Wrestlers takes second at section meet

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For the third consecutive year the No. 4-ranked Hastings Raiders section team title hopes came to an end at the hands of the Apple Valley Eagles.

The Raiders were facing the Eagles for the first time this year and Apple Valley proved why they are considered the mythical No. 1-team in the county. With Apple Valley reloaded this year, they were able to beat Hastings, 52-12.

Hastings 55, Burnsville 19

Hastings’ first round opponent, the Burnsville Blaze, gave the Raiders little trouble on their way to advancing to the semi-finals. The team won 10 of the 14 matches with seven pins, one major, one decision and one forfeit.

Isaac Bauer (103) put Hastings on the board first with a 5-3 decision, while Eric Bauer (112) scored a second-period pin to put the Raiders up 9-0. After trading forfeits at 119 pounds. and 125 pounds. DJ Yandrasits (130) lost to D’narius Lewis 16-3.

Colten LaChance (135) put Hastings back into the win column by scoring a second-period pin, and Zach Rohr (140) secured a major decision over Garrett Larson to bring the team score to 25-10.

Jeff Engstrom (145) added a second-period pin with Tyler Rohr (152) working a first-period pin of his own. Not to be outdone, Harry Bourgoin (160) scored his own second-period pin to give Hastings a commanding 43-10 lead.

Jake Swenson (171) took no time in pinning Dmytro Hutsal in the opening period of his match. At 189 pounds. Josh Lohmann lost a tough match to Zack Okonek, while at 215 pounds, Dylan Myers faced Yusef Hassan (No. 7 at 215) and fell in the second period to put the score at 49-19.

PJ Mike (HWT) assumed his role as the closer and took no time in ending the match with a pin of Tyler Klug.

Hastings 54, Henry Sibley 21

The Hastings Raiders had similar results in the semi-final match against the Henry Sibley Warriors. The Raiders once again won 10 of the 14 matches, which came from seven pins, one technical fall, one major, and one decision.

At 103, Isaac Bauer worked a third-period pin over Garrett Beaman, and Eric Bauer (112) had his own pin in the first period to put Hastings out in front 12-0.

Corey Latuff (119) scored an impressive technical fall over Taylor Beaman with an 18-1 score giving the Raiders a 17-0 lead.

Hastings gave up a forfeit at 125 pounds, and a pin at 130 pounds to Tom Perilatt (No. 2 at 125). Colten LaChance controlled Rashad Kennedy on his way to an 18-9 major decision to bring the score to 21-12.

In the marquee Match of the Dual, Zach Rohr (140) faced Mason Young (No. 1 at 130). Zach Rohr was unable to score a takedown as time ran out in the third period to come up short 7-5.

Jeff Engstrom (145) made little work of Jeremy Lee with a quick first-period pin and Tyler Rohr (152) notched a 12 –9 decision with Harry Bourgoin (160) getting his second pin of the night to give Hastings a 36-15 lead.

Jake Rachuy was given the challenge of facing No. 1- ranked Zak Coates at 171 pounds. Coates was able to secure a second-period pin to give Henry Sibley their last points of the night.

The match ended with the pinning trio of Jake Swenson (189), Isaac Eichmann (215) and PJ Mike (HWT) each getting pins to end the season for the Warriors and giving the Raiders a 54-21 victory.

Hastings 12, Apple Valley 52

In what would become Hastings last dual of the season, they faced a rather formidable opponent in Apple Valley. Although the score was lopsided, there were several good matches with a couple going to the Raiders. Hastings was 2-4 in matches having ranked wrestlers going against each other.

At 103, Isaac Bauer faced off against No. 2-ranked Jordan Kingsley. Although an underdog, Bauer wrestled strong while only giving up a major decision to his much bigger opponent.

Second-ranked Eric Bauer faced third-ranked Stephen Mincy at 112 pounds in what was the first of six matches with ranked wrestlers facing each other. On the strength of a first period takedown and second period reversal, Bauer scored a 4-3 decision, getting Hastings on the board.

At 119, Corey Latuff, ranked seventh, faced top-ranked and defending state champion, Dakota Trom. Trom was able to control the match on his way to a 19-4 technical fall to move the Eagles ahead 9-3.

With Hastings forfeiting at 125 pounds. DJ Yandrasits found himself facing third-ranked Daniel Woiwor at 130 pounds. Yandrasits was unable to prevent Woiwor from getting six team points for Apple Valley.

Third-ranked Colten LaChance took the mat with No. 1-ranked and defending state champion, Brandon Kingsley at 135 pounds. After getting down 5-0, LaChance was able to battle back with a third-period takedown and three nearfall points to pull with in one at 7-8. With an escape and a stalling call on Kingsley to make the score 8-9, LaChance ran out of time on a last-second takedown attempt.

Zach Rohr, ranked fifth, faced No. 1-ranked Devin Scott at 140 pounds. With no one scoring in the first period, Scott chose down, in to start the second. In the second period, Scott scored the first point on an escape and then took Rohr down to go up 3-0. Rohr scored an escape and in the process, Scott was called for clasping to put the score at 3-2. In the third, Rohr was able to pull out an escape to tie the score and move the match into overtime, where in the double overtime period, Rohr was able to score the winning point with another escape, to earn a hard fought 4-3 victory.

At 145 pounds, Jeff Engstrom (No. 8 at 130) faced No. 7-ranked Nate Bruner. After two scoreless periods, Bruner was able to score an escape, takedown, and two-nearfall points to win 5-0.

Tyler Rohr (No. 4 at 145) squared off against No. 1- ranked and three-time state champion Destin McCauley at 152 pounds. McCauley showed why he has already won three championships by controlling the entire match before ending it in the second period to put Apple Valley up in the team score 33-6.

Harry Bourgoin found himself against No. 1-ranked Steven Keogh at 160 pounds. Bourgoin wrestled hard but was unable to stop Keogh’s takedown attempts, losing 23-10.

At 171 pounds, Jake Swenson stepped into the circle with No 2-ranked Jake Waste in what was a rematch from the Christmas tournament. Again, Waste came out on top 24-9 in the match with Swenson.

At 189 pounds, Josh Lohmann faced Matt Hechsel, ranked No. 2, where Lohmann scored the first takedown of the match. From there, Hechsel took over on his way to a 14-2 major decision putting Apple Valley up 46-6.

At 215 pounds, Isaac Eichmann and Luke Schmidt had a scoreless first, with Eichmann choosing down to start the second period, and Schmidt took advantage to end the match.

In the finale fourth -ranked PJ Mike faced Zack Martin and made quick work of him in getting his third pin of the night to complete the scoring 52-12.

Now the focus turns to the Friday’s individual section tournament at the Rosemount High School where they will each try to qualify for State. Hastings has a legitimate shot at having up to nine wrestlers reach state in the highly packed 3AAA section.

Tags: sports, wrestling, hastings, prep