Thursday, January 17 the West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansville Knights returned from a month long road trip to the friendly confines of the Barrett gym. The team faced off with a pair of section 6A opponents in the Wadena-Deer Creek Wolverines and the Breckenridge Cowboys.

Both duals ended in landslide scores towards the Knights favor. In total WCAABE scored a combined 136 points while giving up just 24 and although there was an abundance of forfeits which accrued for 72 of those points the Knights won the matches wrestled by a large margin. 12 out of the 16 contests (75%) wrestled ended in favor of the home team, most with big bonus points. Out of the dozen victories eight were won by fall, two by technical fall and a pair of decisions.

On the evening Head Coach Brandon Gruchow stated: “It was nice to get back into our home gym and wrestle in front of our home crowd. It really helps our wrestlers stay upbeat and energized. We had a fantastic home crowd, the pep band was great, and the gym was rocking. It was a great atmosphere and our wrestlers performed well because of it.”

Kerkhoven, MN

Friday, January 18 the grapplers turned back to the road as they traveled to Kerkhoven to face off with three solid competitors. The AA Litchfield Dragons, and a feisty pair of section 5A teams in the Benson Braves and the Kerkhovan-Murdock-Sunburg Fighting Saints.

Below Coach Gruchow will give the mental and emotional take on the duals but lets look at the evening statistically. The team went 1-2 triumphing in a late comeback over Benson but fell to Litchfield and KMS. In total the Knights were victorious in more than half of the matches, 52% were won by WCAABE, that is 22 out of the 42 matches wrestled. However, the total score differential went in favor to the opponents to the tune of 110-102 points respectively. By looking at the percentage of matches won and the score differentials, it is evident that all four teams were relatively evenly matched but in the end it was bonus points that overcame the number of victories. Keep in mind that the Knights won more matches than opponents but the breakdown goes like this...opponents racked up 15 six point wins while the Knights made good on 11. Both sides each had a technical fall. Opponents were able to best the Knights in four point major decisions by way of 4/1. Three point decisions were clearly in favor of the Knights by a 9/0 margin. It doesn’t take much for math to see how important the bonus points are during dual situations. The silver lining in the cloud is the fact that the Knights wrestled tough competition and according to Coach Gruchow got one step closer to where they want to be by the end of the year.

Coach Gruchow had this to say about his team: “It was a tough night for us.  It's not that we didn't wrestle well because for the most part we did.  We just gave up too many big points in all three of our duals.  We need to do a better job at taking care of the little things in our matches.  That will help us save and gain more critical points.  Wyatt Olson earned MVP of the tournament.  He was solid throughout the tournament and pinned all three of his opponents.  Anthony Sykora, Jordan Lohse, and Austin Mattson all wrestled well and went undefeated.  They deserved it, each of them went after it in their matches and put fourth amazing effort.  The team is working out kinks and I have been impressed with the attitude's of our wrestlers even  when things aren't going as well as we want them to.  I think the guys are right on the verge of taking it to the next level.  We are starting to do a better job at paying attention to detail and giving a better effort when we are on the mat and on the bench while cheering on our teammates.  They have set high goals for themselves.  We are in the toughest part of our season.  Hopefully this grind helps reach our goals!”

WCAABE will compete next on Friday, January 25th taking part in the LPGE/B Duals held in Long Prairie. Action will begin at 4 pm.

Numbers following hash tags represent state rankings via the 'Guillotine'.

#19 WCAABE 74, Wadena-Deer Creek (WDC) 6.
106: Shad Swanson (WCAABE) over Simon Snyder per fall 2:36.
113: Ashton Danner (WCAABE) over Koby Endres per technical fall 19-2 6:00. 
120: Dierk Goeden (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
126: #9 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) over Mason Snyder per decision 8-2.
132: Hunter Hanson (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
138: #7 Jordan Lohse (WCAABE) over Connor Dirks per fall 1:34.
145: Kade Olson (WCAABE) over Braeden Sibert per fall 1:58.
152: Bryce Lien (WCAABE) over Brayden Kleinke per fall :50.
160: Hunter Mickelsen (WCAABE) over Isaac Hale per fall 1:30.
170: #9 Cody Wheeler (WDC) over Deklin Goeden per fall 1:05.
182: Colton Lindquist (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
195: #5 Wyatt Olson (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
220: Devin  Stone (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
285: Austin Mattson (WCAABE) won per forfeit.

