Bluejay Wrestling
The Pierce Bluejay Wrestlers Battle It Out at the Mid-State Tournament
By Addison Croghan
The Pierce Warbirds had to travel to Norfolk Catholic for the Mid-State Conference tournament and placed third against the nine conference schools.
Representing the 106 weight class, Zakary Abler placed third and scored eight team points overall. Abler fell to Maverick Heine Cedar Catholic at 1:41 in his first round. In the second round, Abler fell to the 106 champion Ryan Stusse Jr. from Battle Creek in 1:44. Not giving up, Abler beat Zachary Foecking from Norfolk Catholic by an 11-0 major decision.
Corbin Pfeil, wrestling at the 113 weight class, chipped in three team points. In his first round, Pfeil fell to Gavin Mauch of Boone Central in 4:36. Bouncing back, Pfeil defeated Ryder Anderson-Ray of Guardian Angels Central Catholic from GACC by fall in 1:40 in his next match. In the final match, Pfeil fell to Keegan Carl of Cedar Catholic at 2:19.
Draydin Gossman, at 120, placed fourth and scored 11 team points in total. Gossman received a bye in the first round. After that, Gossman won by fall over Peyton Westerman of Boone Central in 3:12. In the semifinal, Gossman fell to Garret Schultz of Wayne in 1:35. In his fourth match, Gossman won by a 4-2 decision over Walker Robertson of Boone Central. Onto the third-place match, Gossman came up short and lost by decision, 16-11, to Omar Contreras of Norfolk Catholic.
Onto the 126 weight class, Elijah Streff had three total team points. He received a bye in the first round. In the second round, Streff fell to John Alden from O’Neill in 2:18. Staying strong, Streff won by fall over Jordan Sanchez of Wayne in 1:39. In his final round, Streff lost by a 4-3 decision to Oliver Daniel from Norfolk Catholic.
Onto 132, Brenden Bolling placed second and scored 18 team points. He received a bye in his first round. In his next match, Br. Bolling won by fall over Kasen York of Wayne in 2:00. Onto semifinals, Br. Bolling kept the winning streak and won by decision, 4-0, over Braiden Kleinschmit of Cedar Catholic. In the championship, Br. Bolling unfortunately lost by an 11-4 decision to Joseph Yates from O’Neill.
Bo Bockelman was the other 132-pound wrestler. Bockelman had a bye in the first round. In the second round, he fell to Joseph Yates of O’Neill in 2:31. Bockelman received another bye in his third round. In the final match, Bockelman lost to Dylan Schinstock of GACC by major decision, 15-6.
Jackson Fischer wrestled at 145 against fierce competition. In the first round, Fischer lost by a 6-4 decision to Taven Ocampo of Wayne. In Fischer’s final match, he lost by a 6-4 decision to Bo Oligmueller from GACC.
Representing the 152-pounders, Jayden Coulter placed first place and scored a whopping 28 team points. In the first round, Coulter won by fall over Payton Junck from Wayne in 1:06. Onto quarterfinals, Coulter pinned Zander Liston of Wayne in 1:12. In the semifinals, Coulter had to wrestle teammate Cayden Cox and won by fall in 0:24. Not letting up, Coulter took first by pinning Samuel Grape of Boone Central in 2:52.
The other 152-pounder, Cox, placed fourth. Cox had a bye in the first round. In his second match, he pinned Dominic Johnson from GACC in 3:19. In the third round, as said earlier, Cox had to wrestle Coulter and lost by fall in 0:24. In his final round, Cox lost by fall to Conner Neuhalfen of Battle Creek in 1:45.
At 160, Parker Sackville scored five team points. In his first round, Sackville won by an 11-8 decision over Jordan Bailey of Boone Central. In his quarterfinal, Sackville fell to Evan Schuetze of GACC at 4:50. Coming back, Sackville beat Ian Yates of O’Neill by fall in 2:03. In the final match, Sackville fell to Eli Barner of Wayne at 2:47.
Sackville comments, “As a team, placing third is a great accomplishment in our conference. We still need to work on many little things to get even more gold medals moving forward.”
Karter Wolfe was the other 160-pounder wrestling. During his first round, Wolfe lost to Barner from Wayne by fall in 1:20. Wolfe then had a bye in his next round. In his third round, Wolfe won by fall over Elliot Ping from Wayne in 1:38. In his final round, Wolfe lost by fall to Anthony Miller from O’Neill in 4:11.
