by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls saw its wrestling dual meet season come to an end Friday night with a 53-10 loss to Perham in the Section 8AA semifinals at Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton High School.
“We lost a few tossup matches early that really put us in a hole,” said Thief River Falls Head Coach Kenny Geiser. “Perham is very solid right now and peaking at the right time.”
The Yellowjackets went on to defeat defending Section 8AA champion Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 33-25 in the championship match to advance to state for the first time since 2019.
The Prowlers knew they had an uphill battle against the Yellowjackets going into Friday night’s dual. The Yellowjackets defeated the Prowlers 41-23 in a triangular meet at Bemidji on Dec. 3.
Both teams have changed their lineups since the initial meeting that saw the Prowlers win five of the 13 matches. The Prowlers needed to find at least two more wins to have a chance in the rematch, and that chance was dealt a major blow when Landen Larson was ruled out prior to the dual due to illness.
The Prowlers got wins from Lincoln Davis by 18-0 technical fall at 114 over Bo Bush, and Ian Jacobson by fall over Brody Wacker at 139. They were in three more as Brian Berg, Damian Kazmierczak and Tristan Hruby led early in their respective matches but came up short. Berg nearly pinned Peyton Trout in the first period in the 127-pound match, but Trout rallied for the 18-11 win.
Kazmierczak led Zayn Wacker 8-4 at 133 pounds after securing an escape with less than 20 seconds remaining in the third period, but he gave up the lead on a headlock on the edge of the mat that gave Wacker the 11-8 win.
After giving up the first takedown to Perham’s Jonny Ramos at 145, Hruby secured an escape and got a takedown of his own and a rideout to lead Ramos 4-3 through one period of wrestling. Ramos took control in the second period, however, and went on to win the match 24-8.
Other wins by the Yellowjackets included Beckham Bunkowski by 21-5 technical fall over Kaiden Nelson at 107; Dresdan Wegscheid by 20-3 technical fall over Thomas Eidsmoe at 121; Isaac Adams by 7-1 decision over Elias Motta at 152; Carson Ziese by 17-1 technical fall over Ian Hruby at 160; Tiegan Detloff by forfeit at 172; Tryston Larson by fall over Brennen Johnson at 189; Logan Guck by fall over Chandler Pream at 215; and Cash Burke by fall over Joey Bruggeman at 285.
Perham 53, Thief River Falls 10
107: Beckham Bunkowske (Perham) over Kaiden Nelson (TRF) TF 21-5; 114: Lincoln Davis (TRF) over Bo Bush (Perham) TF 18-0; 121: Dresdan Wegscheid (Perham) over Thomas Eidsmoe (TRF) TF 20-3; 127: Peyton Trout (Perham) over Brian Berg (TRF) Dec 18-11; 133: Zayn Wacker (Perham) over Damian Kazmierczak (TRF) Dec 11-8; 139: Ian Jacobson (TRF) over Brody Wacker (Perham) Fall 2:48; 145: Jonny Ramos (Perham) over Tristan Hruby (TRF) TF 24-8; 152: Isaac Adams (Perham) over Elias Motta (TRF) Dec 7-1; 160: Carsen Ziese (Perham) over Ian Hruby (TRF) TF 17-1; 172: Tiegan Detloff (Perham) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf; 189: Tryston Larson (Perham) over Brennen Johnson (TRF) Fall 3:36; 215: Logan Guck (Perham) over Chandler Pream (TRF) Fall 0:24; 285: Cash Burke (Perham) over Joey Bruggeman (TRF) Fall 2:34. Thief River Falls’ team score was adjusted by -1.0 for Unsportlike conduct (questioning the judgment of an official).