Gruchows hit wrestling milestones

By Sam Peterson
Grant County Herald

The Knights wrestling team knocked off a pair of milestones last week when they competed in the MAHACA quadrangular in Morris Jan. 6. Head coach Brandon Gruchow tallied his 300th career dual win as a coach and Owen Gruchow passed the 175-win mark for his career. The WCA/A/BE girls also made the long trip to Bemidji Jan. 10 to compete in the Rick Lee Girls Individual Tournament and both RaeAnna Gruchow and Mawit Bergman were able to make it to the podium to lead the Knights.

WCA/A/BE 57

MAHACA 18

The Knights easily handled the host team MAHACA at the Tiger quadrangular. WCA/A/BE picked up 10 wins in the 13 weight classes and cruised to a 57-18 win.

Brody Brunkow and Keiran Gehrke started off the dual with pins at 107 and 114 pounds to open up a 12-0 advantage. Nathan Richter earned a decision win at 127 pounds for the Knights, but MAHACA won three of the next four weight classes to take an 18-15 advantage over WCA/A/BE.

The Knights won the final seven weight classes to run away with a 39-point win. MAHACA left 160, 189 and 215 open, forfeiting those matches. Evan Dingwall (145), Cody Krafthefer (152), Owen Gruchow (172) and Freddi Munoz (285) all recorded pins for the Knights.

107 – Brody Brunkow (WCA/A/BE) def. Zachary Huebner by pin (6-0)

114 – Keiran Gehrke (WCA/A/BE) def. Jaxon Seggerman by pin (12-0)

121 – Will Haugen (MAHACA) def. Monte Jannette by pin (12-6)

127 – Nathan Richter (WCA/A/BE) def. Beau Haugen by decision (15-6)

133 – Brenden Hughes (MAHACA) def. Caden Wevley by pin (15-12)

139 – Xavier Kleindl (MAHACA) def. Gauge Eide by pin (15-18)

145 – Evan Dingwall (WCA/A/BE) def. Casey Raths by pin (21-18)

152 – Cody Krafthefer (WCA/A/BE) def. Logan Gramith by pin (27-18)

160 – Payton Schmidt (WCA/A/BE) win by forfeit (33-18)

172 – Owen Gruchow (WCA/A/BE) def. Tristan Schmidtz by pin (39-18)

189 – Logan Schmall (WCA/A/BE) win by forfeit (45-18)

215 – Logon Long (WCA/A/BE) win by forfeit (51-18)

285 – Freddi Munoz (WCA/A/BE) def. Isaac Persing by pin (57-18)

WCA/A/BE 54

NYM 18

It was another beatdown for the Knights when they faced off with New York Mills in Morris. In their second straight dual, WCA/A/BE won 10 of the 13 weight classes to cruise to a 54-18 victory.

The Knights won the first four weight classes with pins from Keiran Gehrke (114) and Nathan Richter (127), a decision win from Brody Brunkow (107) and an open weight class at 121 pounds. NYM turned things around with three wins in four matches with the one Knight win coming from an Evan Dingwall pin at 145 pounds and the Knights still led 27-18. WCA/A/BE won the final five weight classes thanks to three open weight classes, a pin from Logan Schmall at 189 pounds and a decision win from Freddi Munoz at 285 pounds.

107 – Brody Brunkow (WCA/A/BE) def. Oakley Kern by decision 7-2 (3-0)

114 – Keiran Gehrke (WCA/A/BE) def. Jaeger Zutter by pin (9-0)

121 – Monte Jannette (WCA/A/BE) win by forfeit (15-0)

127 – Nathan Richter (WCA/A/BE) def. Carlyle Tumberg by pin (21-0)

133 – Elijah O’Dea (NYM) def. Caden Wevley by pin (21-6)

139 – Creed Mursu (NYM) def. Dauge Eide by pin (21-12)

145 – Evan Dingwall (WCA/A/BE) def. Dawson Sealhammer by pin (27-12)

152 – Tony Nichols (NYM) def. Cody Krafthefer by pin (27-18)

160 – Payton Schmidt (WCA/A/BE) win by forfeit (33-18)

172 – Owen Gruchow (WCA/A/BE) win by forfeit (39-18)

189 – Logan Schmall (WCA/A/BE) def. Western Simpson by pin (45-18)

215 – Logon Long (WCA/A/BE) win by forfeit (51-18)

285 – Freddi Munoz (WCA/A/BE) def. Grady Roberts by decision 6-1 (54-18)

WCA/A/BE 34

Osakis 32

After two blowout wins in Morris, the Knights had to fight for their third dual win of the day against the Osakis Silverstreaks. Thanks to an open weight class at heavyweight for Osakis, the Knights were able to comeback and earn a 34-32 win over Osakis. 

Brunkow and Gehrke started the dual off on the right foot with a tech fall and pin win to jump ahead 11-0. After Osakis earned a win at 121 pounds, Nathan Richter tallied a decision win for the Knights at 127 pounds to make it 14-6. The Silverstreaks won the next two weight classes to take an 18-14 advantage. Evan Dingwall gave the Knights the lead back at 20-18 with a pin at 145 pounds. The two teams traded the lead for the next three weight classes with a tech fall win from Owen Gruchow for the Knights at 160 pounds and the Knights trailed 29-25 with three weight classes left on the card. Logan Schmall trimmed that lead to just one point with a decision win at 189 pounds. Osakis responded with a decision win at 215 pounds to go up four points, but the Silverstreaks left 285 pounds open to give the Knights six points and a 34-32 comeback win.

107 – Brody Brunkow (WCA/A/BE) def. Guy Steinbeisser by tech fall 15-0 (5-0)

114 – Keiran Gehrke (WCA/A/BE) def. Kylar Gadbaw by pin (11-0)

121 – Zan Wiener (Osakis) def. Monte Jannette by pin (11-6)

127 – Nathan Richter (WCA/A/BE) def. Blake Fischer by decision 1-0 (14-6)

133 – Ashton Pastian (Osakis) def. Gauge Eide by pin (14-12)

139 – Kellan George (Osakis) def. Caden Wevley by pin (14-18)

145 – Evan Dingwall (WCA/A/BE) def. Demetrius Redetzke by pin (20-18)

152 – Clayton Kruse (Osakis) def. Cody Krafthefer by pin (20-24)

160 – Owen Gruchow (WCA/A/BE) def. Levi Ries by tech fall 18-2 (25-24)

172 – Simon Jacobson (Osakis) def. Eli Domeier by tech fall 18-2 (25-29)

189 – Logan Schmall (WCA/A/BE) def. Tucker Hagen by decision 12-9 (28-29)

215 – Conner Koep (Osakis) def. Logon Long by decision 4-2 (28-32)

285 – Freddi Munoz (WCA/A/BE) win by forfeit (34-32)

Rick Lee Girls Tournament

The Knights brought a total of seven girls to the Rick Lee Girls Individual Tournament held in Bemidji. In total, two of those wrestlers were able to finish on the podium to earn a medal with a fifth place finish from RaeAnna Gruchow and a sixth place finish from Mawit Bergman. “It was a very solid tournament, one of the tougher ones of the season for our Lady Knights,” coach Brandon Gruchow said.

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