For the Buc wrestling team at the Section 2A Team Tournament held Feb. 16 in Waterville there was a lot of pinning going on. Some of it was good, some was not.

Jackson County Central, the No.1-ranked team in Class A, earned a State berth with a 52-6 win over No.4-ranked United South Central.

In the opening round, the No. 6-seeded Bucs had little trouble with 11th-seed Blooming Prairie, winning 70-10.

BEA jumped out to a 24-0 lead with four straight pins before Blooming Prairie put points on the board with a major decision at 130 pounds.

Jake Wirtjes needed 1:57 to put his opponent’s shoulders to the mat at 103 pounds to give his team a 6-0 lead.

D.J. Gronewald (112) earned a pin in 49 seconds, Carter Hanson (119) — a seventh-grader inserted into the lineup — put his opponent away in 58 seconds and Jared Resutek (125) took 5:05 to build the Bucs lead to 24-0.

After their win at 130, Blooming Prairie would not win another match until 171 pounds.

After giving up an early takedown, 135-pounder Collin Nienhaus battled back to take a 3-2 lead before gaining a pin at 1:14.

Tyler Johnsrud followed with a 10-1 major decision at 140, and Dan Eckhardt’s eight-second pin increased the Bucs’ lead to 40-4.

BEA earned forfeits at 152, 160 and 189, while Blooming Prairie added six points to their team score with a pin at 171.

Senior Gabe Sturtz added a pin at 215 in 1:24 and heavyweight Jake Lee closed out the Bucs scoring with a fall in 1:39.

Following a convincing first-round win, the Bucs would face Maple River, ranked No. 10 in Class A.

The Eagles entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed, behind No. 2 United South Central and No. 1 Jackson County Central.

Last month, Maple River defeated the Bucs 38-32 in a non-conference matchup in Mapleton.

This time around, the outcome was never in doubt.

The Eagles won 11 of the 14 matches, eight by way of a pin, for a 58-13 win over the Bucs.

Jake Wirtjes got his team out to a 4-0 team lead with a 10-1 major decision at 103.

Maple River rattled off five pins and a decision before BEA answered with a 5-1 Dan Eckhardt decision at 145 pounds.

The Eagles again put together a streak of three pins, a major decision and decision to make the team score 58-7.

Heavyweight Jake Lee’s pin in 53 seconds made the final score 58-13.



BEA 70, B. Prairie 10

103: Jake Wirtjes (BEA) pinned Thomas Shawback, 1:57.

112: D.J. Gronewald (BEA) pinned Riley Young, :49.

119: Carter Hanson (BEA) pinned Zach Ahrens, :58.

125: Jared Resutek (BEA) pinned Seth Johnson, 5:05.

130: Aaron Niles (BP) maj. dec. Mark Bartley, 15-5.

135: Collin Nienhaus (BEA) pinned Jack Zak, 1:14.

140: Tyler Johnsrud (BEA) maj. dec. Josh Gwilt, 10-1.

145: Dan Eckhardt (BEA) pinned Derek Drees, :08.

152: Sinjin Bell (BEA) wins by forfeit.

160: Cody Eckhardt (BEA) wins by forfeit.

171: Brendan McCabe (BP) pinned Clinton Nienhaus, 1:24.

189: Taylor Andrews (BEA) wins by forfeit.

215: Gabe Sturtz (BEA) pinned Ethan Hoffman, 1:24.

285: Jake Lee (BEA) pinned Pat Hjelman, 1:39.



Maple River 58, BEA 13

103: Jake Wirtjes (BEA) maj. dec. Jesse Jaeger, 10-1.

112: Paul Norgren (MR) pinned D.J. Gronewald, :26.

119: Kyle Sieberg (MR) pinned Carter Hanson, :45.

125: Charlie Sieberg (MR) pinned Joe Franta, 2:27.

130: Will Howieson (MR) dec. Jared Resutek, 12-8.

135: Blair Oachs (MR) pinned Mark Bartley, 2:40.

140: Dylan Woitas (MR) pinned Tyler Johnsrud, 1:50.

145: Dan Eckhardt (BEA) dec. Scott Schoneck, 5-1.

152: Eli Oatman (MR) pinned Sinjin Bell, 5:16.

160: Adam Zellmer (MR) dec. Cody Eckhardt, 5-4.

171: Alex Bach (MR) pinned Clinton Nienhaus, 1:05.

189: Brandon Reynolds (MR) maj. dec. Taylor Andrews, 12-3.

215: Aaron Norgren (MR pinned Mat Willner, 1:04.

285: Jake Lee (BEA) pinned Pete Guse, :53.