by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls went 3-1 and finsihed second overall at the 45th Annual Grand Forks Sertoma Invitational dual meet wrestling tournament Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7-8. It was the Prowlers’ third consecutive runner-up finish in the tournament.
In each of those championship matches, Thief River Falls faced Perham for the championship just two days after the teams met for their scheduled regular season dual meet.
In 2016, Perham won the scheduled dual 44-23 and the Sertoma Championship 35-31.
Last year, Perham won the scheduled dual 44-27 and two days later, it claimed the Sertoma Championship 53-21.
On Thursday, Perham won the 2018 regular season dual 42-15 and two days later, Perham won 56-12, with Thief River Falls using a slightly different lineup than the first meeting.
“It’s tough to wrestle a great team twice in a few days, so we did a few things different with our lineup and took a few more chances in some individual matches,” said Thief River Falls Head Coach Kenny Geiser. “It ended up making the score look worse, but I was still proud of the effort. To beat Perham, we are going to have take chances and turn a bunch of things around.”
Thief River Falls’ path to the championship match included a first round bye and 72-3 exhibition win against Wahpeton, followed by a 52-20 win over Central Cass (ND) Friday night. Overall, Thief River Falls won 23 of the 28 matches in the first two rounds.
“The guys really dominated and it was fun to watch,” Geiser said. “This group works very hard but the leaders do a nice job of also having fun and keeping the wrestlers loose. We have a mix of young and old so it is important for the older guys to lead and they have been doing just that.”
On Saturday, Thief River Falls qualified for its third consecutive Sertoma championship with a 42-25 win over Bismarck Century. The Prowlers got wins by fall from Anthony Bruggemen, Brenan Peralta, Cade Lundeen and Cole Johnson. Kyle Miller, Kevin Jensen, Brady Kasprick and Jake Davis added decison victories.
“The guys came out on fire,” Geiser said. “Aaron Bruggeman won a huge toss up match to start the dual at 160 and Kevin Jensen had a hard fought win that really sent the momentum in our favor. They are the number-three-ranked team in North Dakota and very tough on top. It was great to see our kids battle from the bottom and win some hard fought decisions.
Davis, Lundeen and Miller each went undefeated over the course of the four duals.
“Jake Davis looks dominant right now. He has a great mentality and is very offensive,” Geiser said. “He has been great on his feet and riding, he has a high high ceiling right now.
“Cade Lundeen dominated and also got his 100th career pin – only the third wrestler in Prowler hisotry to do so. He has been a great leader, very proud of him right now. He leads by example and this team needs that, I think this is a big reason the guys have been wrestling so well and giving such great effort.
“Kyle Miller is having a nice start to his season, He is bumping up a weight for the team and handling it well. His attitude is great and it’s infectious for the younger guys.”
Thief River 52, Central Cass 20
160 – Cole Johnson (Thief River Falls) over Chase Gross (Central Cass) Fall 3:18; 170 – Kyle Miller (Thief River Falls) over Jeremiah Sullivan (Central Cass) Dec 3-2; 182 – Joe Ellison (Central Cass) over Kevin Jensen (Thief River Falls) Fall 1:12; 195 – Mason Iverson (Thief River Falls) over Nathan Kaim (Central Cass) Fall 4:22; 220 – Brenan Peralta (Thief River Falls) over Jerrin Baumgarten (Central Cass) Fall 0:11; 285 – Ryan Muscha (Central Cass) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 106 – Jake Deutsch (Central Cass) over Kale Geiser (Thief River Falls) TF 15-0; 113 – Ethan Lane (Thief River Falls) over Josiah Crandall (Central Cass) Dec 8-5; 120 – Griffin Lundeen (Thief River Falls) over Grant Schatzke (Central Cass) Maj 14-2; 126 – Cody Wienen (Thief River Falls) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 132 – Brady Kasprick (Thief River Falls) over Gabe Schrader (Central Cass) Fall 0:32; 138 – Cade Lundeen (Thief River Falls) over Junior Totay (Central Cass) Fall 1:05; 145 – Jake Davis (Thief River Falls) over Aidan Olson-Tingelstad (Central Cass) Fall 1:20; 152 – Chase Jacobson (Central Cass) over Brandon Zuniga (Thief River Falls) Dec 7-0.
