
Tammie Olson Photo All placers were, from left, Solomon Wales, Hunter Gruchow, Anthony Sykora and Owen Gruchow with coaches at the conclusion of the State Wrestling Tournament Saturday, in St. Paul.
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
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