Last Tuesday Jan. 9, the PEM wrestlers traveled down the hill to Wabasha for a Three Rivers Conference triangular meet vs. the Caledonia/Houston Warriors and the W-K Falcons.
The first meet of the evening pitted the Bulldogs against the always tough Warriors. In what would be a very back and forth affair, the Warriors put the first points on the board with a 3rd period pin at 106 to lead the dual 6-0. Freshman Garrett Olson got the Bulldogs back on track at 113 with a pin over his junior opponent tying the meet at 6-6. At the next 3 weight classes the Bulldogs would open up an 18 point lead with a pair of forfeit wins at 120 and 132 by Nick Miller and Dereck Boyum, with a Cael Marx pin in-between at 126 giving PEM a commanding 24-6 lead.
At 138, PEM freshman Cooper Hofschulte battled hard against a very solid Caledonia opponent and limited the damage to a 6-2 loss. At 145, former Caledonia state finalist Kyle Cavanaugh picked up a pin and six more points cutting the once 18 point lead down to 9 at 24-15. PEM Junior Carter Marx was able to get 6 points back for the Bulldogs at 152 stretching the Bulldog lead back to 15.
The Warriors were not ready to leave quietly as they stormed back with 3 straight pins at 160, 170, and 182, stealing the lead back from the Bulldogs 30-33. With 3 weight classes remaining, the Bulldogs called on junior Dustin Dittrich to stop the bleeding. Which he did with a tremendous hip toss in the 2nd period giving the lead back to the Bulldogs 36-33. At 220, with the meet hanging in the balance, sophomore Riley Wingert scrambled his way to a 2nd period pin, giving the Bulldogs an insurmountable 42-33 lead heading into the final bout of the meet. At 285, the Warriors would sneak out a hard fought 5-3 victory, but it would not be enough as the Bulldogs would hold on to win 42-36.
PEM Takes down Falcons
In the second dual of the evening the Bulldogs faced Wabasha-Kellogg. W-K started with a 6-0 getting a fall at 106, but it would be short-lived with Garrett Olson getting his second pin of the evening at 113. Jaden Wolf would follow at 120 with a forfeit as would Nick Miller at 126 picking up his second forfeit of the evening.
At 132 Cael Marx picked up a technical fall victory raising the PEM lead to 23-6. At 138, PEM freshman Cooper Hofschulte bumped up a weight class to take on W-K’s state place-winner Tagen Miller. While Miller did prevail, Hofschulte showed a great deal of effort and potential in keeping the match to a major decision. At 145, Joe Stucky picked up a major decision for the Bulldogs with a 14 point victory.
Carter Marx followed at 152 with a 2nd period pin. At 160 in the most exciting match of the dual meet freshman Alex Rahman notched a 6-3 victory over his senior opponent. At 170, the Bullldogs’ Connor Jones was able to hold W-K stand-out Cooper Holtorf to a major decision victory. At 182, Austin Rother executed another pin for the Bulldogs.
Junior Dustin Dittrich, picked up a forfeit at 195 and Riley Wingert finished with one more pin at 220. The Falcons would finish with a victory at 285, but it was too little too late as the Bulldogs would win the dual 54-20.
Pictures of the Event can be located here!
PEM 42 Cal/Hous 36
106: Tucker Ginther (CAHO) over Carter Meyers (PEM) (Fall 4:00)
113: Garrett Olson (PEM) over Jacob Cripps (CAHO) (Fall 3:09)
120: Nick Miller (PEM) over (CAHO) (For.)
126: Cael Marx (PEM) over Eric Mauss (CAHO) (Fall 2:22)
132: Dereck Boyum (PEM) over (CAHO) (For.)
138: Aaron Francis (CAHO) over Cooper Hofschulte (PEM) (Dec 6-2)
145: Kyle Cavanaugh (CAHO) over Joe Stucky (PEM) (Fall 3:34)
152: Carter Marx (PEM) over Isaac Denstad (CAHO) (Fall 4:19)
160: Zach Schneider (CAHO) over Alex Rahman (PEM) (Fall 1:32)
170: Ryan Wagner (CAHO) over Connor Jones (PEM) (Fall 3:50)
182: Payton Schott (CAHO) over Austin Rother (PEM) (Fall 3:44)
195: Dustin Dittrich (PEM) over Spencer Stemper (CAHO) (Fall 1:42)
220: Riley Wingert (PEM) over Matt Gavin (CAHO) (Fall 3:11)
285: Brent Robley (CAHO) over Logan Wingert (PEM) (Dec 5-3)