Thief River Falls 42, Bismarck Century 25
160 – Aaron Bruggeman (Thief River Falls) over Bryant Nelson (Bismarck Century) Fall 2:54; 170 – Kyle Miller (Thief River Falls) over Jacob Boehm (Bismarck Century) Dec 8-4; 182 – Kevin Jensen (Thief River Falls) over Anthony Carranza (Bismarck Century) Dec 3-2; 195 – Mason Iverson (Thief River Falls) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 220 – Brenan Peralta (Thief River Falls) over Malikai Rivera (Bismarck Century) Fall 0:20; 285 – Konnor Stordalen (Bismarck Century) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 106 – Jacob Ersland (Bismarck Century) over Kale Geiser (Thief River Falls) Maj 13-3; 113 – Neal Bohrer (Bismarck Century) over Ethan Lane (Thief River Falls) Fall 0:36; 120 – Hayden Johnsrud (Bismarck Century) over Griffin Lundeen (Thief River Falls) SV-1 7-5; 126 – Clay Radenz (Bismarck Century) over Cody Wienen (Thief River Falls) Fall 5:21; 132 – Brady Kasprick (Thief River Falls) over Devin Schulz (Bismarck Century) Dec 9-5; 138 – Cade Lundeen (Thief River Falls) over Ben Weigum (Bismarck Century) Fall 1:25; 145 – Jake Davis (Thief River Falls) over Matthew Rader (Bismarck Century) Dec 6-4; 152 – Cole Johnson (Thief River Falls) over Dany Asonkeng (Bismarck Century) Fall 0:20.
Perham 56, Thief River Falls 12
220 – Dawson Kellogg (Perham) over Mason Iverson (Thief River Falls) TF 18-3; 285 – Colton Kostynick (Perham) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 106 – Aaron Lorentz (Perham) over Kale Geiser (Thief River Falls) Fall 0:51; 113 – Owen Werner (Perham) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 120 – Blaze Brady (Perham) over Griffin Lundeen (Thief River Falls) Dec 9-7; 126 – Cody Wienen (Thief River Falls) over Blake Lorentz (Perham) Dec 11-6; 132 – Gabe Bellefeuille (Perham) over Brady Kasprick (Thief River Falls) Dec 5-2; 138 – Cade Lundeen (Thief River Falls) over Coltan Satter (Perham) Inj 4:06; 145 – Jake Davis (Thief River Falls) over Leighton Rach (Perham) Dec 5-1; 152 – Jack Fudge (Perham) over Cole Johnson (Thief River Falls) Fall 1:31; 160 – Dylan Fudge (Perham) over Brandon Zuniga (Thief River Falls) Fall 0:23; 170 – Brian Ramos (Perham) over Dakota Fellman (Thief River Falls) Fall 3:28; 182 – Zachary Peterson (Perham) over Kevin Jensen (Thief River Falls) Fall 0:18; 195 – Ty Moser (Perham) over Brenan Peralta (Thief River Falls) Dec 5-2.
Thief River Falls 72, Wahpeton 3
145 – Jake Davis (Thief River Falls) over Tanner Thiel (Wahpeton) Fall 0:36; 152 – Brandon Zuniga (Thief River Falls) over Jackson Burchill (Wahpeton) Fall 0:55; 160 – Cole Johnson (Thief River Falls) over Wauker Spanel (Wahpeton) Fall 1:22; 170 – Kyle Miller (Thief River Falls) over Garrett Lathrop (Wahpeton) Fall 2:45; 182 – Kevin Jensen (Thief River Falls) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 195 – Mason Iverson (Thief River Falls) over Chase Moderow (Wahpeton) Fall 0:41; 220 – Brenan Peralta (Thief River Falls) over Josh Krump (Wahpeton) Fall 2:40; 285 – Double Forfeit; 106 – Kale Geiser (Thief River Falls) over Preston Meyer (Wahpeton) Fall 3:38; 113 – Hunter Owens (Wahpeton) over Ethan Lane (Thief River Falls) Dec 9-4; 120 – Griffin Lundeen (Thief River Falls) over Bryce Awender (Wahpeton) Fall 1:07; 126 – Cody Wienen (Thief River Falls) over Devan Diemert (Wahpeton) Fall 0:46; 132 – Cody Sele (Thief River Falls) over Shea Truesdell (Wahpeton) Fall 3:45; 138 – Cade Lundeen (Thief River Falls) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf.