Anoka captured first place with a 318.5 score. Becker followed with 133.0 points and Cloquet was third with 122.0 points.

 

Becker’s Jacob Berning, wrestling at 120-lbs., took home the second place title when Berning lost to Colby Njos of Anoka by fall at 4:34 of the title match.

 

 

At 126-lbs., Kevin Andres took third place when he beat Chontu Lee of St. Paul Harding with a 3-1 decision.

 

Blake Paulson also captured second place at 132-lbs., when he wrestled in the championship match against Scott Springer of Anoka and lost in a 14-3 major decision.

 

At 138-lbs., Colten Demant was pinned at 1:05 of the championship match by Zach Fritz of Anoka to finish second in his weight class.

 

Adam Bauman wrestled at 145-lbs. and brought home the third place crown when he scored a 7-0 defeat of Trevor Skogerboe of New Prague.

 

Logan Jurek finished fifth at 152-lbs. when he beat Devin Long of Park by a 5-2 decision.

 

At 182-lbs., Jaylin Hildebrandt finished in second place when he lost a 9-5 decision to Anoka’s Dalton Miller in the championship match.

 

Austin Benkowski took fifth at 195-lbs. when he pinned Luke Konietzko of Cloquet at 41 seconds.

 

At 220-lbs., Becker’s Scott Braun wrapped up third place when he pinned Houa Thao of St. Paul Harding at 2:58.

 

At heavyweight (285-lbs.), Nick Radunz took fourth when he lost a 1-0 decision to Park’s Robert Marrier.

 

“ I was very excited of our guys,” said Head Coach Matt Aho. “They all are really wrestling well right now. To place second was a great job all around for our whole team.” 

 

Did you know the Becker Bulldog varsity wrestling team has been competing with four eight-graders on their squad?

 

Kylen Rish has been seeing mat time at 113-lbs. as well as Lukas Paulson (120-lbs.), Brayden Weber (160-lbs.) and Jacob Eich (195-lbs.). Other eighth-graders on the squad are Dylan Dircks, Lakken Braun, Bennett Edling, Jonathan Lipinski, Dylan Riedinger, Caden Dewall, Luke Eigen and Liam Jenkins.

 

The Bulldogs also have four seventh-graders in Ethan Anderson, Mason Doucette, Bryce Kushel and Samuel Hyttsten.

 

The future looks very bright for the Bulldog wrestling program.

 

Yesterday (Friday), the Bulldogs hosted Sartell-St. Stephen, then hit the road to participate in the South St. Paul Invitational. A full report will appear in next week’s Citizen-Tribune.

Tuesday, the Bulldogs wrestle in a Triangular at Brainerd and Little Falls, then host a Quadrangular Thursday with Litchfield, Zimmerman and Mora.

 

After going 3-1 in their region, the Becker ninth grade and under wrestling team qualified as the #2 team from Region 7. 

 

In the region duals, Becker beat Big Lake (42-26), Paynesville (51-24) and Mora (42-25), losing to Foley (52-12), who eventually took first place at state.

 

As a result of being the #2 team for their region, Becker qualified for the MNGWL (Minnesota Ninth Grade & Under Wrestling League) state team tournament held at Hastings High School last Saturday.

 

The team did very well as they started out with two big wins over Minneota (45-31) and Forest Lake (36-25) to advance into the championship bracket.  Unfortunately, the team dropped a close one to the eventual runner-up (Bemidji) by a score of 33-24 and fell again to the eventual fifth place team, New Prague by a score of 48-18.

 

In the final match for the day, Becker met up with Detroit Lakes, the same team they met at the same tournament last year in which Detroit Lakes won. Each member of the Becker team stepped up and filled vital roles in the 42-32 win over the Lakers.

 

The Bulldogs have a record of 6-3 on the season with the only loses coming from the first, second, and fifth place teams.

 

Becker MNGWL team members include: Ethan Anderson, Mason Doucette, Jake Nelson, Bennett Edling, Kylen Rish, Jon Lipinski, Lukas Paulson, Alex Lumley, Caden Dewall, Reid Kraus, John Stangler, Luke Eigen, Liam Jenkins, Lakken Braun, Brayden Weber, Reid Tripp, Dylan Riedinger, Jacob Jurek, Bryce Kushel, Dylan Dirks, Sam Hyttsten and Jacob Eich.