Kade Gaydon lifts his opponent off of the mat during action at the Maher Invite on Saturday, Dec. 2.

Kade Gaydon claimed the only title for the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers at the Maher Invitational Wrestling Tournament held in Blue Earth on Saturday, Dec. 2.

Wrestling at 172 pounds, Gaydon pinned his way to the championship.

In his opening match, Gaydon earned a fall over Isaac Quast of Waterville-Elysian-Morris- town/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton in 1:32.

Gaydon met Caleb Chambers of the Martin County Red Bulls in the semifinals and needed just 57 seconds to put Chambers’ shoulders to the mat.

Gaydon met another Martin County wrestler in the championship but achieved similar results. Gaydon produced a fall in 1:00 over the Red Bulls’ Taylor Austin to earn his spot on top of the podium.

“I thought Kade wrestled well,” BEA coach Dan Eckhardt said. “I was actually hoping he would get some more time on the mat.”

Cooper Peterson also earned a spot on the podium with his second-place finish at 145 pounds.

Peterson opened the day with a bye and then produced a 6-0 decision over Carlos Flores-Lemus of Madelia/Truman in the semifinal round.

Peterson battled Maddex Faber of Martin County for the championship. After Peterson took a 2-0 lead with a takedown, Faber rallied to win the match 6-3.

Caleb Langager, wrestling at 160 pounds, lost his semifinal match to Ty Kolbe of the Red Bulls.

In the match for third place, Langager lost a close 4-2 decision to Gavin Sherman of Tri-City United to finish in fourth place.

In other action, Timmy Nagel finished fifth for BEA at 121 pounds.

Due to a lack of wrestlers in the 107 and 114-pound weight classes, the Maher Invite only had 11 weight classes this year.

Martin County placed first with 192 points followed by runner-up Tri-City United with 131, WEM-JWP was third with 117 and Waseca took fourth with 108. BEA and Worthington tied for fifth place with 72 points each and Madelia/Truman/Martin Luther had 39.

After wrestling in the St. Clair Invitational Meet on Saturday, Dec. 9, the Bucs are scheduled to host a triangular with Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial and WEM-JWP on Tuesday, December 12.