Max Ehrich grabs the foot of his New Ulm opponent to work for a takedown.

Blue Earth Area played host to the Redwood Valley Cardinals and the Saint James Saints in a triangular meet on Thursday, March 4.

The Bucs picked up wins against both teams in their last regular season duals of year.

BEA is scheduled to open the Section 2AA playoffs on Monday, March 8, in Blue Earth.

BEA 63, RWV 15

The Cardinals took an early 6-0 lead when Carter Brandt pinned Cooper Peterson at 106 pounds.

Caleb Langer pinned Zac Guggisburg in 1:10 in the 113-pound match to tie the score 6-6.

BEA went on top when Carson Sturtz came back from a 6-3 deficit to pin Lincoln Ourada with five seconds left in the match to put the Bucs on top 12-6.

Blair Lunz lost a 4-3 decision at 126 pounds to Damico Arrendondo to cut BEA’s lead to 12-9. Angel Martinez pinned the Cardinal’s Austin Ourada to give the Bucs an 18-9 lead.

BEA’s Ty Peterson pinned Jordan Matson at 138 pounds and 145-pounder Parker Meyers pinned Jaxon Lang to extend their lead to 30-9.

RWV scored their final points of the night when Brayden Reynolds pinned Cory Kitchel at 152 pounds.

Kean Hicks won by a 9-5 decision over Matt Zeug at 170 pounds and Nick Frank pinned Jamen Hennen at 182 pounds.

Logan Johnson put Griffin Evans’ shoulders to the mat in the 220-pound match.

Max Ehrich at 160 pounds, Adam Schavey at 195 and Luke Mertens at 285 all won by forfeits.

BEA 80, St. James 0

The Bucs won six matches by forfeits, another six by pins and two by major decisions on their way to an 80-0 victory over the Saints.

Cooper Peterson at 106 pounds, Max Ehrich at 160, Kean Hicks at 170, Nick Frank at 182, Logan Johnson at 220 and Luke Mertens at 285 all received forfeits.

Winning by pin were Carson Sturz at 120 pounds, Blair Lunz at 126, Angel Martinez at 132, Ty Peterson at 138, Cory Kitchel at 152 and Adam Schavey at 195.

Caleb Langager won by a 13-0 major decision in the 113-pound match and Parker Meyers won by a major decision in the 145-pound match.

Peterson, Ehrich and Mertens each compiled records of 23-1 during the regular season. Hicks is 18-3, Frank and Schavey have 18-6 records, Johnson is 17-6 and Langager is 16-6.

Windom Triangular

BEA 49,

Windom-Mountain Lake 21

Cooper Peterson and Caleb Langager got Blue Earth Area off to a good start against the Windom-Mountain Lake Cobras on March 2, in Windom.

Peterson earned an 18-8 major decision over Preston Xayachak at 106 pounds and Langager followed with his own 9-1 major decision over Jared Hunter at 113 pounds.

The Cobras cut into the Bucs’ 8-0 lead when they scored a pin at 120 pounds to make the score 8-6.

Blair Lunz won by a 16-0 technical fall at 126 pounds over Noah Holmberg to put BEA on top 13-6.

W-ML won by a pin in the 132-pound match to make the score 13-12 with BEA still in the lead.

The Bucs then won four straight matches beginning with Ty Peterson’s pin of Eagan Maras in 46 seconds in the 138-pound match.

Parker Meyers needed 2:36 to put Montgomery Bjorklund’s shoulders to the mat at 145 pounds. Corey Kitchel followed with a pin of Matthew Ekstrom in 3:03 at 152 pounds. Max Ehrich received a forfeit at 160 pounds and BEA had increased their lead to 37-12.

There was a double forfeit at 170 pounds with neither team having a wrestler at that weight. The Cobras picked up a pin at 182 pounds and a decision at 220 pounds.

BEA’s Adam Schavey won by a forfeit at 195 pounds. Luke Mertens needed just five seconds to pin Cyrus Bjorklund in the 285-pound match to make the final score 49-21.

“The guys came out and wrestled hard,” Bucs’ head coach Randy Wirtjes said. “Overall, I was pleased with their performance.”

