Gators edge Prowlers in wrestling dual

Two-time defending Section 8A champion Badger/Greenbush-Middle River won eight matches overall and four of five toss-up matches in a 36-32 win over ninth ranked (AA) Thief River Falls Thursday night at Lincoln High School.

“I thought BGMR came to wrestle and did what they needed to win,” said Thief River Falls Head Coach Kenny Geiser. “As always, it was a great match with plenty of drama throughout. Hats off to the Gators. They are well coached and earned the win.”

The match was part of triangular meet that also included Fertile-Beltrami. The Prowlers defeated the Falcons 72-12 in the night’s opening dual and the Gators defeated the Falcons 63-12 to set up the night’s marquee matchup between a pair of teams with state tournament aspirations.

Thief River Falls raced to a 12-0 lead with pins by Keigan Hermanson over Tayden Soma at 106, and Noah Jacobson over Elliot Isane at 113.

BGMR answered with a Jaxon Janousek win by forfeit at 120, and a win by fall from Bode DeZelar over Anthony Peralta at 126.

BGMR took its first lead of the night at 132, as BGMR senior Tony Olson used a late reversal to defeat Kale Geiser in the first of five toss-up matches. In another toss-up match at 138, BGMR senior Garrett Undeberg used a pair of takedowns to defeat Thief River Falls freshman Ethan Lane 4-3.

Thief River Falls tied the dual 18-18 with a Griffin Lundeen win by fall over Danyn Janousek at 145 pounds, and went in front 30-18 with back-to-back wins by fall from Brady Kasprick over Brogan Beito at 152 and Brandon Zuniga by fall over Damien Tuura at 160.

Thief River Falls added to its lead in the third toss-up match of the night, as Cody Wienen overcame an early 4-1 deficit to defeat Ethan Waage 7-6 at 170 pounds.

“Great win for Cody Wienen bumping up two weight classes against a tough kid,” Geiser said. “It was a win the team needed.”

Trailing 33-18, BGMR won the final four matches of the dual to claim the team win. The comeback started with a forfeit victory by Nathan Waage at 182. Caleb Vacura bumped up from 182 to 195 to defeat Mason Iverson 7-3 in the night’s fourth toss-up match. At 220, two-time defending state champion Dominik Vacura pinned Collin Bruggeman, and Dawson Beito defeated Jolson Sargent 4-2 in the night’s fifth toss-up match. Thief River Falls was penalized one team point following the 195-pound match.

“I thought the heavyweight match could’ve gone either way, I think if Jolson starts moving a little earlier in the 3rd period he might win a rematch,” Geiser said. “Our kids wrestled hard, just came up short in a few of the close matches. I told them not to think of it as a loss, but a learning experience.”

BGMR has won two consecutive duals over Thief River Falls. Thief River Falls had won five of the previous seven matchups in the series  between 2017 and 2020.

In the opening dual against Fertile-Beltrami, the Prowlers picked up wins by fall from Hermanson, Iverson, Lane, Iverson, Engebretson and Jolson Sargent. Kale Geiser, Lundeen, Kasprick, Wienen, Zuniga and Dakota Fellman added wins by forfeit.

Fertile-Beltrami’s wins came from Daunte Yost by fall over Noah Jacobson at 120, and Tyler Henderson over Anthony Peralta at 126.

106: Hermanson, Keigan (TRF) over Vold-Vedbratten, Gage (FB) fall 0:30; 113: Iverson, Maverick (TRF) over Ystenes, Julian (FB) fall 2:44; 120: Yost, Dante (FB) over Jacobson, Noah (TRF) fall 6:19; 126: Henderson, Tyler (FB) over Peralta, Anthony (TRF) fall 0:58; 132: Geiser, Kale (TRF) won by forfeit; 138: Lane, Ethan (TRF) over Ramberg, Wesley (FB) fall 0:15; 145: Lundeen, Griffin (TRF) won by forfeit; 152: Kasprick, Brady (TRF) won by forfeit; 160: Wienen, Cody (TRF) won by forfeit} 170: Zuniga, Brandon (TRF) over Doe, John (FB) won by forfeit; 182: Fellman, Dakota (TRF) over Doe, John (FB) won by forfeit; 195: Iverson, Mason (TRF) over Stuhaug, Tyler (FB) fall 3:05; 220: Engebretson, Carter (TRF) over Herbbal, Micah (FB) fall 0:01; 285: Sargent, Jolson (TRF) over Flynn, Jt (FB) fall 0:24.

106: Keigan Hermanson (TRF) over Tayden Soma (BGM) (Fall 1:17) 113: Noah Jacobson (TRF) over Elliott Isane (BGM) (Fall 5:22) 120: Jaxon Janousek (BGM) over (TRF) (For.) 126: Bode DeZelar (BGM) over Anthony Peralta (TRF) (Fall 0:17) 132: Tony Olson (BGM) over Kale Geiser (TRF) (Dec 7-5) 138: Garrett Undeberg (BGM) over Ethan Lane (TRF) (Dec 4-3) 145: Griffin Lundeen (TRF) over Danyn Janousek (BGM) (Fall 3:38) 152: Brady Kasprick (TRF) over Brogan Beito (BGM) (Fall 1:02) 160: Brandon Zuniga (TRF) over Damien Tuura (BGM) (Fall 0:26) 170: Cody Wienen (TRF) over Ethan Waage (BGM) (Dec 7-6) 182: Nathan Waage (BGM) over (TRF) (For.) 195: Caleb Vacura (BGM) over Mason Iverson (TRF) (Dec 7-3) 220: Dominik Vacura (BGM) over Collin Bruggeman (TRF) (Fall 2:37) 285: Dawson Beito (BGM) over Jolson Sargent (TRF) (Dec 4-2) (TRF Unsportsmanlike Conduct -1.0)