BEA’s Carson Sturtz is shown battling St. Peter’s Charlie Born in the 126-pound match on Jan. 12, in Blue Earth. Sturtz won the match by a 6-4 decision.

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers held their first home dual meet of the season on Thursday, Jan. 12, when the St. Peter Saints traveled south for a Big South Conference meet. Unfortunately for the Bucs, the Saints marched home with a 60-10 victory

BEA forfeited the match at 106 pounds and the Saints won by falls at 113 and 120 pounds to take an 18-0 lead.

The Bucs’ Carson Sturtz won a hard-fought 6-4 decision over Charlie Born in the 126-pound match to give BEA three team points.

After a scoreless first period, Sturtz scored an escape and a takedown in the second period while Born also had an escape to put Sturtz on top 3-1 heading into the final period.

Each wrestler recorded an escape and a takedown in the final period to give Sturtz the 6-4 win.

The Bucs would not get their next win until the 170-pound match when Parker Meyers triumphed over Joseph Connor by a 10-4 major decision.

Meyers employed a catch-and-release strategy in the first period to build an early lead and controlled the action throughout the match. The win by Meyers improved his record to 19-2 for the season.

Zach Benson’s takedown of Haadi Ahmed in the closing seconds of the 285-pound match gave the Buccaneer senior a 7-6 victory.

Benson trailed during most of the match but he kept working and finished strong to earn a 7-6 decision over the St. Peter wrestler in the evening’s final match.

Okoboji Quadrangular

Blue Earth Area wrestlers traveled across the border to Iowa to participate in the Okoboji Quadrangular. The other three teams at the competition were all from Iowa. They were Algona High School, Estherville Lincoln Center and Okoboji.

The Bucs went 0-3 for the evening. Cory Kitchel did not wrestle because of an ankle injury he received on Saturday, Jan. 7.

Algona 58, BEA 18

Blue Earth Area won three matches, all by falls, against the Bulldogs.

Timmy Nagel pinned Thomas Zabka in 4:12 in the 106-pound match.

In the 160-pound match, the Bucs’ Kade Gaydon pinned Colby Jennings in 3:03.

BEA’s final victory came at 170 pounds with Parker Meyers pinning Dane Kitzinger in 5:02.

ELC 47, BEA 25

Estherville Lincoln Central downed BEA 47-25. The Bucs won five matches against the Midgets.

Angel Martinez pinned Isaac Reineke 26 seconds into the second period at 132 pounds.

Cooper Peterson scored a 10-0 major decision over Bennett Duitsman at 145 pounds.

In the 160-pound match, Kade Gaydon won by a fall in 55 seconds over Dylan Peta.

At 170 pounds, BEA’s Parker Meyers needed only 27 seconds to pin Cade Crees.

Also winning for the Bucs was Zach Benson with a 9-5 decision over Jess Christensen at 285 pounds.

Okoboji 51, BEA 27

The Pioneers downed the Bucs 51-27. BEA recorded a forfeit, three falls and a major decision but had one team point subtracted due to an unsportsmanlike conduct call.

Timmy Nagel won by a forfeit at 106 pounds.

Angel Martinez picked up a win by pinning Dillion Wittrock in 25 seconds at 132 pounds.

In the 145-pound match, Blair Lunz of the Bucs won by a fall in 3:31 over Joe Salmon.

Kade Gaydon won his third match of the night with a pin over Noah Strantz in 3:32 at 160 pounds.

Parker Meyers scored the final points of the evening for the Bucs with a 12-3 major decision over Nathaniel Franklin at 170 pounds.

The Blue Earth Area wrestling team was one of 12 squads to participate in the Eden Prairie Duals on Saturday, Jan. 7.

Waconia won the tournament by defeating Scott West. Host Eden Prairie took third place while Albert Lea finished in fourth.

“We wrestled a lot of bigger schools and the boys got to face wrestlers they’ve never gone against before,” BEA head coach Dan Eckhardt said. “It was a good experience for us.”

The Bucs went 1-4 on the day including a loss to St. Cloud Tech on criteria. BEA’s only win came against the Minneapolis North Polars.

Here is a summary of BEA’s five matches.

Anoka 51, BEA 21

The Bucs opened the day with a contest against the Anoka Tornadoes in the preliminary round and lost 51-21.

Anoka won the first three matches by pins and the fourth match by a decision to jump out to a 21-0 lead.

A pin by BEA’s Angel Martinez over Connor Smith in 1:38 in the 132-pound match cut Anoka’s lead to 21-6.

Wrestling at 138 pounds, the Bucs’ Cooper Peterson added three more points to BEA’s team score with a 5-4 decision over Garrett Wittek.

The Tornadoes triumphed at 145 pounds by a fall, at 152 by a forfeit and at 160 by a pin to extend their lead to 39-9.

The Bucs’ Parker Meyers earned a 7-4 decision over Ian Wittek in the 170-pound match to make the score 39-12 with the Tornadoes on top.

Anoka and BEA split the last four matches with the Tornadoes winning by a forfeit at 182 pounds and by a fall at 220.

The Bucs won at 195 pounds with Cory Kitchel claiming a 5-3 decision over Logan Raj-Malikowski and at 285 pounds with Zach Benson pinning Tucker Olson at the 5:38 mark.

Blaine 40, BEA 36

The loss against Anoka sent the Bucs to the consolation round where they were defeated by the Blaine Bengals 40-36.

BEA had to forfeit two matches which hindered their ability to gain the victory.

Three straight pins by the Bengals at 106, 113 and 120 pounds put the Bucs in an 18-0 hole.

