by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls came up short in a pair of dual meets against teams that won section wrestling championships in 2023.
Defending Section 8AA champion Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus defeated defending Section 8A champion United North Central (Menahga/Sebeka) 31-24 in the first dual.
Thief River Falls dropped a 38-33 decision to 10th-ranked Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus in the night’s second dual, before falling 43-24 to United North Central. All three dual meets were part of the Prowlers’ Takedown Cancer Night.
Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus and Thief River Falls have taken turns representing Section 8AA at the state tournament the past three years. The Road Crew won the section championship in 2021 and 2023, with the Prowlers claiming the title in 2022.
The Road Crew are again the favorite this year, but the Prowlers took them to the wire Thursday night.
“We wrestled well and really gave ourselves a great chance to win the dual, which is impressive considering how the team has been depleted with injuries and sickness lately,” said Thief River Falls Head Coach Kenny Geiser.
The teams traded wins early, with the Prowlers taking a 6-0 lead with a win by fall from Lincoln Davis over Blake Hoplin at 107 pounds.
The Road Crew took a 15-6 lead with Bryce Mick pinning Brian Berg at 114, Trevor Holmberg holding off Damian Kazmierczak 8-7 at 121 and Parker Zutter pinning Nick Svir at 127.
The Prowlers got back on the board at 133 with a win by fall from Ian Jacobson that made the score 15-12.
The Road Crew answered with an 18-2 win by technical fall from Tayten Mick over Tristan Hruby at 139.
Back-to-back wins from Landen Larson, who won by fall over Shaunn Reyes at 145, and Ethan Lane, with a 5-0 decision over Brady Ruhl at 152, gave the Prowlers a 21-20 lead.
The Prowlers forfeited to 10th-ranked Chance Abraham at 160 and bumped top-ranked Griffin Lundeen to 172, where he pinned James Cummings to give the Prowlers a 27-26 lead.
With three matches remaining, the Prowlers found themselves in an all too familiar situation of needing to win two of the three remaining matches outright, or win one by fall and avoid bonus points in the other two.
At 189, senior Riley Poissant did his part with a first period win by fall over Eli Abraham to push the lead to seven points at 33-26.
At 215, the Prowlers called on senior Kehan Nelson for some potential match-winning heroics against Payton Scott of Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus. Nelson, who is a true 189 pounder that could possibly make 172, gave up a first-period takedown attempting to throw his much bigger opponent.
Nelson trailed 2-0 after one period and started down in the second. Scott locked up an arm bar and started to run it. Nelson hit a sitback roll and nearly had a reversal and backpoints, but Scott recovered and secured the win by fall to cut the deficit to one point.
The Road Crew wrapped up the win with a forfeit victory by Riley Peters at heavyweight.
“We had a few young guys in the lower part of the line-up give us some good fight,” Geiser said. “That is what we have been looking for. Especially Damian Kazmierczak and Ian Jacobson. Riley Poissant had a huge comeback pin for us that gave us a real chance to win.”
Things didn’t get any easier against the Warriors. Davis got the Prowlers started on the right foot with a 7-4 win over Sam Roiko at 107 pounds.
The Warriors took a 6-3 lead in the dual with Cooper Rife winning by fall over Keaton Tillett at 114, but the Prowlers bounced right back with a fall from Kazmierczak over Fynn Bakke a 121.
The Warriors took a 21-9 lead with wins from Aaron Lake over Svir by fall at 127, Zach Hendrickson by 12-0 major decision over Jacobson at 133, and Creed Koll by fall over Aiden Eidelbes at 139.
The Prowlers cut the deficit to three points with Larson winning by fall over Rhett Anderson at 145, and Lane winning by 10-6 decision over Zach Davidson at 152.
The Warriors extended their lead to nine points with a win by forfeit from Riley Livingston.
The Prowlers got back to within three points of the Warriors (27-24) with a win by fall from Griffin Lundeen over Gene Morter, but that would be all the closer they would get.
The Warriors won the final three matches of the dual. Cooper Hasbargen defeated Poissant 5-1 at 189, Bryant Peterson pinned Nelson at 215, and Kevin Dailey won by forfeit at 285.
