The next order of business was an impromptu dual tournament that surfaced in Osakis. The level of wrestling was clearly ratcheted up and by the end of the evening the chinks in the Knights armor began to surface. First up were the host Osakis Silverstreaks from Section 6A. The Knights gave up some points but had plenty in the tank to more than make up for what they gave up. The dual ended 45-28. Next up were the Section 5A #11 ranked Canby Lancers. Canby gave WCAABE a good old fashioned whuppin. From pillar to post the Lancers were able to do about anything they wanted. It was a beat down that handed the Knights their first loss of the season by way of 50-19. In the final dual of the night WCAABE faced off with a powerful Section 8AA Pequot Lakes-Pine River-Backus Team. PLPRB had given the Lancers a good thrashing earlier but the Knights wrestled better in this match up. Although the Knights lost, they put up better defense allowing 42 points and scored more by securing 27. It was a rough quad for the Knights, but great competition is what is needed for what lies ahead. Rankings are good, they give an idea of performed history that that is used in conversation to debate out facts. The loss to Canby will most certainly put a dent in the Knights #3 rankings but, that is an opinion on paper. What matters most is who can add the most tools to the toolbox by the end of the year. The official rankings are proven by the medals held up at the section and state tournaments.

Over the week, the Knights faced top level teams, mid level teams and a below .500 unit. That is a good spectrum of talent that gives a great opportunity to pull apart a few statistics. These numbers give an account of strengths and weaknesses of the team. For those of us who are numbers junkies...it lets us understand how scores transpired. The team went 4-2 and wrestled 84 matches. They won 56% of them with 47 victories. That means they allowed 37 losses which equals 44%. Certainly a successful margin but its cutting it close. The Knights know how to score points. In the 47 matches won the team scored bonus points in 41 of them, that is 83% of the times they win, they score more than 3 points. Transversely, the Knights also give up a fair number of extra points. When opponents win they score bonus points 62% of the time. That is plenty as over half, 54% of the time when a loss happens it is by a pin. That number must acquire attention when facing heavy duty wrestling teams.

Coach Brandon Gruchow commented about the weeks wrestling with, "Anytime you can come walking out of a quad 3-0, you know something's definitely went right. It's always nice to seal the duals against section opponents as well as it sets us up for the section tournament later on. We knew both of our section opponents Border West and BHV-PP have very salty lineups and their teams definitely have some hammers. We weathered the storm in the beginning of both matches and our upper weights did a great job taking care of what needed to be done to win the duals. Friday, we entered this tournament as a makeup for some earlier competition that we lost. And although it was not ideal in the fact that we wrestled the night before, we were able to get in some much needed matches. I think some very valuable lessons were learned after the tournament was over and these lessons learned will benefit us in the postseason. Losing is never easy or fun but I am confident that our wrestlers will use the two loses a the right way.”

Big winners for the week who went 6-0 included Hunter Gruchow, Anthony Sykora, and Justin Blascyk. Beau Robinson was the sole 5-1 grappler. Owen Gruchow, Adam Lohse and Will Rustan all posted 4-2 records. A special note, anytime a wrestler beats a higher ranked opponent it is certainly worth mentioning, Adam Lohse put on a strong display when he defeated his #9 ranked Barnesville opponent 7-2.

 ‘Fastest Pin of the Week’ happened so quickly that while recording wrestlers on the mat, I missed the actual pin itself! It took just ::07 seconds for Anthony Sykora to put his PLPRB opponents shoulders to the mat. Having recorded wrestling stats now for many years, that is about as fast as it can get. A side note for Anthony, he also pinned his Canby foe in :10 seconds and the Osakis man lasted a whole :22 seconds. Anthony wrestled just :39 seconds collectively in his three matches on Friday night.

 Career Milestones for the Knights this week included Adam Lohse garnering his 75th career pin-fall and Anthony Sykora recorded his 100th career pin-fall.

