7 Will Rustan pulls in a Butcher vs. #10 Kale Rich (OTC). PHOTO by TAMMIE OLSON PHOTOGRAPHY
About his wrestlers Coach Gruchow had this to say “It felt great to be back in a gym watching these young men get after it on the mat. Overall, I was pleased with our performance. I could definitely tell we were a little rusty but that’s to be expected this early in the season. All of the coaches are excited to see what this group of wrestlers will be able to accomplish. They are not afraid to work hard and are a very coachable group. We will continue to tune up techniques, get our conditioning up to par, and enjoy being back on the mat.’
Each week we will list the ‘Fastest Fall of the Week’, and the ‘Wrestler of the Week’. There is no limit to the number of times a name shows up on this segment, if you perform...your name goes up. Senior Beau Robinson earns ‘Fastest Fall of the Week’ honors. He put down his OTC opponent in 16 seconds.
There is an honorable mention that is required for ‘Wrestler of the Week’. 7th grader, and first year wrestler Evan Dingwall made his varsity presence known as he went 2-0 on the night. Not only was he undefeated, he won by fall in both matches, with the first in :34 seconds and the second in 3:04. That is a strong statement by the new sevie! The actual honors go to Junior Will Rustan. Will has been a full time varsity wrestler for a year now. He was a state entrant a year ago at 195 lbs and is currently ranked #7 at 220 lbs. Will bumped up to heavyweight for the night and went 2-0 on the evening, as did many of his teammates, but it was who he defeated and how it happened that earns him this. Will put on a clinic over his #10 ranked OTC opponent. He outworked his opponent and began to stretch the score as time went on. In the end Rustan had his hand raised with an 11-1 victory. He then pinned his PR opponent in :24 seconds. Following the match I visited with the pair of fellows doing the Knights podcast and we came to the conclusion that Will Rustan is a dangerous man on the mat.
Nathan Brethorst scoops the head for a fall over Isaac Bergen (OTC). PHOTO by TAMMIE OLSON PHOTOGRAPHY
Wrestling action will commence next week on Thursday December 8th, when the Knights kick off their home opener in a triangular vs. the Section 5A Benson Braves and the Section 6A New York Mills Eagles. Wrestling begins at 5 pm. Saturday December 10th, the Knights are in action again as they host the Grant County Tournament in the Barrett gym. Teams attending are Alexandria, #4 Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa, Benson, #12 Border West, Canby, Fergus Falls, Morris Area/Hancock/Chokio-Alberta, Ottertail Central, Pelican Rapids, #20 AAA St. Cloud Tech and the #3 WCAABE Knights. Wrestling starts at 9 am.
