Kenyon-Wanamingo, Goodhue, Northfield Wrestling Teams Bring Home Hardware

The Kenyon-Wanamingo Knights finished the State Class A Wrestling Tournament Thursday night coming up a bit short 35-27  in the title match against Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville.  Head Coach Matt Ryan told us following the match his team had it's sights set on winning the tournament from the start of the season and were wrestling very well heading into the final day for team wrestling in Minnesota.

Kenyon-Wanamingo got 8 pins in their 52-18 win over the Aitkin Gobblers in their opening match.  The Knights then rolled to a 40-20 win in the semifinals against Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove.  The Panthers were the eventual holders of the third place trophy.  K-W had four pins in that match.

Every move the Kenyon-Wanamingo coaches made in the semifinal match worked out for the Knights.  The same was not true in the final match with the LPGE/Browerville Wolves.

Against TMB-WWB the Panthers had a 4-3 lead going into 120 pounds.  Knights senior Jeron Matson is the top ranked wrestler at that weight in Class A.  The coaches inserted senior Isaiah Thompson and he picked up a 6-1 win.  Matson was bumped up to 126 pounds and he had a 8-2 decision against Luis Perez.

The score was 12-11 Kenyon-Wanamingo when Nathan Bauer took the mat for the 152 pound match.  Bauer scored a fall in 3:20.   Tyler Ryan is the top ranked wrestler in Class A at 160 pounds and was moved to 170 where he collected a fall in 24 seconds.

The score was 28-20 K-W heading into the 220 pound match where state ranked Kya Lindell picked up a fall in 1:40 to seal the dual win.  At 285 Jesse Jackson got a pin in :41 seconds.  Jackson had a 10 second pin against Aitkin.

In the title match Matson stayed at 120 pounds were he faced a ranked wrestler from LPGE/Browerville and had a major decision to make the score 8-4 in favor of the Wolves.  Each team had a point deducted for an unsportsmanlike at the end of the match.

At 152 pounds unbeaten Seth Brossard had a 1:54 pin over state ranked Rily Thom to make the score 22-9.  The Wolves then collected a major decision at 160 and a pin at 170 pounds before Ryan took the mat at 182 to get a pin in 2:35.

In need of pins the rest of the way LPGE/Browerville accomplished a decision at 195 to seal the win.  The Knights had Kaya Lindell and Jesse Jackson end the meet with falls at 50 and 52 seconds to make the final score 35-27 Wolves.

Our Held Bus Service of Kenyon Knights of the match were the five wrestlers with wins in the title match Matson, Brossard, Ryan, Lindell and Jackson.

At 145 Nathan Bauer was ahead with 8 seconds to go before Ted Stacy scored points to win the match 8-4 and a clock issue resulted in a regular loss turning into a major decision at 160 in a match involving Logan Meyers for KW.  Coach Ryan felt the clock had expired before points were awarded at the end of the match but the official insisted he kept time accurately on the mat.

Paul Shea and I felt the Knights had a very good shot at the title due to how they dominated the Section 2 Tournament and their senior laden lineup going against a team with one senior.  Also Goodhue had an opportunity to defeat the Wolves in their opening round match.  The Wildcats were in a position to win going into the final two weights.

Goodhue fell 30-24.  In their next match the Wildcats dispatched #5 seed Badger/Greenbush-Middle River35-21 and they won the consolation championship 38-23 over Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie.

Northfield started the day with top seed Shakopee and saw a 18-15 deficit midway through the match turn into a 48-15 win for the Sabres who went on to win the Class 3A title 35-22 over Stillwater Area.

The Raiders then collected a 32-31 thrilling victory over #5 seed Forest Lake before defeating East Ridge in the Consolation Championship match 40-25.