‘Wrestler of the Week’ was difficult. There were three young men with perfect records. For one reason or another all of them have reason to secure the honor. It is hard to argue Sykora and his pin times. Very dominant! However, this weeks award goes to Senior Justin Blascyk. Blascyk has wrestled his way to a #9 ranking in Class A wrestling and has done so by becoming a force. Justin mostly wrestles heavyweight for the Knights but rarely weighs over 220 lbs himself. He is giving up 40-60 lbs constantly. When watching Blascyk on the mat, three key traits surface….he is hard to score on. Opponents simply do not put up points against him. He has also become very patient. Justin is an extremely calm wrestler on the mat. There is no panic to him and he stays in great position until he sees the opportunity to score. Justin is extremely quick and nimble for a heavyweight. He can snap a big man hard enough to pull him off his feet and scoot around for the two point take-down or he has a very fast sweeping single. Justin is an exciting heavyweight to watch.

 Action continues this week on Tuesday, December 10 the 8-2 Knights will travel to Sauk Centre to face off with a pair of Section 8AA opponents. The 1-3 Sauk Centre/Melrose Mainstreeters and the 1-4 United Clay Becker Badgers. Thursday, December 12 the Knights are back in Barrett for a triangular with the Section 6A 2-5 Wadena-Deer Creek Wolverines and the Section 3AA #18 ranked United team from Dawson-Boyd/LQPV/Montevideo whom has a 3-0 record.

Thursday, December 5 Barnesville
#3 WCAABE 43 #16 Border West 27
106: Evan Dingwall (WCAABE) over Drew Sykora by fall :56.
113: #9 Owen Gruchow (WCAABE) over Zach Rikimoto by fall 2:39.
120: #1 Cole Sykora (BW) over Tucker McGee by fall 2:35.
126: Gunner Hennessy (BW) over Logan Schmall by fall 4:33.
132: Peyton Forcier (BW) over Sam Olson by decision 3-1.
138: #1 Eli Larson (BW) over Adam Lohse by decision 10-4.
145: Jude Olson (BW) over Kolby Peters by fall 5:56.
152: #8 Solomon Wales (WCAABE) over Ben Pederson by fall 2:57.
160: #4 Hunter Gruchow (WCAABE) over Brody Nachbor by major decision 11-3.
170: Patrick Forcier (BOWE) over Jeremy Blascyk by decision 6-2.
182: #1 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) won by forfeit.
195: #10 Beau Robinson (WCAABE) won by forfeit.|
220: #9 Justin Blascyk (WCAABE) won by forfeit.
285: Will Rustan (WCAABE) over Andrew Hennessy won by decision 6-2.

#3 WCAABE 63 Barnesville 12
106: Evan Dingwall (WCAABE) over Chase Hauck by fall 1:30.
113: #9 Owen Gruchow (WCAABE) over Brock Grabow by fall
1:24.
120: Tucker McGee (WCAABE) won by forfeit.
126: Quincy Morey (BARN) over Logan Schmall by fall 1:38.
132: Sam Olson (WCAABE) over Asher O`Brien by fall 2:55.
138: Adam Lohse (WCAABE) over #9 Ayden Hauck by decision 7-2.
145: Kolby Peters (WCAABE) won by forfeit.
152: #8 Solomon Wales (WCAABE) over William Rotz by fall 3:20.
160: #4 Hunter Gruchow (WCAABE) over Hunter Blilie by fall 1:51.
170: Cameron Halverson (BARN) over Jeremy Blascyk by decision 4-3.
182: #1 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
195: #10 Beau Robinson (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
220: #9 Jordan Kroll (BARN) over Will Rustan by decision 3-0.
285: #9 Justin Blascyk (WCAABE) over Tim Wells by fall 4:52.

#3 WCAABE 49 Bertha-Hewitt- Verndale -Parkers Prairie 27
106: Hudson Truax (BHVP) over Evan Dingwall by decision 6-0.
113: #9 Owen Gruchow (WCAABE) over Orran Hart by decision 10-5.
120: Justin Olson (BHVP) over Tucker McGee by fall 2:34.
126: Evan Jares (BHVP) over Logan Schmall by fall 2:30.
132: Bennet Arceneau (BHVP) over Sam Olson by fall 5:51.
138: Adam Lohse (WCAABE) over Tanner Schulke by fall 1:42.
145: David Revering (BHVP) over Kolby Peters by fall 3:26.
152: #8 Solomon Wales (WCAABE) over Blake Sumstad by fall
1:48.
160: #4 Hunter Gruchow (WCAABE) won by forfeit.
170: Jeremy Blascyk (WCAABE) over Cayden Kimber by fall 5:26.
182: #1 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) over Justin Koehn by fall 1:31.
195: #10 Beau Robinson (WCAABE) over Zach Mrnak by fall 1:02.
220: Will Rustan (WCAABE) over Braden Shamp by major decision 10-0.
285: #9 Justin Blascyk (WCAABE) over Zach Bosman by fall 4:19.
 

