BEA’s Kade Gaydon won his 189 pound match against his WEM-JWP opponent with an 11-3 major decision recently. The Bucs lost to the Grizzlies by a score of 48-28.

The Blue Earth Area wrestling team took part in the Wabasso Invitational Tournament on Saturday, Jan. 20, and finished in eighth place in the 12-team field.

St. James Area won the tournament with 164.5 points with Benson and Tri-City United each finishing with 142.5. Finishing in fourth place was St. Clair-Mankato Loyola with 121.5 while Wabasso was fifth with 119. Fairmont-Martin County West was sixth with 116, Luverne was seventh with 114.5, BEA had 72 points to finish eighth, Redwood Valley was ninth with 69, Worthington placed 10th with 67, Quad County took 11th with 56 and Ortonville was 12th with 37.

The Bucs had four wrestlers finish in fourth place or higher. Timmy Nagel at 114 pounds, Cooper Peterson at 139 and Kade Gaydon at 172 each finished in third place while Cory Kitchel had a fourth-place finish at 189 pounds.

Nagel received an opening round bye and then he won his quarterfinal match at 114 pounds with a pin over Luverne’s Bernie Rock in 3:47. Nagel lost to Gavin Olson of Benson by a 3-2 decision in the quarterfinal round before winning the third-place match with a 6-2 decision over Ty Kopp of Luverne.

Peterson received a bye in his first match at 139 pounds and then he pinned Matt Humeston of Benson in 29 seconds in the quarterfinal round. Kolin Anderson of St. James Area won a close 1-0 decision over Peterson in the semifinal round. In his match for third place, Peterson defeated Hudson Hough of Luverne by a 12-5 decision.

Gaydon won his first match at 172 pounds by pinning Ethan Woldsnes of TCU in 1:56. Next, Gaydon won by a fall over Adrian Young in 2:39 to win his quarterfinal round match. In the semifinal round, Gaydon lost a 7-3 decision to Taylor Austin of Fairmont-Martin County West. Gaydon won his match for third place with a pin in 3:25 over Lucas Vaughan of St. Clair-Mankato Loyola.

Kitchel won his first match at 189 pounds by a fall in 30 seconds over Austin Gruis of Worthington. Next, Kitchel pinned Cash Bonnet of Luverne in 31 seconds. In the semifinal round, Jacob Savig of Quad County pinned Kitchel in 3:56. Kitchel finished fourth when he had to withdraw from his next match due to an injury.

Maple River/United South Central

Quadrangular

The Bucs, along with Scott West and Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton, traveled to Wells on Thursday, Jan. 18, to take part in a quadrangular meet hosted by the Maple River/United South Central Longhorns. Scott West went 3-0 at the meet, WEM/JWP went 2-1, MR/USC was 1-2 and the Bucs finished 0-3.

Scott West 64, BEA 12

The Scott West Panthers are the sixth-ranked team in Class AA in the latest poll released by The Guillotine and they defeated the Buccaneers 64-12.

The Bucs were only able to win two matches against the Panthers. Kade Gaydon produced a victory at 172 pounds when he pinned Daniel Callahan in 1:50 and Cory Kitchel picked up the other win with a fall in the 189-pound match. Kitchel put Malaki Malundo’s shoulders to the mat in 1:27.

WEM/JWP 48, BEA 28

BEA recorded four pins and one major decision in their loss to WEM/JWP.

At 114 pounds, Timmy Nagel won by a fall over Isaac Miller in 44 seconds.

Cooper Peterson needed 5:17 to put Trenton Huber’s shoulders to the mat in the 139-pound match and Ethan Oppedal pinned Patrick Adams just as the first period ended at 152 pounds.

Tristan Tungland picked up a victory with a pin in one minute over Isaac Quast. BEA’s final win was by Kade Gaydon who defeated Maddox Moreno by an 11-3 major decision in the 189-pound match.

MR/USC 47, BEA 18

The Bucs’ first win against the Longhorns did not come until the 145-pound match when Cooper Peterson won a 5-4 decision over Wyatt Walters. The next match saw BEA’s Ethan Oppedal earn a 2-1 decision over Garrett Bollmann at 152 pounds.

In the 189-pound match, the Bucs’ Cory Kitchel won by fall in 23 seconds over Max Fuller. BEA’s final points were scored when Dalton Ely received a forfeit at 285 pounds.