Gators Wrestle Hard, Take Fourth at State

By: Ryan Bergeron

                The Gator wrestling team had come off of two great section meets, qualifying for state as team by defeating Frazee in the section title match after a six year drought, and qualifying eight wrestlers for the state tourney after individual sections the following weekend. They then traveled down to Excel Energy Center in St. Paul for the team portion of the state meet, not only hoping to represent their section well, but take home some hardware and make their community proud. The Gators did just that, getting a huge opening round victory over Lake Crystal- Wellcome Memorial (# 4 seed) in the quarterfinals. The Gators would next meet up with the #1 seed and returning state champions, Jackson County Central (JCC), in the semifinals, and wrestled hard, making JCC work for every point, but JCC went on a little run during the match and the Gators lost by a respectable score of 46-25, winning five matches during the dual. This loss moved the Gators into the third place match where they took on a tough Minneota team (#3 seed). The Gators fell behind early with Minneota getting out to a fast start, and they battled back, but in the end they eventually fell by a 42-26 score, taking home fourth place honors in Class A.  Coach Bergeron commented on his team performance,” I thought our kids really battled hard and did not back down from anyone, it was a great experience and our guys should be proud to be the 4th best Class A team in Minnesota.”

                The Gators took on Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial (LCWM) in the quarterfinals, looking to get their state tournament started off on the right track. The Gators first sent out Wyatt Becker against LCWM’s Levi Marsh, a match that went back and forth throughout, but in the end Becker fell by a 13-7 score. Devin Dostal next came to mat for the Gators against, fellow qualifier, Louie Sanders at 113. Devin wrestled hard, but in the end fell by a close 5-2 score; LCWM led 6-0. The Gators got on the board and went on a little run, with Isaac Novacek, Brandon Waage and Corey Hasbrouck all picking up huge pins for the Gators to help them build a nice 18-6 lead, getting the crowd to their feet. 

                The Gators surrendered that lead rather quickly, as LCWM would tie the match at 18, getting two pins of their own from two quality wrestlers in Taner Trembley (eventual state champion) and Dakota Yarger over the Gators’ Zach Berg and Gunner Gust at 138 and 145 pounds. Looking to get the Gators back on the board and give them a lead, the Gators’ Jake Jenson dominated LCWM’s Jesse Gunderson at 152, defeating him by a 14-0 major decision; the Gators led 22-18.

In a match-up of two individual state qualifiers, the Gators Tomm Ingle took on LCWM’s Davantay Corey. Tomm wrestled hard and smart, hanging on to a 5-4 lead on his feet to pick up a huge win and give his team a seven point lead. Tejay Wojchowksi built the Gator lead to 13 with a pin of his own in at the 3:23 mark. John Westman took the mat for the Gators at 182, looking to help his team hang on to their lead, as he took on to a tough Nate Meixell. John wrestled hard, but was eventually pinned by Meixell , an eventual state runner-up, midway through the second period; the Gators led 31-24. The Gators’ Timm Ingle followed at 195, gaining a big 9-2 victory over LCWM’s Cole Kottke to get the Gators back on track. After the Gators forfeited at 220, leading now by four, Gator heavyweight Alex Yeager put the match away for good, picking up a dominating technical fall over Matthew Johnson; the Gators won 39-30.

This victory moved the Gators on to the semifinals against the defending state champions, Jackson County Central. The Gators fell behind early in this dual, with the Gators’ Wyatt Becker getting caught and pinned at the 3:38 mark by JCC’s Kyle Edlin at 106. The Gators’ Devin Dostal then came to the mat and fell to JCC’s Cameron Henning by a crazy 23-12 score, both wrestlers getting a chance to pin each other; JCC led 10-0. The Gators fired right back, as senior Isaac Novacek picked by a pin in 28 seconds and Brandon Waage picked up a nice 11-2 major decision over JCC’s Jordan Bieham to tie the match at ten.

The Gators continued to work hard, but JCC went on a run, as the Gators’ Corey Hasbrouck fell by technical fall, Gunner Gust by a pin, and Jake Jenson by a major decision; the Gator trailed 25-10. Tomm Ingle then came to the mat for the Gators against eventual state champion, Darick Vancura. Ingle wrestled hard throughout the match, losing to Vancura by just a 9-5 decision. John Westman took to the mat for Gators and got pinned by eventual state champion, Cooper Moore, in the first period, as JCC continued their run and led now 34-10.

The Gators didn’t give up and continued to work hard, as senior Tejay Wojchowski got his team on the board with another fall in just 45 seconds. Timm Ingle followed with a come from behind victory over JCC’s Patrick Hanson, tying the match on a stall call and getting a takedown with a few seconds remaining to win by the nail-biting score of 12-10.  After the Gators forfeited at 220, senior Alex Yeager, ended the match for the Gators on a high note, pinning JCC’s Jack Ziemer midway through the first period; the Gators fell by the respectable score of 46-25.

This loss moved the Gators into the third place matchup against a tough team out of Minneota. Again the Gators fell behind early as Wyatt Becker and Devin Dostal each got cradled up and pinned midway through the first period; the Gators trailed 12-0. Isaac Novacek got the Gators on the board, as he continued to dominate, picking up a 20-11 major decision over fellow state qualifier, Nicholas Esping. Brandon Waage continued to pick up wins on team for the Gators, closing the deficit to five after defeating Minneota’s Cole Hennen 8-2. 

The Gators continued to trail though, as Minneota picked up two pins over Gator wrestlers Corey Hasbrouck (132) and Dakota Gullikson (138), to increase the Gator deficit to 17. The Gators’ Gunner Gust next came to mat at 145, and wrestled hard, but eventually fell to a good Travis Longtin of Minneota by an 11-0 major decision. The Gators then sent out Jake Jenson, who wrestled very hard throughout, but his opponent, Alex Lessman, rode him out and came away with a narrow 4-3 decision; the Gators trailed 31-7. 

Like they have done all the year, the Gators refused to give up, going on a mini run of their own. Tomm Ingle (160) started the Gator run with a quick pin at the 58 second mark. John Westman (170) followed, getting a late takedown to pick up a nice 11-2 major decision victory over Minneota’s Nathan Bueltel.  Tejay Wojchowski continued the run, racking up wins for the Gators and defeating fellow qualifier Isaac Josephson by a 7-1 score at 180 pounds; the Gators trailed 31-16. Timm Ingle came to the mat next for the Gators at 195 against, eventual state runner-up, Adam Josephson at 195. Timm wrestled hard throughout the match, but Josephson proved to be just too much, picking up the technical fall with 28 seconds remaining in the match. After the Gators forfeited at 220, Alex Yeager finished the dual in typical Yeager fashion, pinning his opponent in just 19 seconds; the Gators fell 42-26, finishing fourth.

The Gators wrestled well and have nothing to hang their heads about, finishing fourth place in state, picking up a victory over a quality LCWM team in the first round, and wrestling respectably and tough against two very good teams in JCC (eventual state champions) and Minneota. Now it was time for eight of the Gator wrestlers to get geared up for the individual state tournament, looking to gain even more hardware. A huge thanks to the fans in attendance, as “Gator Nation” definitely made its presence known, supporting the Gators loud and proud at the Excel, something I’m sure the wrestlers will never forget. Congrats Gators, Class A wrestling fourth place finishers! GO GOTORS!