Prep Wrestling: Gators capture WDC Invitational; ‘Jackets runner-ups

Wadena, Minn.—Badger/Greenbush-Middle River won the team championship for the third consecutive year during Saturday’s Wadena-Deer Creek Wrestling Invitational.

The Gators earned 210.50 team points and had four wrestlers score individual titles: Wyatt Becker (9th, 106lb.), Isaac Novacek (Sr., 120lb.), Brandon Waage (9th, 126lb.) and Tejay Wojchowski (Sr., 170lb.) In all, the Gators had nine wrestlers place in the top three in their respective weight classes—including defending state Class 1A heavyweight champion Alex Yeager. The senior picked up his 125th career victory in the tournament, but was upset by Jesse Hein of Perham in the finals, 4-3.

The Yellowjackets of Perham had three individual champions and three runner-up finishers as they garnered 189.50 team points—which was good for second place in the team standings. Besides Hein, other ‘Jacket wrestlers claiming individual titles were Brandon Lueders (Sr., 132lb.) and Cody Nylander (Jr., 220lb.).

Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus finished in third with 169.00 points and three individual champions. Thief River Falls had two champions, which enabled the Prowlers to edge Staples-Motley by a half point for fourth, 136.50-136.00. Blake Petrich (Sr., 195lb) was the Cardinals’ lone champion.

United North Central finished in sixth with 103.00 points and had 11 wrestlers place in the invitational. Max Pajari was the lone Warrior to reach the finals, and the junior defeated the ‘Jackets’ Luke Sailer for the 138lb title. Taylor Carlson (Soph., 195lb.) finished third and Tommy Tellers (8th, 113lb.), Mike Johnson (Jr., 152lb) and Dylan Huttunen (Soph., 160lb) all placed fourth. The Warriors had six wrestlers finished in sixth place.

The host Wolverines of Wadena-Deer Creek had four wrestlers, Tristin Goedel (9th, 106lb), Sam Waln (Jr., 113lb), Mitch Steffens (Sr., 120lb) and Tony Ruerink (Jr., 220lb) reach the finals in their respective weight classes, but all came away with runner-up finishes. Ruerink scored the Fastest Pin Award with his 19 second fall over Taylor Myhre of Thief River Falls in the first round. Wadena-Deer Creek, which finished seventh with 101.50 points, also got third from Devin Barthel (Soph., 126lb) and fifth from Jacob Ludovissie (Sr., 160lb).

Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale finished eighth with 97.00 points and had seven wrestlers place. Dillon Card (9th, 182lb) and Colin Turchin (Sr., 285lb) were the highest Raider finishers with third-place in their respective weight classes.

Long Prairie-Grey Eagle capped the rest of the field with 70.00 points and six individual placers. Seniors Jamie Wright (170lb) and Lenard Bennett (182lb) were the highest finishers with fourth place and the Thunder had two wrestlers place fifth and sixth, respectively.

Wadena-Deer Creek Invitational on December 3

Team Scores
1. Badger/Greenbush/Middle River (BGM) 201.50, 2. Perham (PER) 189.50, 3. Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus (PLP) 169.00, 4. Thief River Falls (TRF) 136.50, 5. Staples-Motley (STM) 136.00, 6. United North Central (UNC) 103.00, 7. Wadena-Deer Creek (WDC) 101.50, 8. Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale (BHV) 97.00, 9. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle (LPG) 70.00

Individual Results
106lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Becker, Wyatt (9) - BGM
2. Godel, Tristin (9) - WDC
3. Werner, Elliot (10) - PER
4. Middendorf, Nicholas (8 ) - LPG
5. Bendson, Jake (7) - STM
6. Bacon, Austin (7) - UNC

113lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Rubner, Triston (10) - PLP
2. Waln, Sam (11) - WDC
3. Dostal, Devin (8 ) - BGM
4. Tellers, Tommy (8 ) - UNC
5. Pirrotta, Sam (10) – PER
6. Gordon, Justin (10) - BHV

120lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Novacek, Isaac (12) - BGM
2. Steffens, Mitch (12) - WDC
3. Bernier, Noah (9) - TRF
4. Brown, Gage (10) - STM
5. Willis, Marshall (9) - BHV
6. Donabauer, Greg (9) - LPG

126lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Waage, Brandon (9) - BGM
2. Miller, Blake (11) - STM
3. Barthel, Devin (10) - WDC
4. Kimber, Ethan (7) - BHV
5. Huber, John (11) - PER
6. Cochran, Aiden (9) - UNC

132lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Lueders, Brandon (12) - PER
2. Hjelle, Austin (10) - TRF
3. Loge, Jace (10) - PLP
4. Hasbrouck, Corey (10) - BGM
5. Becker, Josh (11) - STM
6. Tellers, Sam (10) - UNC

138lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Pajari, Max (11) - UNC
2. Sailer, Luke (11) - PER
3. Gust, Gunner (9) - BGM
4. Botello, Miguel (10) - LPG
5. Jordan, Kyle (11) - PLP
6. Redemske Austin (12) - STM

145lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Loge, Drey (11) - PLP
2. Haverland, Ty (12) - PER
3. Jenson, Jake (10) - BGM
4. Flickinger, Brandon (12) - STM
5. Eldidy, Rene (11) - LPG
6. Puttonen,, Wyatt (10) - UNC

152lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Nelson, Holden (11) - TRF
2. Heldman, Jordan (11) - STM
3. Johnson, Trevor (10) - PLP
4. Johnson, Mike (11) - UNC
5. Glynn, Patrick (9) - PER
6. Dostal, Brendan (12) - BGM

160lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Harrison, Peter (12) - PLP
2. Lisson, Brent (11) - STM
3. Ingle, Tomm (11) - BGM
4. Huttunen, Dylan (10) - UNC
5. Ludovissie, Jacob (12) - WDC
6. Moberg, Andrew (12) - PER

170lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Wojchowski, Tejay (12) - BGM
2. Rubner, Darian (12) - PLP
3. Alten, Logan (12) - TRF
4. Wright, Jamie (12) - LPG
5. Parks, William (9) - PER
6. Palmer, Tristan (9) - UNC

182lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Williams, Craig (12) - TRF
2. Biegler, Garrett (12) - PER
3. Card, Dillon (9) - BHV
4. Bennett, Lenard (12) - LPG
5. Westman, John (11) - BGM
6. Bacon, Tanner (9) - UNC

195lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Petrich, Blake (12) - STM
2. Kucera, Ben (12) - TRF
3. Carlson, Taylor (10) - UNC
4. Bounds, Andrew (10) - BHV
5. Mackenthun, Justin (10) - PLP
6. Garcia, Gio (11) - PER

220lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Nylander, Cody (11) - PER
2. Reurink, Tony (11) - WDC
3. Aidkins, Jared (10) - PLP
4. Baker, Dalton (10) - BHV
5. Myhre Taylor (12) - TRF
6. Peterson, Tony (12) - LPG

285lb WEIGHT CLASS
1. Hein, Jesse (12) - PER
2. Yeager, Alex (12) - BGM
3. Turchin, Colin (12) - BHV
4. Erickson, David (12) - TRF
5. Kunerth, Kody (11) - LPG
6. Kramp, Nick (12) - PLP