Last Friday, the Becker Bulldog wrestling team rolled to a 45-21 victory over the Big Lake Hornets in the Section 6AA finals to give Becker its second state wrestling tournament berth in school history.  The only other appearance for Becker was in 2003, when veteran coach Brad Novak led his charges to St. Paul.

This season, first year coach Travis Holt took over the head coaching duties for a team that had high expectations with depth and experience across the weight classes, and the wrestlers didn’t disappoint in landing a spot in the State Class AA tournament to be held March 3 at the Xcel Energy Center.

“Friday night was a great evening for Becker wrestling,” Holt said after his team punched its ticket to state.  “This team has had its focus on that event all season long. It was wonderful to watch how hard work and believing in the process has paid off.”

Tuesday, the MSHSL conducted a seeding meeting to place the top five teams in their respective spots in the bracket, followed by a random draw for the last three spots. Becker landed the #3 seed, meaning it will open state competition as a team on March 3 at 9 a.m. at the Xcel Energy Center with a contest against unseeded Thief River Falls. 

If the Bulldogs win, their semifinal match will be at 1 p.m. against the winner of the #2 seed Kasson-Mantorville versus unseeded Mora match, while a loss in the opening round would put the Bulldogs in the consolation bracket (11 a.m. match).

The third place contest is scheduled for 5 p.m., while the finals are slated for 7 p.m. in the one day tournament.

This week, the Bulldogs wrestled in the individual portion of the section tournament Friday and Saturday in Monticello, as a number of Bulldogs were looking to secure their spot in the state individual wrestling tournament.  Complete details will be covered in next week’s Patriot.

“Although we continue to chase individual section championships, that team title means a lot for this program and will continue to set high expectations and goals for future teams,” Holt said.

Hornets

In last Friday’s clash on the mat, there were few surprises as both teams know each other well, especially coming off the January 31 match in Becker where the Bulldogs won 8 of 14 individual matches and claimed the M8 Title with a 37-26 win .

This time, the results were even better for Becker, as they won nine weight classes en route to the convincing win.

Becker trailed 0-6 heading into the 120 pound match when Landen Kujawa scored a 20-5 technical fall to close the gap to 5-6.

The Hornets then won two in a row to claim an 18-5 lead, but Becker’s Ethan Anderson wrestled at 138 against Zack Smith and was able to pull off a first period fall for a big six points for the Bulldogs.

At 145, Owen Angell picked up a huge major decision for the Bulldogs at a weight class they had lost to the Hornets in the M8 championship match.

This set up a pair of rematches in the 152 and 160 pound weight classes and Becker won both, as Mason Doucette (fall) and Adam Jurek (decision) each picked up victories to propel Becker to a 24-18 lead heading into the 170 pound match. There, the Hornets picked up a decision win by Johnathon Murphy to pull to within 24-21 of the Bulldogs. However, as was the case in the first match, Becker swept the top four weight classes to secure the spot at state.

Tyson Ricker scored a fall at 182 for Becker, while Dylan Weber had an 8-4 decision win.  Dylan Kolby (220) and Bryce Kuschel (285) each pinned their opponents to seal the victory.

Spartans

Thursday night in the Section Quarterfinals, Becker hosted Rocori and downed the Spartans 47-12.  Bennett Kujawa stared the Bulldogs with a decision win at 106 before Becker picked up three straight forfeit wins to push the its lead to 21-0. Drew May followed with a decision at 132 pounds, while teammate Ethan Anderson won a decision at 138 for a 27-0 Becker lead.

Starting at 152 pounds, Becker reeled off four straight wins to secure the lead for good.

Mason Doucette (dec. 152), Adam Jurek (tech. Fall 160) and Ryan Nelson (fall 170) each picked up wins for Becker before a Dylan Weber forfeit win for the Bulldogs at 182.  Rocori won the final three matches, but it was too late, as Becker moved onto the Semifinals to take on D-C-Litchfield.

Semis

In the win over Litchfield-D-C, Becker sent a message early as Kujawa (106) and Kaden Nicolas each pinned their opponent and the race to the finals was underway.

Landen Kujawa then scored a decision at 120 for the Bulldogs and a 15-0 lead before D-C-Litchfield finally broke the goose egg on the scoreboard with a decision win at 126.

From there, May scored a pin at 132 for Becker, followed by a 9-7 decision win at 138 for Ethan Anderson.

Owen Angell then wrestled like a man on a mission at 145 pounds, as he scored a first period fall for a 30-3 Becker lead, followed by Doucette pinning his man in just 30 seconds at 152 sounds.

Adam Jurek then bounced up a weight class to 170 and won a hard-fought 10-6 decision, while Dylan Kolby (220) and Bryce Kuschel (285) each scored decision wins to give Becker the final margin and a spot in the finals against Big Lake.