The Becker Bulldogs wrestling team have been continuing to live up to their team mascot’s tenacious nature, with a loss to Foley Jan. 24, then coming back to place fourth out of a field of 16 at the South St. Paul Veldman Invite Jan. 26, and overcoming their opponents at both the Paynesville and Milaca meets Feb. 2 and 5.

 

“With our win over Milaca it put us 4-1 in the conference which placed us second in the conference for the season,” said Coach Matt Aho. “Our record overall in the season is 19-2, with one more dual to go against Big Lake.”

 

 

Although the team fought hard and had home advantage, they were defeated by Foley 32-23.

 

“It was a tough dual for us,” said Aho. “We were really close to the 7th ranked team in class AA, only losing by 9 points.”

 

The meet started off with Kaden Rish (106) being defeated by his Foley opponent in a major decision (4-0), but rebounding in the 113 lbs. category, with Etan Anderson winning his round after a long fight in a fall at 6:00. 

 

The pendulum swung back around after Mason Doucette (120) lost to his opponent in a decision, Jake Nelson (126) in an overtime decision (0-4), and Adam Jurek (132) in a fall at 3:39.

 

Things started picking up for the Bulldogs again after Lukas Paulson (138) scored another win for the team, defeating his opponent in a major decision (4-0), and Logan Jurek (145) also defeating his opponent in a fall at 3:12.

 

The meet continued back and forth, with the Bulldogs losing the next two, winning the following two, then losing the last three matches to decisions.

Alexander Berglund (152) was defeated in a major decision (0-4) and Kylen Rish (160) was defeated in a decision.

 

Next Caden Dewall (170) took down his opponent in a major decision (4-0) and Reid Kraus defeating his in a decision.

 

Lincoln Carlson (195) was taken down by his opponent, Nicholas Goth (220) by his, and Brayden Weber (285) by his, all; three were through decisions.

After the match, the Bulldogs wrestling team was 15-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference.

 

 

The team headed over to St. Paul for the South St. Paul Veldman Invite Jan. 26 and came home with both champions and place winners.

 

“It was a great tournament for us,” said Aho. “We came away with several place winners and four champions; Jake Nelson at 126 lbs., Logan Jurek at 145 lbs., Caden Dewall at 160 lbs., and Brayden Weber at 220 lbs.”

 

Out of 16 teams, Becker came in at fourth place with 168.5 points, barely edged out by third place winner Lakeville North with 171.5 points. Blaine placed second at 182.5 points, and Stillwater Area pulled ahead of the field, winning the meet with 219 points.

 

 

February 2 saw the team in Paynesville up against Paynesville Area, Eden Valley-Watkins and Rocori. Coming in strong, they overcame all three of their opponents, 46 to 28 against Eden Valley-Watkins, 57-15 against Paynesville Area, and 47-24 against Rocori.

 

Ethan Duncombe (106) won his match against EVW with a forfeit and against Paynesville in a decision (3-0), but was taken down in a fall (1:43) against his Rocori opponent.

 

Ethan Anderson (113) also won all three of his matches, with a quick fall against EVW (:38), another against Paynesville (1:26), and against Rocori with a forfeit.

Mason Doucette (12) was defeated by his EVW and Rocori opponents in a fall at 1:10 and a decision (3-0), but came back to overcome his Paynesville opponent in a decision (3-0). 

 

Jake Nelson (126) and Lukas Paulson (132) both took down all three of their opponents, Nelson with a decision (3-0), a fall (:38), and a decision (3-0), and Paulson with a tech fall (5-0), a fall (:57), and a major decision (4-0).

 

At 138 lbs., Ryan Nelson fought hard but was overcome by both his EVW and Paynesville opponents in falls, but came back to defeat his Rocori opponent in a major decision (4-0). He was followed by Logan Jurek wrestling at 145 lbs., who came back to take down all three of his opponents in falls, one at :42 and the other at :46.

 

Jacob Berning (152) was defeated by his EVW opponent in a major decision (4-0). Wrestling at 152 lbs. against Paynesville, Kylen Rish has also defeated in a decision (3-0), but won against Rocori with a forfeit. But wrestling in the 160 lbs. division, he took down his EVW opponent in a fall after a hard match (2:31).

 

Also in the 160 lbs. division, Caden Dewall defeated his Paynesville opponent in a fall at 1:17 and his Rocori opponent with a forfeit; at 170 lbs. he took down his EVW opponent in another fall at 3:18. Reid Kraus wrestled at 170 lbs. against Paynesville, beating his opponent with a decision (3-0), and at Rocori, although he lost in a fall (3:36) in that match. He wrestled at 182 lbs. against EVW, again overcoming his opponent, this time with a major decision (4-0).

 

Lincoln Carlson wrestled at 182 lbs. against Paynesville, taking down his opponent in a fall at 1:20 but losing to his Rocori opponent in a decision (3-0).

 

Nicholas Goth (195) was defeated by his EVW opponent in a forfeit (6-0), but overcame his Paynesville opponent in a hard-won fall at 2:26, as well as winning against Rocori through forfeit.

 

Brayden Weber (220) won all three of his matches, the first in a major decision (4-0), and the second and third through forfeits.

 

Kolbe Braun (285) fought hard but was taken down by his EVW opponent in a fall (1:15), as was Lakken Braun (285) against his Paynesville opponent (:34), and his Rocori opponent (1:43).

 

 

In their most recent dual meet against Milaca-Faith Christian on Feb. 5, the wrestlers again showed their strength, receiving more than double their opponent’s points and winning 51-21. 

 

Ethan Duncombe (106) and Dylan Riedinger (113) both fought hard but lost to their opponents, Duncombe with a decision (3-0) and Riedinger in a fall at 2:21.

Becker’s next five wrestlers came out on top, with Ethan Anderson (120) defeating his opponent in a fall at 3:12, Mason Doucette (126) winning through forfeit (6-0), Jack Nelson (132) in a fall (2:34), Lukas Paulson in another fall (3:52), and Logan Jurek in yet another fall at :45.

 

Kylen Rish (152) came out strong but was defeated by his opponent in a decision (3-0), after which Caden Dewall (160) brought the team back to its winning streak after a long fight against his opponent, winning in a fall at 4:25.

 

Reid Kraus (170) brought the winning streak to an end again, fighting hard but losing in a decision (3-0).

 

The Bulldogs took the next three matches, with Lincoln Carlson (182) overcoming his opponent in a fall (3:15), Nicholas Goth overcoming his opponent in a fall (3:51), and Brayden Weber in a decision (3-0).

 

Wrestling in the heaviest division at 285 lbs., Lakken Braun also fought a long, hard fight, but was eventually overcome by his opponent in a fall at 3:30.

 

 

The wrestling team will next travel to Big Lake Feb. 9 (today) for their final dual, a match that had been rescheduled due to the weather. That meet will be covered in next week’s edition of the Citizen-Tribune.