#19 WCAABE 62, Breckenridge (BREC) 18.
106: Solomon Wales (WCAABE) over Matt Noll per fall :24.
113: Ashton Danner (WCAABE) won per forfeit. 
120: Zach Haire (BREC) over Dierk Goeden per fall 2:34.
126: #9 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) over Zander Gregor per fall :28.
132: Aidan Ruddy (BREC) over Hunter Hanson per fall 4:59.
138: #7 Jordan Lohse (WCAABE) over Dylan Pearson per technical fall 16-1 4:43.
145: Bryce Lien (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
152: Kaleb Getz (WCAABE) over Austin Snobl per fall 1:36.
160: Hunter Mickelsen (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
170: Deklin Goeden (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
182: Colton Lindquist (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
195: #5 Wyatt Olson (WCAABE) over #6 Daniel Erlandson per decision 8-3.
220: Tanner Differding (BREC) over Devin Stone per fall 3:41.
285: Austin Mattson (WCAABE) won per forfeit.

#16 AA Litchfield (LITC) 36, #19 WCAABE) 31.
106: Andrew Joedeman (LITC) over Shad Swanson per technical fall 18-1 5:34.
113: Alex Joedeman (LITC) over Ashton Danner per fall 3:37.
120: Devin Steinhaus (LITC) over Dierk Goeden per fall :42,
126: #9 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) over Eddie Simes per decision 5-4. 
132: #7 Jerry Simes (LITC) over Hunter Hanson per fall 1:50.
138: #7 Jordan Lohse (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
145: Kade Olson (WCAABE) over Sergio Martinez per major decision 14-4. 
152: Kaleb Getz (WCAABE) over Bryce Penk (LITC) per decision 5-3 in sudden victory period. 
160: #5 Logan Nelson (LITC) over Hunter Mickelsen per major decision 15-4. 
170: Carter Block (LITC) over Deklin Goeden per major decision 15-7.
182: Colton Lindquist (WCAABE) over Mason St. Pierre per decision 9-4.
195: Justin Blascyk (WCAABE) won per forfeit.
220: #5 Wyatt Olson (WCAABE) over Isaac Rick per fall 1:53. 
285: #3 Chase Liestman (LITC) over Devin Stone per fall 5:51.
LITC technical -1, lost a team point unsportsmanlike conduct.

#19 WCAABE 38, Benson (BENS) 34.
106: Shad Swanson (WCAABE) over Reece Larson per fall 1:52.
113: Ashton Danner (WCAABE) over Alex Whitcup per fall 1:44.
120: Hunter Mondor (BENS) over Dierk Goeden per fall 1:06.
126: #9 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) over Colby Hogrefe per technical fall 17-2 5:46. 
132: Hunter Hanson (WCAABE) over Mike Nagler per decision 9-4.
138: #7 Jordan Lohse (WCAABE) over Adam Koosman per decision 7-4.
145: Adam Zosel (BENS) over Kade Olson per fall 2:38.
152: Brady Ascheman (BENS) over Kaleb Getz per fall 2:46.
160: #10 Jared Knutson (BENS) over Hunter Mickelsen per major decision 14-4.
170: Alex Wrobleski (BENS) over Deklin Goeden per injury default.
182: Dylan Stewart (BENS) over Colton Lindquist per fall 4:30.
195: #5 Wyatt Olson (WCAABE) over Thomas Dineen per fall 1:48. 
220: Devin Stone (WCAABE) over Alden Sylte per decision 5-4 in the 2nd overtime.
285: Austin Mattson (WCAABE) over Carlos Gonsor per fall 2:40.

Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg (KMS) 40, #19 WCAABE) 33.
106: #5 Coy Gunderson (KMS) over Shad Swanson per fall 3:14.
113: Chase Magaard (KMS) over Ashton Danner per fall 2:23.
120: Ely Johnson (KMS) over Dierk Goeden per fall 1:23.
126: #2 Will Magaard (KMS) over Reubens Swanson per major decision 14-3.
132: #9 Anthony Sykora (WCAABE) over Valentin Carpio per fall 1:10.
138: Jared Carlson (KMS) over Hunter Hanson per fall 2:17.
145: #7 Jordan Lohse (WCAABE) over Aiden Miller per fall 1:43.
152: Kade Olson (WCAABE) won per forfeit. 
160: Hunter Mickelsen (WCAABE) over Brandon Kallstrom per decision 3-0.
170: Richard Jones (KMS) won per forfeit.
182: Ethan Peters (KMS) over Colton Lindquist per fall 1:05.
195: #5 Wyatt Olson (WCAABE) over Marc Collins per fall 1:47
220: Devin Stone (WCAABE) over Brody Forsell per decision 5-1.
285: Austin Mattson (WCAABE) over Jason Jones per decision 6-5.