It had been 3 years since PEM competed in the Eau Claire Duals, and since the last time the Bulldogs were there the competition has risen! The University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire field house was the scene of some fierce border battle dual meets as some of the best Minnesota and Wisconsin had to offer squared away on December 30th. "I'm glad our young grapplers showed their true GRIT today", said PEM coach Nate Pfeilsticker. "A tournament like this can show how much you can Improve as the day goes on and I think we accomplished that!"
The Bulldogs wrestled one of western Wisconsin's large school powerhouses in Eau Claire North to start the day. After a sluggish start at 9 AM, the wrestlers battled to a 36-39 defeat as their youth and inexperience showed. They then came back with an impressive performance to defeat Mondovi, WI 62-10. And ended pool play with a sound defeat to central Minnesota powerhouse, Rocori, 24-52. Coach Darin Wingert, added "5 duals can make or break a team. It's the most allowed by law. Glad to see our young guns step up and finish with 2 wins!"
PEM went into the 1-2 bracket after finishing Pool B play. The early round defeats must have woke them up as they defeated Independence, WI, 60-21 in the semi-finals of the bracket. Cam Miller was impressed with the win, "our upper weights rose to the challenge, he added, guys like Alex Hinrichs, Alex Bedsted, Martin, Drew, and Tony Roberton helped turn a small deficit into a rout!" The day concluded with a spot in the championship match vs Mahtomedi. The Spartans similar to PEM had also just competed in the Prep Bowl in late November. With a lineup full of strong athletes that multi-sported in football and wrestling, a strong GRIT filled performance by PEM was what the coaches hoped for. Coach Bobby Bedsted concluded "the Bulldogs came up big! Once I looked over at their lineup I wasn't sure how things would shake out. Proud to see PEM finish with a win, a 3-2 record and a championship!"
Notable performance from the day were:
Aiden Graner finished with a 4-1 record
Carson Rahman finished 5-0
Nolan Ford finished with a 4-1 record
Nolan Pfeilsticker collected his first varsity win!
Alex Hinrichs recorded a 4-1 record
Alex Bested earned his first 2 varsity wins
Martin Prieto finished 5-0
Drew Rahman earned a 3-2 record
Tony Roberton earned a 3-2 record on the day
The Bulldogs next action will be Thursday January 6th as they enter Three Rivers Conference competition facing off vs St. Charles and Chatfield in Chosen Valley. Wrestling starts at 5 PM.
Comments