The Becker Bulldogs wrestling team had an amazing season this year, working their way steadily to the championship where they were taken out by the No. 8AA ranked Dassel-Cokato-Litchfield (DCL) and ending their overall dual season with an impressive 22-2 record.

The team entered sections as the No. 1 seed team in the Section 6AA dual tournament. They started strong, overcoming Monticello 67-10 in the quarterfinals with the Bulldogs taking all but two matches during the meet.

They next took on Big Lake, who had defeated Albany 52-24 to advance to the semifinals and face the Bulldogs. Becker came out on top in that match also, taking down Big Lake 45-22.

“We had a good win right away on Friday, beating Big Lake,” said Head Coach Matt Aho. “We were able to fight back after losing the first four weight classes, then winning nine out of the last 10 to pull away with the win.”

The championship match against DCL was hard fought by all the wrestlers, but the Bulldogs were ultimately defeated 35-22.

Lukas Paulson (132) (31-5), Adam Jurek (145) (34-10), Kylen Rish (170) (30-8), and Brayden Weber (220/285) (32-3) all went 3-0 in the tournament. Jake Nelson (132) (21-3) and John Stangler (160) (11-8) both went 2-1, and Reid Kraus (182/195) (31-11) went 2-0.

“It was a hard fought dual in the finals with DCL,” said Aho. “Our wrestlers gave their best but were unable to come up with the dual win.”

The Bulldogs also had wrestlers that hit milestones during their recent meets. In the Feb. 13 meet against Monticello, Jake Nelson achieved his 100th career win and Lukas Paulson achieved his 125th career win.

The Feb. 14 match against Big Lake saw Adam Jurek achieve his 50th career win.

“I’m proud of our guys,” said Aho. “We worked hard all year and gave everything we could. We ended up with a 22-2 overall dual team record and made the section finals in back to back years.”

The Bulldog wrestlers spent the week preparing for their individual section tournament on Saturday, which is being held at Dassel-Cokato High School. 

“We’ll work hard to try and get a bunch of our wrestlers to the state tournament on Feb. 27 – 29,” said Aho.