by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor

Cade Lundeen and Jake Davis won individual championships to lead Thief River Falls to a fourth place finish at the 2019 Air Force National Guard Prowler Invite. Overall, Thief River Falls had 12 wrestlers earn a top-eight finish.
“The team wrestled well,” said Head Coach Kenny Geiser. “In some tough brackets, we competed, but missing a starter kept us out of contention for the team title.”
Detroit Lakes won the team title with 13 place winners, including a champion and three runners-up, amassing 181.5 points. Minnewaska, 161.0, and Bemidji, 157.0, finished second and third, respectively to edge Thief River Falls and its 155.5-point total.
Lundeen won all three of his matches by fall on the day, including a third period win by fall over Detroit Lakes’ Blake Weber to secure his third career Prowler Invite championship.
“Cade continued his dominance, especially with his mat wrestling, but he also got more active on his feet, which is what he needs,” Geiser said.
Davis was also dominant, with wins by fall and major decision to reach the championship match at 145 pounds. In the final, he was a 9-5 winner over Mason Blair of Minnewaska Area to secure his first Prowler Invite championship.
“Jake’s just been so dominant on his feet and he continued that. He had a slight injury this week and pushed through it, no problem. He won a real physical match in the finals.
Cody Wienen came close to making it three championships for the Prowlers. He advanced to the championship match at 120 pounds with a pair of falls, before dropping an 8-7 decision to Quin Kern of Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers/Prairie in the championship.
“Wienen battled in the finals against a tough kid and just came up short,” Geiser said.
Cole Johnson continued his impressive campaign with a third place finish at 152. His lone loss was an 11-5 decision loss to eventual champion Chandler Mooney of Roseau, and he bounced back from that loss with a 12-4 major decision win over Lucas Meier of Crookston in the third place match.
“Cole was in a tough bracket,” Geiser said. “He battled the champion well and in the third place match, he put on an offensive show. He really showed his athleticism.”
Also placing third was seventh grader Griffin Lundeen. After losing an 8-2 decision to Crookston’s Zach Brown in the semifinals, Lundeen won by 5-3 decision over Blackduck/Cass Lake-Bena’s Christian Pater in the third place match at 113 pounds.
“Griffin is one of the toughest seventh graders I’ve ever seen,” Geiser said. “He competes and fights hard, and gets better every day.”
Kyle Miller upset state-ranked Matthew Ziebel of Pelican Rapids en route to a fourth place finish at 160. Also placing in the top-four was freshman Brady Kasprick, who lost by injury default to Badger/Greenbush-Middle River senior Avery Auguston in the semifinals after suffering a season-ending arm injury.
“Brady, I feel for him,” Geiser said. “He was having a great season and he puts a lot into it. It’s tough to see a kid who puts that much in, have a season ending injury.”
Also placing for the Prowlers were Kale Geiser, sixth at 106; Alex Lancto, eighth at 120; Brandon Zuniga, fifth at 138; Aaron Bruggeman, sixth at 145; and Mason Iverson, fifth at 220.