Last Friday, the PEM wrestling team celebrated Senior Night, by hosting GMLOS and the Kasson-Mantorville Komets, who are currently ranked #1 in MN in AA, and #34 out of all the teams in the United States. In the first dual of the evening vs. GMLOS, the Bulldogs got off to a hot start winning the first 2 matches of the evening.
Starting with freshman Kael Lamb in his first dual meet start at 106. Lamb got a first period takedown followed immediately by a cradle for 3 nearfall points and never looked back, eventually winning the match by major decision 9-1. In his first appearance of the year at 113, senior Nick Miller would get out to any early lead, and then hold off a late charge to hammer out a 10-9 victory. Starting at 120,
GMLOS and PEM would trade wins back and forth for the next 8 consecutive weight class. Starting off with GMLOS state place-winner Jackson Hale, getting a pin at 120 followed by PEM freshman Cael Marx rebounding with a 2nd period pin for the Bulldogs at 126. GMLOS answered with a decision victory at 132, followed by a Joe Stucky forfeit victory at 138. GMLOS again answered with a fall at 145 followed by a Carter Marx victory by fall over previously 19-4 Josh Graves of GMLOS. Yet again,
GMLOS answered with another pin of their own at 160, but the rally was finally crushed by 4 consecutive Bulldog victories that included forfeit wins by Conner Jones and Austin Rother and pins by Dustin Dittrich and Riley Wingert. GMLOS would finish the evening with a last second pin, but it would not be enough as PEM would prevail 49-27.
Senior Night
In the intermission between duals, PEM’s two senior wrestlers Nick Miller and Austin Rother were honored as public address announcer Paul Aarsvold read the following: “With tonight being the last home wrestling event of the 2018 regular season, we would like to take a moment to honor this year’s senior wrestlers. Two young men, who have sacrificed proudly, for the improvement of themselves, their teammates and their program. While words cannot convey how much these young men have given, we would like to take a minute to honor each of them.”
Nick Miller
Nick got his first opportunities on varsity as a freshman, and has been a regular starter ever since. In that time, he has amassed 81 career victories so far. He has placed in the Section 1 tournament twice, has been the champion of the Eau Claire North Husky Invitational, the Tartan Invitational, and the Rochester Century Invitational. Miller was selected All-Conference as both a sophomore and a junior. Nick will be remembered by coaches and teammates for the enthusiastic smile and toughness that he always brings to practice, as well as being type of leader that was always willing to help younger wrestlers develop and mature.
Austin Rother
Austin got his first taste of varsity action as a freshman and became a varsity regular as a sophomore. Since that time he has continued to improve every single year and currently has 66 career victories at this point. He has placed 4th in the Section Tournament, and has been voted All Conference. He has been the champion of the Tartan, Century, Faribault, Eau Claire North, and PEM Invitationals. He was named a captain this season and has won team awards for JV hardest worker (8th grade), Mental Toughness Award (sophomore), and Most Dedicated (junior). Rother will be remembered by teammates and coaches for his love of the sport and the program, as well as his unique sense of humor.
PEM Falls to the top ranked Komets
After a well deserved round of applause for the seniors, it was time for the second dual of the evening featuring the defending state champion and nationally ranked Komets of Kasson-Mantorville. While K-M certainly proved themselves worthy of their top billing, the Bulldogs battled hard against the Komet line-up that featured 10 top ranked MN wrestlers. Highlights for the Bulldogs included 2 hard fought narrow defeats against highly ranked opponents for senior Austin Rother (170) and Logan Wingert (285) as well as 3 individual match victories.
Earning the first PEM victory of the evening was junior Carter Marx at 152 who used a 1st period takedown and turn to take a 5-0 lead and hold on for an 8-1 victory. At 195, PEM junior Dustin Dittrich (ranked #9 at 182) bumped up a wt class to take on #6 ranked Jim Paulson in what turned out to be a wild, back and forth match, that included 2 takedowns, 2 escapes, and a reversal for both opponents. The turning point in the match however was a 2nd period Dittrich headlock that netted 3 nearfall points that eventually proved to be the difference in the 11-8 Bulldog victory. The final PEM victory came just one match later as sophomore Riley Wingert hooked up #7 ranked Brett Paulson in a chest crusher and rode it to a 1st period pin in just :38 seconds.
Pictures of the Event can be located here!
PEM 49 GMLOS 27
106: Kael Lamb (PEM) over Wes Soltau (GMLOS) (MD 9-1)
113: Nick Miller (PEM) over Rece Voigt (GMLOS) (Dec 10-9)
120: Jackson Hale#9 (GMLOS) over Jaden Wolf (PEM) (Fall 1:17)
126: Cael Marx (PEM) over Donavon Felten (GMLOS) (Fall 3:22)
132: Daniel Smith (GMLOS) over Cooper Hofschulte (PEM) (Dec 5-1)
138: Joe Stucky (PEM) over (GMLOS) (For.)
145: Christian Jacobsen (GMLOS) over Luke Martinson (PEM) (Fall 0:24)
152: Carter Marx #9 (PEM) over Josh Graves (GMLOS) (Fall 4:58)
160: Noah Sayles (GMLOS) over Alex Rahman (PEM) (Fall 1:44)
170: Connor Jones (PEM) over (GMLOS) (For.) 182: Austin Rother (PEM) over (GMLOS) (For.)
195: Dustin Dittrich#9 (PEM) over Cameron Sneed (GMLOS) (Fall 1:28)
220: Riley Wingert (PEM) over (GMLOS) (Fall 1:05)
285: Clayton Luthe (GMLOS) over Logan Wingert (PEM) (Fall 5:56)
#1KM 52 PEM 12
106: Logan Vaughan#1 (KM) over Kael Lamb (PEM) (TF 17-2 5:49)
113: Jared Johnson#2 (KM) over Nick Miller (PEM) (TF 16-0 3:35)
120: Robby Horsman#2 (KM) over Jaden Wolf (PEM) (TF 18-3 2:58)
126: Matthew Harfmann (KM) over Cael Marx (PEM) (MD 10-2)
132: Tanner Paulson (KM) over Cooper Hofschulte (PEM) (TF 15-0 5:15)
138: Bennett Berge#5 (KM) over Joe Stucky (PEM) (MD 18-5)
145: Jacob Keller (KM) over Luke Martinson (PEM) (Fall 0:35)
152: Carter Marx#9 (PEM) over Nic VanOort (KM) (Dec 8-1)
160: Dalton Andrist#2 (KM) over Alex Rahman (PEM) (Fall 0:29)
170: Ethan Shea#3 (KM) over Austin Rother (PEM) (Dec 3-0)
182: Patrick Kennedy#1 (KM) over (PEM) (For.)
195: Dustin Dittrich#9 (PEM) over Jim Paulson#6 (KM) (Dec 11-8)
220: Riley Wingert (PEM) over Brett Paulson#7 (KM) (Fall 0:38)
285: Garsen Schorr#4 (KM) over Logan Wingert (PEM) (Dec 3-2)
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