Friday, December 6 Osakis
#3 WCAABE 45 Osakis 28
106: #2 Reggie George (OSAK) over Evan Dingwall by fall 1:25.
113: #9 Owen Gruchow (WCAABE) over Ashton Pastian by fall :21.
120: Simon Jacobson (OSAK) over Tucker McGee by fall 1:53.
126: Zackery Bruder (OSAK) over Logan Schmall by decision 11-7.
132: Christian Nathe (OSAK) won by forfeit.
138: #5 Jacob Taplin (OSAK) over Kolby Peters by major decision 13-4.
145: Adam Lohse (WCAABE) over Tucker Hagen by fall 3:02.
152: #9 Kale Drevlow (OSAK) over #8 Solomon Wales per decision 3-2.
160: #4 Hunter Gruchow (WCAABE) over Gaven Cimbura by decision 9-4.
170: Jeremy Blascyk (WCAABE) over Raphael Paquay by fall 1:39.
182: #1 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) over Kaleb Helberg by fall :22.
195: #10 Beau Robinson (WCAABE) over Conner Koep by fall 2:28.
220: Will Rustan (WCAABE) over Preston Kunkel by fall 1:04.
285: #9 Justin Blascyk (WCAABE) over Zachary Winkle by fall :45.

#11 Canby 50 #3 WCAABE 19
106: Daven VanEngen (CANB) over Evan Dingwall by fall 2:47.
113: #4 Eli Greenman (CANB) over #9 Owen Gruchow by major decision 13-5.
120: Brennan Giese (CANB) over Tucker McGee by fall 1:28.
126: Clayton Drietz (CANB) over Logan Schmall by decision 4-0.
132: Lane Giese (CANB) won per forfeit.
138: Sam Drietz (CANB) over Adam Lohse by major decision 10-2.
145: #7 Lane Fink (CANB) over Kolby Peters by fall 1:03.
152: Lincoln Fink (CANB) over #8 Solomon Wales by decision 7-4.
160: #4 HunterGruchow (WCAABE) over Sawyer Verhelst by major decision 9-1.
170: Nick Wagner (CANB) over Jeremy Blascyk by fall 1:05.
182: #1 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) over Issac Guza by fall :10.
195: Sawyer Drietz (CANB) over #10 Beau Robinson by fall 1:41.
220: Will Rustan (WCAABE) over Wesley Verhelst by fall :34.
285: #9 Justin Blascyk (WCAABE) over Gavin Noyes by decision 5-3.

#9 AA Pequot Lakes-Pine River-Backus 42 #3 WCAABE 27
106: Trevor Holmberg (PLPR) over Evan Dingwall by fall 5:15.
113: #4 Parker Zutter (PLPR) over #9 Owen Gruchow by fall 3:37.
120: Easton Miller (PLPR) over Tucker McGee by fall :41.
126: Tayten Mick (PLPR) over Logan Schmall by fall 1:20.
132: Sean Kilpatrick (PLPR) won by forfeit.
138: Adam Lohse (WCAABE) over Owen Dabill by fall 2:02.
145: Brady Ruhl (PLPR) over Kolby Peters by decision 3-2.
152: Chance Abraham (PLPR) over #8 Solomon Wales by decision 8-1.
160: #4 Hunter Gruchow (WCAABE) over Grant Thompson by fall 3:44.
170: Earl Stockman (PLPR) over Jeremy Blascyk by decision 4-1.
182: #1 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) over Paxton Goddard by fall :07.
195: #10 Beau Robinson (WCAABE) over Trey Tuchtenhagen by fall :32.
220: #5 Corbin Knapp (PLPR) over Will Rustan by decision 3-0.
285: #9 Justin Blascyk (WCAABE) over Riley Peters by overtime decision 3-1.