Saturday, December 17th the Monticello Magic hosted a 19 team tournament. An invitation was thrown the Knight’s direction and Coach Gruchow and Athletic Director Jake Foslien snapped up the chance to go compete. The venue provided a host of new opportunity for the wrestlers in that it is composed of teams that we rarely see in the north country. It is also a contest comprised mostly of large AA and AAA level teams. This gives the wrestlers an opportunity to face not just new wrestlers but different styles. It is a way to sharpen the tools one has while perhaps adding a few more to the toolbox.

 Coach Gruchow led his mat men on a road trip south and the team showed well. Short two weight classes, the Knights drew a line in the sand and went toe to toe with all who stepped on the mat. This included a surging AAA power house #8 ranked Mounds View. Although the Knights were in the Magic’s backyard, WCAABE whipped up a few spells of their own and cast some hocus-pocus to the tune of a trio of Champions (Owen Gruchow, Hunter Gruchow and Anthony Sykora), another trifecta of 2nd placers (Adam Lohse, Solomon Wales, and Will Rustan), a pair of 3rd places (Beau Robinson and Justin Blascyk), a pair of 4th places (Jeremy Blascyk and Kolby Peters), a 5th place finish (Sam Olson), and respectively a 6th place (Evan Dingwall). All 12 varsity wrestlers reached the podium. That is good wrestling in a field of so many programs, good enough that it earned them a 1st place finish.

‘Wrestler of the Week’ could easily tip Sykora’s way, he wrestled just a collective 5:09 on the day and pinned a top ten AA Monticello wrestler. Owen Gruchow is becoming a staple in the conversation also while big brother Hunter moved up in weight and owned the 160 lb class. Each of these three are hammers and are expected to hold their own. The wrestler earning the honors this week is Sam Olson. Sam is a Freshman for the Knights. A week ago, he did not even know he was stepping on the varsity mat. A position opened, Sam took it upon himself to move some weight to fill a void needed by the team and in is 2022 debut he went 4-1 earning himself 5th place and more importantly…...because all 4 of his victories were by pin-fall he earned 17 team points in the tournament. WCAABE edged past Mounds View by 11.5 points for 1st place. Without Olson stepping up this was not possible. Excellent team wrestling.

 Mat action will continue this week with a quad on Thursday, December 22 in Glenwood. The Knights will face off with the Fergus Falls Otters, the Osakis Silverstreaks, and the hometown Minnewaska Lakers. Wrestling begins at 5 pm.

Coach Gruchow commented on his team, “Today's performance was a step in the right direction. We really wanted to focus on getting the bonus points and not giving them up. I feel like the team rose to the challenge. We did an excellent job fighting for the pins. I also feel like we gave a much better fight when we found ourselves on our backs to get back to a safer position.” He continued with “It was fun to get some different competition in and help our guys realize that they can compete with the big schools too. We just need to keep fueling the fire and keep the focus on getting better and better day by day.”

 ‘Fastest Fall of the Week’ was a quick one. Senior Anthony Sykora is a captain for the Knights, he is currently ranked #1 in Class A. Sykora worked his mojo on a Mounds View opponent and dumped him in 18 seconds.

1. #2 (A) West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville 236 Points
2. #8 (AAA) Mounds View 224.5
3. (A) Benson 121
4. (AAA) Saint Cloud Tech 118.5
5. #21 (AAA) Andover 117.5
6. (AA) South Saint Paul 111
7. (AA) Monticello 102
8. (AAA) Central Public Schools 59
9. (AAA) Austin 55
9. (AAA) Two Rivers 55
11. (AA) Spectrum 51
12. (A) Mahnomen-Waubun 45
13. (AA) Minneapolis Patrick Henry 38
14. (AAA) Coon Rapids 37
15. (AA) Zimmerman 34
16. (AA) Brooklyn Center-Concordia Acadamy 20
16. (AA) Rockford 20
18. (AAA) Park Center 17
19. (A) New Century Academy 0