Knights earn sixth at Class A Team State

The West Central Area / Ashby / Brandon-Evansville wrestling team went 1-2 to earn sixth place at the Class A Team Tournament Thursday, March 2, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Knights lost its opening round dual to the eventual champion, Jackson County Central, 38-17, bounced back with a 31-29 win over Royalton-Upsala, but lost 37-33 to Medford.

JCC 38

WCA/A/B-E 17

JCC won the dual 38-17 and won 10 matches in the Class A Team opener against WCA/A/B-E.

Owen Gruchow gave WCA/A/B-E a 5-0 lead after a 16-1 tech fall win at 106. JCC won the next six matches, five came by pinfall.

Wales picked up a 14-12 win in tiebreaker period at 152 and Hunter Gruchow followed that up with an 8-5 decision at 160.

Anthony Sykora earned a 1:00 pinfall over Braydan Winter at 182 for the final six points for the Knights.

WCA/A/B-E 31

R-U 29

WCA/A/B-E had a chance to enact its revenge from a regular season tiebreaker loss, that should have been a win, against Royalton-Upsala in the consolation semifinals.

The Knights used a clutch win by heavyweight Will Rustan to defeat R-U 31-29 to advance to the fifth place match.

The Knights trailed 29-28 before Rustan’s match, and with a 2-1 in a tiebreaker period, Rustan helped give the Knights the win at 31-29.

“The kid from R-U was a lot bigger than me,” said junior Will Rustan, who weighed in at 221.4 pounds Thursday morning. “I knew I couldn’t go charging at him and take shots like I usually do, he was way too big for that. I wrestled in a good position and used my conditioning to my advantage.”

The Knights began the dual with an 8-3 win in sudden victory by Evan Dingwall at 106 and followed that with a 1:09 pin by Owen Gruchow at 113.

After the Royals went ahead 12-9, Adam Lohse picked up a 12-2 major decision at 132.

Solomon Wales earned a 1-0 decision at 145, and Hunter Gruchow picked up an 11-7 decision at 160.

With a major decision win at 170, Royalton-Upsala led 25-19. The Knights won three of the final four matches, including Rustan’s tiebreaker match to clinch a spot in the fifth-place match. Sykora (182) pinned his opponent in just 11 seconds while Beau Robinson (195) had a 9-5 decision.

Medford 37

WCA/A/B-E 33

Evan Dingwall picked up a win by forfeit to start the dual against Medford, but Medford won the next seven matches before cruising to a 37-33 win for fifth place.

Trailing 32-6, WCA/A/B-E got a 1:08 pinfall win from Hunter Gruchow at 160.

After giving up a tech fall, WCA/A/B-E won the final four bouts against Medford for the final 37-33 score.

Anthony Sykora earned a pin at 182 (0:48), Beau Robinson earned a pin at 195 (2:26), Will Rustan earned a pin at 220 (0:32) and Justin Blascyk earned a 3-2 win in an ultimate tiebreaker period.

Class A

Quarterfinals

Jackson County 48

WCA/A/B-E 17

106 – Owen Gruchow (WCA) over Kyler Thier (JCC) TF 16-1

113 – Kayden Eller (JCC) over Evan Dingwall (WCA) Fall 1:23

120 – Isaac Rodriguez (JCC) over Tucker McGee (WCA) Fall 0:44

126 – Benjamin Dahlin (JCC) over Carter Lohse (WCA) Fall 1:58

132 – Landon Andrews (JCC) over Adam Lohse (WCA) Dec 8-1

138 – Thomas Freking (JCC) over Sam Olson (WCA) Fall 1:18

145 – Skyler Andrews (JCC) over Kolby Peters (WCA) Fall 3:46

152 – Solomon Wales (WCA) over Isaiah Rodriguez (JCC) TB-1 14-12

160 – Hunter Gruchow (WCA) over Trey Rossow (JCC) Dec 8-5

170 – Dylan Withers (JCC) over Ezekiel Sieckert (WCA) Dec 7-4

182 – Anthony Sykora (WCA) over Braydan Winter (JCC) Fall 1:00

195 – Matthew Haley (JCC) over Beau Robinson (WCA) Dec 4-0

220 – Caleb Vancura (JCC) over Will Rustan (WCA) Fall 0:48

285 – Cameron Scholten (JCC) over Justin Blascyk (WCA) Dec 3-2

Consolation semifinals

WCA/A/B-E 31

Royalton-Upsala 29

106 – Evan Dingwall (WCA) over Marcus Hayes (R-U) SV-1 8-3

113 – Owen Gruchow (WCA) over Adonijah Ripple (R-U) Fall 1:09

120 – Tucker Simmons (R-U) over Tucker McGee (WCA) Fall 2:32

126 – Lane Olson (R-U) over Carter Lohse (WCA) Fall 3:18

132 – Adam Lohse (WCA) over Johnathon Bzdok (R-U) Maj 12-2

138 – Alex Diederich (R-U) over Sam Olson (WCA) Fall 0:46

145 – Solomon Wales (WCA) over Will Gorecki (R-U) Dec 1-0

152 – Brady Yourczek (R-U) over Kolby Peters (WCA) Dec 7-0

160 – Hunter Gruchow (WCA) over Sawyer Simmons (R-U) Dec 11-7

170 – Nicholas Leibold (R-U) over Ezekiel Sieckert (WCA) Maj 16-6

182 – Anthony Sykora (WCA) over Jake Leners (R-U) Fall 0:11

195 – Beau Robinson (WCA) over Kaden Holm (R-U) Dec 9-5

220 – Bryce Holm (R-U) over Justin Blascyk (WCA) Maj 13-2

285 – Will Rustan (WCA) over Brandon Mugg (R-U) TB-1 2-1

Fifth-place Match

Medford 37

WCA/A/B-E 33

106 – Evan Dingwall (WCA) over Unknown (Unattached) Forf

113 – Luis Lopez (Medford) over Owen Gruchow (WCA) TF 15-0

120 – Kaden Harfmann (Medford) over Tucker McGee (WCA) Fall 0:55

126 – Jack Meyer (Medford) over Carter Lohse (WCA) Maj 14-2

132 – Tommy Elwood (Medford) over Sam Olson (WCA) TF 16-0

138 – Evan Schweisthal (Medford) over Adam Lohse (WCA) Dec 8-1

145 – Charley Elwood (Medford) over Kolby Peters (WCA) Fall 2:41

152 – Garron Hoffman (Medford) over Solomon Wales (WCA) Dec 7-0

160 – Hunter Gruchow (WCA) over Kael Neumann (Medford) Fall 1:08

170 – Tate Hermes (Medford) over Ezekiel Sieckert (WCA) TF 18-1

182 – Anthony Sykora (WCA) over Aiden Ahrens (Medford) Fall 0:48

195 – Beau Robinson (WCA) over Dylan Heiderscheidt (Medford) Fall 2:26

220 – Will Rustan (WCA) over Conor Wilson (Medford) Fall 0:32

285 – Justin Blascyk (WCA) over Mason Degrood (Medford) UTB 3-2