The Gator wrestling team traveled to Glyndon to take part in the Section 8 A Individual tournament on Friday and Saturday, February 22nd and 23rd. Thirteen Gators entered the tournament in hopes of advancing to the State tournament at the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul March 1st and 2nd. The Gators battled all weekend with many highs and lows throughout the weekend. In the end four Gators advanced to St. Paul, Wyatt Becker at 113, Devin Dostal at 120, Tomm Ingle at 160 and John Westman at 170.
The Gators first qualifier was 10th grader Wyatt Becker entered the tournament as the #1 seed but lost a heart breaking match in the finals as Becker lead for the whole match and gave up a late takedown to Frazee’s Byron Byer to lose 4-3. Becker went 2-1 on the weekend and will enter the state tournament with a solid 27-8 record.
The second Gator to qualify was 9th Grader Devin Dostal who will be making his second trip to the state tournament. Dostal may have had one of the toughest and most balanced weights in the tournament. Dostal entered as the #1 seed and proved he was as he went 3-0 on the weekend and batted returning state entrant Mitch Lundeen from Fertile and defeated him in the finals by a narrow 2-1 decision to give Devin back to back section titles for the Gators. Devin will take a solid 18-1 record into the state meet and is currently ranked #8 in the state.
The third Gator to punch his ticket to St. Paul was Senior captain Tomm Ingle. Tomm also entered the tournament as the #1 seed and had many tough battles along the way. Ingle went 3-0 on the weekend and defeated a tough Daven Staples from BCLB 12-7 in title match to give the Gators their second section title on the day. Ingle will take a solid 32-4 record into the state meet and is currently ranked #5 in the state.
The final qualifier for the Gators was Senior Captain John Westman. John started the tournament out 2-0 and made the finals but was beat by a tough Tyler Ziegler from Frazee in the finals, which pushed John into a true second match with BCLB’s Nate Jablonski. Westman proved to be up for the challenge and would not be denied his trip to the state tournament as John scored early and ran away with a solid 11-1 decision to earn his trip to St. Paul.
As all good seasons have to come to an end many other Gators put their hearts and souls into earning a trip to state but came up a little short, which is always tough to see. Jake Jenson was the only other Gator to finish third and earn himself an opportunity for true second match. Jake got out to a fast start and looked to be in control until late in the match Jake gave up a crucial 3 pt near fall to fall to Frazee’s Erik Moltzan 7-3, falling just short of advancing to the state tournament. The good news is Jake is only a junior and will be back again next year to be a senior Captain for the Gators and be a leader along with junior Corey Hasbrouck and Dakota Gullikson. Jake had a solid tournament and showed a lot of heart as he closed out his junior season with an impressive 27-12 record and proved he will be one of the top wrestlers in the section next season.
Brandon Waage also finished 3rd for the Gators but did not receive a true second match since he had already wrestled the second place finisher. Brandon had a solid season for the Gators but came up just short in the semi finals when he lost a heart breaking 2-0 OT decision to DGF’s Alex Johnson. Brandon showed a lot of heart and continued to wrestled hard and go 4-1 on the weekend and finish a solid 3rd place at 132 pounds.
The Gators will also look for Waage to be one of the team leaders next year as he is currently a hand full of wins way from reaching 100 wins heading into his junior season as he finished the year at 26-11.
The Gators had three other wrestlers finish 4th in the section in Isaak Isane, Corey Hasbrouck, and Beau Blumer. All three had solid seasons for the Gators. Isane finished and impressive first year on varsity with a solid 25-9 record and will look to continue his improvement as he heads into his 10thgrade year and hopefully will wrestle 106 again for the Gators next season. Corey had a very solid weight as he was ranked 3rd ,above him he had two state ranked wrestlers in Bruce Lemon from Frazee and Max Pajari from UNC. Corey battled hard but came up a little short. Corey will be one of three seniors that the Gators will look to for next year for great leadership. Hasbrouck finished an impressive season with a 22-8 record for the Gators. Beau Blumer was the last Gator to place 4th and he also had a very talented weight as the top two finishers in his weight were also ranked in the state in Taylor Carlson from UNC and standout Chris Zimmer from WHAN who finished 3rd in state last year. Blumer will finish the season with a section placing and a hard fought 19-13 record on the year.
Nick Kaml, Dakota Gullikson, Collin Berard, and Douglas Peterson did not place but had solid seasons for the Gators. Kaml had an impressive year as he proved he could wrestle with anyone in the section. Kaml lost earlier in the year to Section champ Jake Malone 2-0. Kaml only got to wrestle one match for the Gators as he had to withdraw for an unidentified skin rash. Kaml has a lot to be proud of as he finished his season with a very impressive 24-10 record and proved he will be one of the Gators to watch next season. Colin Berard wrestled two weights up and proved he was up for the challenge as he pinned his first opponent but was outsized in the next two matches as he went 1-2 on the weekend and will be a big part of the Gator team for next season. Junior Dakota Gullikson opened the tournament with one of the more exciting matches as he was down 9-1 and came back to put Deer Rivers Keith Gife on his back twice but fell just short as he lost a narrow 10-9 decision. The Gators look for Gullikson to continue to improve in the off season and be one of the senior leaders next season . Douglas Peterson showed great improvement throughout the season as he came out for wrestling for the first time in his 10th grade season. Doug was a very eager learner and learned some valuable basics and we look for Doug to continue to improve over next season.
The Gators would also like to congratulate Timm Ingle on winning the Marylyn and Dean Fox award. This award is given to someone that has gone through a hardship throughout the season. Timm had an unfortunate knee injury that kept him from the mat. We wish senior Timm Ingle the best as he goes to school next year at Northland and plans to join the football team.
We also wish Sophomore Gunner Gust a healthy recovery as he was unable to return to the line up this season as he suffered an unfortunate elbow injury that ended his 10th grade season in January. Gunner had a solid 13-7 record before the injury sidelined him for the season. Gust will be a huge part of the Gators success as they head into next season.
The Gators have a lot of talented wrestlers that will be back next season and if they continue to improve and stay healthy the Gators will be very tough to beat next season. The Gator coaching staff would like to thank all the wrestlers and their parents for all their hard work and dedication this season.
The Gators have one more important weekend as four Gators are heading to St. Paul with dreams of taking home state honors. The Gators will take the mat from the Excel Energy center at 1 pm on Friday, March 1st. In those first round matches Wyatt Becker 10th grade 27-8 will take on Spencer Jennings of Wabbasso-Red Rock, 11th 37-4, Devin Dostal 9th 18-1 vs Brandon Sullivan 11th 29-4, Pierz,Tomm Ingle 12th 32-4 will take on 12th grader Carter Hanson 34-4 from Blue Earth Area, and finally senior John Westman 32-6 will take the mat against 11th grader Niko Anderson 34-1 from Fillmore Central-Lanesboro/MC.
The Gator Coaching staff would like to wish the Gators the best of luck as they had south to show them what the North is made of.
Go Gators!!!
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