Blue Earth Area wrestler Akeira Morrow (right) tussles with Matthew Thofson of Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial at 182 pounds. With grit and determination, Morrow eventually earned a 9-4 decisions win in his match and contributed to the Bucs 49-22 victory over the Knights.

Prior to the start of the winter sports season, Blue Earth Area wrestling head coach Randy Wirtjes had extremely high aspirations for his team.

On Friday, Feb. 2, the Buccaneers (18-9) continued to strive towards those lofty expectations with a 49-22 win over Lake-Crystal-Wellcome Memorial.

At 106 pounds, BEA’s Caleb Beeler got things started with a 7-3 decision over Tucker Wills. At 113, Davis Sunken continued to build momentum for the Bucs with a 14-3 major decision over Tyler Ash.

Blue Earth Area’s Jack Frundt at 120 and Gabe Haugh at 126 were both defeated in their respective matches, but Koby Nagel came back strong for the Bucs and earned the pin against Camden Ludeman at 132 pounds. Meanwhile, Buc wrestlers Joe Schavey at 138 and Jaxen Klinkner at 145 each won by way of forfeit.

Competing at 152, Zach Buseman of Blue Earth Area earned the pin against Seth Gronholz. However, Buc teammates Rylee McGuire and Eric Anderson were each pinned in their battles against Jeremiah Colon and Avery Northquest respectively.

Below, Koby Nagel fought hard and was able to earn the pin against Camden Ludeman at 132 pounds.

The maroon and gold finished the meet in dominant fashion, taking the last four matches. Akeira Morrow notched a 9-4 decision over Matthew Thofson at 182 pounds. Meanwhile, BEA’s Jordan Huse was able to pin Aiden Begnaud in the 195- pound division.

Blue Earth Area’s Nick Lawrence registered a 3-0 decision win at 220 and teammate Trevor Oppedal earned a pin over Alex Sullivan at 285.

The Buccaneers will be in action again on Thursday, Feb. 15 for the Section 2AA team quarter-finals at 7 p.m. The venue for the meet will be determined on Monday, Feb. 12.