A 20-4 technical fall victory by BEA’s Carson Sturtz over Landen Lorch in the 126-pound match gave the Bucs their first points of the contest and made the score 18-5 in favor of the Bengals.

Blaine won the next match by a major decision at 132 pounds before Cooper Peterson put Louis Romer’s shoulders to the mat in 1:34 in the 138-pound match to cut the Bengals’ lead to 22-11.

A 9-6 decision by BEA’s Blair Lunz at 145 pounds over Damien Thompson made the score 22-14 in favor of Anoka.

The Bengals won by a forfeit at 152 pounds to extend their lead to 28-14 but two consecutive wins by the Bucs closed the gap to 28-24.

Kade Gaydon picked up the first win by a fall in 1:08 over Bennet Topeff at 160 pounds. Parker Meyers was next to wrestle for the Bucs and he defeated Jake Heggestad by a 13-4 major decision at 170 pounds.

A forfeit by the Bucs at 182 pounds followed by the Bengals winning the 195-pound match by a fall gave Blaine a 40-24 lead with two matches remaining.

BEA was victorious at 220 pounds when Cory Kitchel pinned Davian Yu in 55 seconds. The Bucs’ Zach Benson then pinned Tenzing Sonam in 2:28 in the 285-pound match to make the final score 40-36 in favor of the Bengals.

BEA 54, Minneapolis North 18

The Bucs led 54-0 before the Polars of Minneapolis North won the last three matches of the contest, two by fall and one by a forfeit, to make the final score 54-18 in favor of BEA.

There were two double forfeits in the match. Those occurred at 152 and 182 pounds.

BEA’s Timmy Nagel at 106 pounds, Colton Tolzmann at 113 pounds, and Drake Engelby at 120 pounds all received forfeits and the Bucs jumped out to an 18-0 lead.

Carson Sturtz won by a fall in 3:19 over Bravo Niyonkuru at 126 pounds to make it 24-0. A pin by Angel Martinez over Elijah Grunau in 18 seconds in the 132-pound match extended BEA’s lead to 30-0.

A pin by Cooper Peterson at 138 pounds in 1:19 over Noah Brooks was followed by the Polars forfeiting to Blair Lunz at 145 pounds to make the score 42-0 in favor of the Bucs.

BEA’s final 12 points came when Kade Gaydon at 160 pounds, and Parker Meyers at 170 pounds, both received forfeits.

St. Cloud Tech 37,

BEA 36 (criteria)

After 14 matches, the Bucs and the Tigers were tied at 36-36. The match then was determined by criteria and St. Cloud ended up winning 37-36.

The Tigers won the match at 106 pounds by a decision before the Bucs rattled off 18 consecutive points.

Colton Tolzmann received a forfeit at 113 pounds for BEA’s first six points. Drake Engelby pinned Connor Frederiksen with 20 seconds remaining in the 120-match to give the Bucs a 12-3 lead.

Carson Sturtz won by a forfeit at 126 pounds to extend the Maroon and Gold’s lead to 18-3.

The Tigers won the matches at 132 and 145 pounds by a fall and at 138 by a decision to tie the score at 18-18.

St. Cloud Tech went out in front 24-18 when they won by a forfeit at 152 pounds.

BEA’s Kade Gaydon tied the match at 24-24 with a pin of Aidian Orth in 2:24 at 160 pounds.

There was a double forfeit at 170 pounds with neither team receiving any points.

In the 182-pound match, a pin by the Bucs’ Parker Meyers over Logan Lunceford with one second left in the first period gave BEA a 30-24 advantage. Cory Kitchel received a forfeit at 195 pounds to extend the Bucs’ advantage to 36-24.

However, the Tigers won the matches at 220 and 285 pounds by falls to tie the score at 36-36. Then, the winner was decided by criteria which gave the Tigers the victory.

Perham 46, BEA 29

Parker Meyers won by an 18-1 technical fall at 170 pounds to pull the Bucs within five points of the Yellowjackets with Perham on top 28-23.

Unfortunately for BEA, they had to forfeit the match at 182 pounds and then Corey Kitchel injured his ankle in the 195-pound match and lost via an injury default which put the match out of reach for the Bucs.

Other winners for BEA against Perham were Timmy Nagel by a pin (106 pounds); Angel Martinez by a pin (132); Kade Gaydon by a pin (160); Zach Benson by a pin (285).

New Ulm Triangular

Blue Earth Area wrestlers participated in a triangular meet with New Ulm Area and Marshall on Jan. 5, in New Ulm.

Unfortunately for the Bucs, they ended up on the wrong end of the score in both meets, losing to New Ulm Area 54-18 and to Marshall 64-9

New Ulm Area 54,

BEA 18

The Bucs picked up four wins against the Eagles.

Carson Sturtz won by a fall over Braxton Kiecker in 1:34 at 126 pounds

Blair Lunz picked up three team points with a 6-2 decision over Dirk Haynes at 132 pounds.

At 170 pounds, Parker Meyers won by a 9-7 decision over Noah Engel and 195-pounder Cory Kitchel won by a fall in 25 seconds over Henry Waloch.

Marshall 64, BEA 9

Kade Gaydon and Cory Kitchel picked up the only wins for the Bucs against the Tigers in Marshall’s 64-9 victory over the Bucs.

Kade Gaydon recorded a first-period fall in 1:07 over Aidan Mattison in the 160-pound match.

Cory Kitchel picked up the other win for the Bucs with a 6-0 decision over Brayden Appel at 195 pounds.

BEA forfeited three matches at 152, 170 and 182 pounds.