Wrestling at 170 pounds, Blake Bolling placed first place and scored 24.5 team points. To start off, Bl. Bolling had a bye. In the quarterfinals, Bl. Bolling won by a 17-0 tech fall over Matias Jimenez from O’Neill. In his semifinal, Bl. Bolling won by a 10-1 major decision over Aiden Liston from Wayne. To take first, Bl. Bolling pinned Cole Bensen from Cedar Catholic in 1:51.
Anthony Castillo was the other 170-pounder for Pierce. He received a bye in the first round. In the second round, Castillo fell to Cole Bensen from Cedar Catholic in 0:58. In his final round, Castillo lost by a 10-3 decision to Maddoc Hammerlun from O’Neill.
Representing 182, Kaiden Fritz placed fourth and scored eight total team points. In his first round, Fritz fell to Brek Thompson from Battle Creek in 0:41. He received a bye in his next round. In his third round, Fritz won by fall over Colton Shepperd from Wayne in 0:37. For third place, Fritz fell to Weston Heine from Cedar Catholic in 4:49.
Zavien Buol represented the 195 weight class. He received a bye first round. Following that, Buol fell to James Rolf from GACC in 1:38. In his next round, Buol won by an 8-6 decision over teammate Christian Nordby. In his final match, Buol fell to Thomas Roberts from Boone Central in 3:43.
Christian Nordby also wrestled at 195. In the first round, he lost by a 5-4 decision to Lakin Stange from Wayne. Nordby received a bye in his next round. In his third, Nordby lost by an 8-6 decision to Buol as said earlier.
At 220, Boston Krueger placed fourth and scored 11 team points. In his first match, Krueger pinned Justin Sickels from O’Neill in 1:44. In the second round, Krueger fell to Hank Hudson from Boone Central in 1:30. During his third match, Krueger beat Trujilo Vasquez from Wayne by fall in 0:41. For third place, Krueger lost by a 5-3 decision to Connor Heiderman from Battle Creek.
Wrapping up, Dawson Raabe took home first and scored 24 team points. In his first match, Raabe pinned Tyson Risinger from Norfolk Catholic in 1:55. In the quarterfinal, Raabe won by fall over Carsten Knobbe from GACC in 1:54. In his semifinal, Raabe won by a 5-1 decision over Tucker Shabram. For the gold, Raabe won by a 1-0 decision over Elijah Hintz from Battle Creek.
The Warbirds have their next dual in O’Neill on Tuesday, January 24.
Bluejay Wrestlers Scrabble with the Bennington Badgers
By Addison Croghan
The Pierce Bluejay wrestlers clashed in a dual with the Bennington Badgers on Tuesday, January 17 in a dual that was rescheduled from December 22, and the Bluejays were defeated 62-15 by multiple returning champions.
Starting the night, Chase Rasmussen, at the 138 weight class, fell to Kyler Lauridsen of Bennington in 1:46.
Bryce Lindstrom followed up, at 145, and fell to AJ Parrish in 0:21.
Breaking the trend, Jayden Coulter, in the 152 weight class, takes a win over Braxton Peacher by decision, 5-3.
At 160, Cayden Cox fell to Dalton Rhoten in 3:10.
Proceeding, Blake Bolling, at 170, decides to take action and pin Layne Boever in 3:52. “We just need to continue to encourage everyone to show up to practice and work as hard as we can everyday,” remarks senior Bl. Bolling. “The team has to work together as a family.”
In 182, Kaiden Fritz fell to Blane Boehmer in 3:42.
Christian Nordby, wrestling at 195, falls to Ty Thomsen in 1:29.
Boston Krueger fell to Jack Jansen in 0:50 at the 220 weight class.
Dawson Raabe, in 285, then pins Kale Kaufmann in 1:13.
Zakary Abler led the lightweights in 106, but fell to Evan Warner in 1:46.
In the 113 weight class, Corbin Pfeil fell to Cadyn Coyle in 0:59.
Draydin Gossman (120) lost to Ben Bouaphakeo by major decision, 13-0.
Elijah Streff, the 126 pounder, fell to Kail Lauridsen in 1:07.
Wrapping up, Brenden Bolling lost to Connor Ritonya by major decision, 9-0.
The Jays will be at Boone Central on Saturday, January 28.
