It was a raucous atmosphere last Thursday as the Becker wrestling team hosted Big Lake in a Hwy. 10 border battle with the top spot in the Mississippi 8 Conference on the line. With a wild crowd cheering on every turn in the matches, the #5 state ranked Hornets jumped out to a big lead before the #3 state ranked Bulldogs came from behind to win the final four matches to post a 37-26 win.
“It was a great atmosphere to wrestle in,” Bulldog coach Travis Holt said after the match. “Two high level teams competing in a packed gym, filled with passionate fans... it doesn’t get any better than that.”
Big Lake jumped to a 3-0 lead at 106 with an Ivan Pointe decision victory, and that was followed by a 113 pound match that highlighted the rivalry and foreshadowed the back-and-forth battles that would follow all night.
Becker’s Kaden Nicolas and the Hornets’ Cash Sixberry wrestled to a 5-5 tie and went to overtime in a match ultimately won, 6-5, by Nicolas, as he successfully rode the top position until time expired. The result led to a 3-3 tie in the team points, and a feeling by the fans that it was going to be a close match all night.
Becker next took a brief lead, 7-3, after a Landen Kujawa major decision at 120 before the Hornets ripped off four straight wins to assume a commanding 23-7 advantage that left the Bulldog side of the gym in a bit of disbelief. But the Bulldogs weren’t done, as a Mason Doucette injury default win at 152 followed by an Adam Jurek 6-4 decision win at 160 brought the Bulldogs back to within 16-23.
This time, it was the Hornets who answered, as Johnathon Murphy maneuvered a 9-6 decision win at 170 to extend the Hornet lead to 16-26. However, it would be the last match the Hornets would win, as the Bulldogs reeled off wins in the last four matches to seal the win.
Dyaln Weber pinned his opponent in the second period to pull Becker to within 22-26 and Joe Goth followed with a 9-5 decision to bring Becker to within 25-26.
Becker’s Dylan Kolby maneuvered for a pin in the opening seconds of the second period at 220 and the Bulldogs had the lead 31-26. That left the 285 pound match, where Becker’s Bryce Kuschel would face off against Big Lake’s Kane Lapointe, with the packed gymnasium standing and cheering to see who would emerge victorious. Kuschel was able to execute his pinning combination 30 seconds into the second period and the Bulldogs had completed the comeback for a 37-26 win and sole possession of the top spot in the Mississippi 8.
“The victory was truly a team effort. Every one of our wrestlers battled for their teammates, knowing every point matters,” Holt said. “Even if the outcome of their own match wasn’t pleasing, they needed to bounce back and support their team. They did that well.”
Both teams left the gym knowing full well that a rematch in the section tournament is a distinct possibility.
“We still have much to work on, in preparation of the remainder of the season, but we will be ready to battle, come postseason,” Holt said.
Complete match results:
106: Ivan Lapointe (BL) over Bennett Kujawa (13-8 dec.).
113: Kaden Nicolas (Bec) over Cash Sixberry (6-5 OT dec.).
120: Landen Kujawa (Bec) over. Cash Stortz (17-5 maj. dec.).
126: Christian Noble (BL) over Nolan Muellner (fall :29).
132: Nolan Reiter (BL) over Drew May (tech fall 19-3).
138: Zack Smith (BL) over Ethan Duncombe (9-6 dec.).
145: Dillon Browen (BL) over Ethan Anderson (fall 3:26).
152: Mason Doucette (Bec) over Dante Visci (injury default).
160: Adam Jurek (Bec) over Tyler Dehmer (6-4 dec.).
170: Johnathon Murphy (BL) over Tyson Ricker (9-6 dec.).
182: Dylan Weber (Bec) over Gauge Hoffman (fall 3:29).
195: Joe Goth (Bec) over Brett Bordwell (9-5 dec.).
220: Dylan Kolby (Bec) over Rieley Mullen (fall 2:22);
285: Bryce Kuschel (Bec) over Kane Lapointe (fall 2:30).
Veldman Invite
Saturday, the Bulldogs wrestled in the South St. Paul Veldman Invite, a tournament named after their long-time A.D. Becker had five wrestlers win their weight class en route to finishing in first place as a team with 255 points, just ahead of the St. Francis squad (249.5).
Individual champions for the Bulldogs included Kaden Nicolas (113), Landen Kujawa (120), Mason Doucette (152), Tyson Ricker (170) and Bryce Kuschel (285).
Ryan Boecker (132) was a runner up in his class, as was Adam Jurek (160) and Dylan Kolby (220).