BEA 45, Worthington 26

The Bucs pulled away from the Trojans midway through the contest and went on to win 45-26.

“We expected Worthington to be a tougher match for us than Windom,” Bucs’ head coach Randy Wirtjes commented. “Adam Schavey came through with a nice win tonight and Luke Mertens had a win over a kid with a pretty good record.”

Cooper Peterson won a 13-6 decision over Alex Galvez Mendoza at 106 pounds to stake Blue Earth Area to a 3-0 lead.

Worthington picked up a fall at 113 pounds before BEA’s Carson Sturtz received a forfeit at 120 pounds to give the Bucs a 9-6 lead.

The Trojans won by a pin at 126 pounds before the Bucs won three matches in a row.

Angel Martinez at 132 pounds and Ty Peterson at 138 each received forfeits. Parker Meyers pinned Miat Htoo in 2:21 in the 145-pound match to give BEA a 27 to 12 lead.

Worthington won at 152 pounds by a technical fall and at 160 pounds by a pin. BEA’s lead was reduced to 27-23.

Max Ehrich gave the Bucs some breathing room by pinning Galvez Mendoza in 1:36 in the 170-pound match.

Worthington got their final win of the evening with a 2-0 decision at 182 pounds.

Schavey battled Tanner Hennings at 195 pounds and won a close 7-6 decision which gave BEA a 36-26 lead.

Logan Johnson made sure of a Bucs’ victory when he pinned Chad Buntjer in 1:33 in the 220-pound match.

Mertens battled Worthington’s Class AA No. 10-ranked Cole Hennings in the 285-pound match and came away with a 14-12 triumph.

Luverne Triangular

BEA 43, New Ulm 20

The Blue Earth Area wrestling team hit the road on Friday, Feb. 26, for a trip to Luverne to face the host Cardinals and the New Ulm Eagles in a triangular wrestling meet.

The Eagles opened the night with a 51-13 victory over the Cardinals before taking on the Buccaneers in the second dual of the evening.

Although New Ulm took the early lead, it was BEA who came out on top, defeating the Eagles 43-20.

The Eagles recorded a fall, a decision and a major decision in the first three matches to take a 13-0 lead over the Bucs heading into the 126-pound match.

Blair Lunz of the Bucs and Isaiah Rieser of the Eagles were deadlocked at 4-4 as the clock was winding down to end the match. Rieser was in control trying to ride Lunz out but the BEA sophomore scored a reversal with eight seconds remaining to win by a 6-4 decision and cut New Ulm’s lead to 10 points, 13-3.

The Eagles made it 17-3 with a major decision win at 132 pounds but then the Bucs took control.

Ty Peterson won by a fall over Wyatt Pollard at 138 pounds and Parker Meyers won by a 4-2 decision at 145 pounds over Ryan Wiltxcheck to cut New Ulm’s lead to 17-12.

Cory Kitchel, wrestling for the injured Nick Nelson, earned his first-ever varsity victory when he pinned Ty Frederick in the first period of the 152-pound match. BEA now led 18-17.

“Our intensity was good against New Ulm. Blair and Cory got nice wins and our little guys did a good job of staying off of their back,” BEA head coach Randy Wirtjes said. “Once again our juniors and seniors did their job.”

The Bucs gained another pin at 160 pounds when Max Ehrich put Aaron Kauffmann’s shoulders to the mat. Kean Hicks added four more points to the team score with his 13-5 major decision over Dylen Carreon at 170 pounds. BEA now led 28-17.

New Ulm would win by a decision at 182 pounds but BEA closed out the match with three more wins.

Adam Schavey received a forfeit at 195 pounds, Logan Johnson won by a forfeit at 220 pounds and Luke Mertens scored a 3-1 decision at 285 pounds.

BEA 66, Luverne 12

The contest between th Bucs and the Cardinals did not take long. BEA received nine forfeits on their way to a 66-12 victory.

Luverne forfeited at 106, 113, 126, 132, 138, 182, 195, 220 and 285 pounds.

BEA’s other victories came at 160 and 170 pounds where Max Ehrich and Kean Hicks each won by falls.