“They have a really nice team, and we struggled with their strength,” Geiser said. “That being said, I feel the guys battled and we were in the match into the upper weights. Ethan Lane has really been having a nice year. I feel like the sport has slowed down a bit for him and he has done a great job of winning matches he may have lost in the past. He beat two nice opponents yesterday.”
TRF girls wrestling team in action
The Thief River Falls girls wrestling team competed in two individual matches against Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus and eight matches against United North Central. Picking up wins for the Prowlers were Kayla Peterson, Molly Ferguson, Daphne Lundberg-Cameron, Samantha Zoller, Natalia Zoller and Brianna Berg.
“We got some quality matches with the girls that PLPRB and UNC brought and we wrestled very well,” said Head Coach Dale Rystad.
Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus 38,
Thief River Falls 33
107: Lincoln Davis (TRF) over Blake Hoplin (PLPR) (Fall 0:29); 114: Bryce Mick (PLPR) over Brian Berg (TRF) (Fall 3:13); 121: Trevor Holmberg (PLPR) over Damian Kazmierczak (TRF) (Dec 8-7); 127: Parker Zutter (PLPR) over Nick Svir (TRF) (Fall 1:27); 133: Ian Jacobson (TRF) over Owen Dabill (PLPR) (Fall 3:42); 139: Tayten Mick (PLPR) over Tristan Hruby (TRF) (TF 18-2 0:00); 145: Landen Larson (TRF) over Shaunn Reyes (PLPR) (Fall 3:59); 152: Ethan Lane (TRF) over Brady Ruhl (PLPR) (Dec 5-0); 160: Chance Abraham (PLPR) over (TRF) (For.); 172: Griffin Lundeen (TRF) over James Cummings (PLPR) (Fall 1:26); 189: Riley Poissant (TRF) over Eli Abraham (PLPR) (Fall 1:08); 215: Payton Scott (PLPR) over Kehan Nelson (TRF) (Fall 3:02); 285: Riley Peters (PLPR) over (TRF) (For.)
United North Central 43,
Thief River Falls 24
107: Lincoln Davis (TRF) over Sam Roiko (UNCW) (Dec 7-4); 114: Cooper Rife (UNCW) over Keaton Tillett (TRF) (Fall 6:10); 121: Damian Kazmierczak (TRF) over Fynn Bakke (UNCW) (Fall 1:30); 127: Aaron Lake (UNCW) over Nick Svir (TRF) (Fall 1:18); 133: Zach Hendrickson (UNCW) over Ian Jacobson (TRF) (MD 12-0); 139: Creed Koll (UNCW) over Aiden Eidelbes (TRF) (Fall 3:35); 145: Landen Larson (TRF) over Rhett Anderson (UNCW) (Fall 0:38); 152: Ethan Lane (TRF) over Zach Davidson (UNCW) (Dec 10-6); 160: Riley Livingston (UNCW) over (TRF) (For.); 172: Griffin Lundeen (TRF) over Gene Morter (UNCW) (Fall 1:39); 189: Cooper Hasbargen (UNCW) over Riley Poissant (TRF) (Dec 5-1); 215: Bryant Peterson (UNCW) over Kehan Nelson (TRF) (Fall 1:52); 285: Kevin Dailey (UNCW) over (TRF) (For.)
Girls Varsity results
TRF vs. PLPRB
130: Kayla Peterson (TRF) over Amelia Regenold (PLPR) (Dec 12-7); 130: Lidia Pfeiffer (PLPR) over Kayla Peterson (TRF) (Fall 3:59)
TRF vs. UNC
121: Sophie Johnson (UNCW) over Gabrielle Zoller (TRF) (Dec 8-4); 127: Molly Ferguson (TRF) over Lorelei Schermeister (UNCW) (Fall 0:59); 152: Daphne Lundberg-Cameron (TRF) over Skye Wofford (UNCW) (Dec 5-3); 160: Samantha Zoller (TRF) over Skye Wofford (UNCW) (Fall 0:56); 148: Natalia Zoller (TRF) over Hattie Hanninen (UNCW); (Fall 4:38) 148: Brianna Berg (TRF) over Hattie Hanninen (UNCW) (Fall 3:02); 106: Sophie Johnson (UNCW) over Ellie Nelson (TRF) (Dec 4-0); 124: Lorelei Schermeister (UNCW) over Alora Green (TRF) (Dec 6-4).