Very, VERY proud!

The Jaguars shown with their Section 5A medals as A-C-GC was receiving their championship trophy.

Joe Reller, who is part of a very talented junior class of wrestlers, accepts his section medal tonight.

Isaiah Gilbert at 145 pounds against Osakis tonight; Gilbert won by fall here!

All of Jaguar Country should be immensely proud of how the B-B-E Jaguars wrestling team battled to the bitter end in the Section 5A Final Four tonight at Eden Valley-Watkins high school. With the odds against them, the Jaguars found something special throughout their lineup against Osakis and pulled off a very exciting 34-23 win in the semifinals.

In their first section finals appearance since 1999, the Jaguars faced top-seeded and two-time defending Section 5A champion Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City. The Falcons blazed their way to the state title match last year and finished as Class 1A state runners-up. This season they vividly remembered barely edging the Jaguars 32-30 at the A-C-GC Quad back before the Christmas break.

Through the first two weight classes, A-C-GC built a 9-0 lead. Josey Tensen at 120 pounds led 5-2 after two periods and opened it up in the third period for an 11-4 decision win for B-B-E's first team points. After two losses the Jaguars got an 8-2 decision win by Adam Jaeger at 138. Isaiah Gilbert won 8-6 at 145, and at 152 Colby Schramel won a 13-0 major decision. By this point, A-C-GC had a 17-13 lead and the outcome was in doubt. That was settled when the Falcons won at 160 and 170 to go up 32-13 and clinch their trip to state. Joe Reller won a thriller in overtime at 195 by a 7-5 decision, and Ben Feuerhake by pin (48 seconds) at heavyweight to wrap up the scoring.

A-C-GC advances to the state tournament for the 10th time overall in school history.

• Here's the Bonanza Valley Voice photo gallery from tonight's wrestling action (90+ photos):

http://bonanzavalley.smugmug.com/BBE-Jaguar-winter-playoffs/BBE-wrestlers-Section-5A-Final

Other area section wrestling scores on Feb. 13:
West Central Area/Ashby/Evansville 36, Barnesville 28 (Section 6A championship, Knights are state-bound for the first time since the 1990s)
Pierz 33, Aitkin 20 (Section 7A championship, Pioneers are state-bound once again)
Pierz 44, Holdingford 19 (7A semis)

Thank you to the Padua Pub for your support of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper and helping bring the sports coverage that our fine B-B-E Jaguar athletes earn and deserve! The Padua Pub, KaDe Shack and  The Red Hen House are all hosting special Valentine's Day dinners tomorrow.