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| These 12 guys...each one of them are warriors on the mat! Great job tonight. |
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| Joe Reller competed in the 195-pound division. (Above) He earned a pin in this match in 64 seconds during the first round. |
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| Josey Tensen, a returning state entrant from last year, is shown during his 4-2 win by decision in the 120-pound semifinals today against Willmar's Juan Resendez. |
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| Freshmen Spencer Amundson had two pins while going 3-1 today to take third place in the 106-pound division. It was his first varsity action of his career. |
What a fantastic finish for the Jaguars wrestling team as they showed off a whole new lineup to start the 2013-14 season tonight. In a field of 7 teams with one "alternate" team to help fill out the brackets, the Jaguars scored 125 points behind runner-up Morris Area/Hancock/Chokio-Alberta (164) and team champion Willmar (194). Out of the 12 wrestlers they put into action, 5 were pure varsity rookies with no experience above JV until today. Plus just five return from 2012-13 who were full-time starters last year.
As the season was about to begin, nobody really had any idea what type of team would hit the mats at the varsity level for Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa. A lot of questions were answered tonight when 12 Jaguars went into action and wrestled their hearts out while pulling out a third-place finish. They battled with a lot of energy and a ton of pride and would have made Coach Rich Vos proud for their efforts. There's absolutely no pressure on this team so they can go out and carve their own path this season. Good luck guys! I am excited about the possibilities ahead of you.
Final Jaguar wrestling invitational team standings:
1st - Willmar 194
2nd - Morris Area/Hancock/Chokio-Alberta 164
3rd - B-B-E 125
4th - Holdingford 100.5
5th - New London-Spicer 69
6th - Ortonville 50
7th - Browerville 44
8th - Bonanza Valley
Here's more video...this is from the semifinal round with Adam Jaeger at 113 pounds:
Adam Jaeger (126 pounds) lost 3-1 in the 113-pound championship to a guy who wrestled in the Class AA state tournament last season, sophomore Tom Stageberg of New London-Spicer. After a first-round bye, Jaeger built a quick 9-2 lead in his semifinal match and held on for a 9-7 win. Below are other random notes from each weight division represented by the Jaguars.
106: Spencer Amundson, freshmen and varsity rookie, went 3-1 today while earning two pins to take third place. His second pin was in the 3rd-place match, where he needed only 85 seconds to stick Danny Eastman of Ortonville.
112: Kaleb Voss, sophomore and a returning starter from last year's Section Final Four playoff team, went 1-1 and lost 6-0 to Noah Becker of Browerville in the championship.
120: Josey Tensen, a junior and returning state entrant and returning full-time starter, went 1-1 and lost 18-7 to senior Jakob Stageberg of NL-S.
132: Isaiah Gilbert, 8th grader and varsity rookie, lost by pin in his opener to a sophomore from Willmar; in his wrestleback match, he lost a heartbreaker by a 2-1 decision to sophomore Philip Messner of MA/H/CA.
138: Colby Schramel, sophomore and returning starter, won by fall (2:40) in his opener and lost by fall (4:42) in the semis; in the third-place match he won by fall in 85 seconds.
145: Jonah Voss, freshmen and varsity rookie, lost by fall in the semis and also the third-place match.
152: Alex Schramel, the only senior on the team and also a returning starter, won by fall in just 32 seconds in the quarterfinals over Browerville's Nic Becker; he lost by fall (1:58) in the semis and then won a 10-5 decision in the wrestlebacks over Keaton Knutson of Holdingford; in the third-place match, he won a very exciting 4-2 decision over NL-S's Logan Eckhoff.
160: Steven Mady, junior and varsity rookie, had a first-round bye, lost by fall in the semis and then pulled off one of the most exciting wins of the entire tournament in the wrestlebacks; in the wrestlebacks, Mady won a 4-2 decision in overtime over Ortonville's Robert Wood II; in the 3rd-place match, Mady lost by fall (4:11).
170: forfeit
182: Ben Thompson, sophomore and returning starter, won a 4-1 decision over MA/H/CA's senior Danny Tracy in the semis; in the championship, Thompson lost by fall to Vaughn Johnson of Willmar.
195: Joe Reller, sophomore and varsity rookie, defeated a senior from MA/H/CA (Aaron Nelson) in a quick 64-second pin in the quarterfinals; in the semis, Reller lost by fall to eventual champion Augustine Hahn of Willmar; he then lost in the wrestlebacks for a 1-2 record.
220: forfeit
HWT: Ben Feuerhake, sophomore and returning starter, won by pin (79 seconds) in the quarterfinals over Browerville's Austin Chyba; he battled and battled in the semifinals but lost in a fall (5:30) to eventual champion Leon Richards of Willmar; he erased James Gaida of Bonanza Valley in a 21-second pin in the wrestlebacks; in the 3rd-place match, Feuerhake won by fall (2:47) over Ortonville's senior Derrick Pillatzki.
