Rangers stop Aitkin
All teams wind up 1-1 in meet
CROSBY - Brandon Biever and Dalton Stevens made both of their wrestling coaches sound smart.
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Prior to Tuesday's Ranger triangular at Crosby-Ironton High School, Aitkin head coach Dan Stifter and C-I head coach Champ Hesch said the 119-pound match between Biever and Stevens would be an early indication of things to come.
They were right. C-I's Biever secured a takedown in overtime to earn a 4-2 decision over Aitkin's Stevens to land C-I an early 8-6 advantage, which led to a 41-30 Ranger victory.
C-I's day wasn't all wins as it fell to the Staples-Motley Cardinals 36-34, which lost to the Gobblers 45-33 before the main event.
Crosby-Ironton heavyweight Levi Kugel (top) nearly pinned Nick Trout of the Staples-Motley Cardinals in their match Tuesday at Crosby. If Kugel would have pinned Trout, the Rangers would have tied the Cardinals. Kugel won 12-3, giving the Cardinals a 36-34 victory.
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"I just went out there and did what I thought I had to do," said Biever. "I just wanted to go out there and beat him. In overtime I was (mad) so I just wanted to go out there and take him back down."
A technical fall by Wade Adams, pins by Andrew Kayfes and David Booth and a major decision by Sam Srock helped the Rangers collect a 29-6 advantage before heading into Aitkin's strength in the middle weights.
Decisions by Taylor Bitker, Justin Chouanard a forfeit victory for Nathan Cummings and pins from Andrew Hallberg and Matt Christensen helped Aitkin come back and take a 30-29 lead with two weight classes remaining.
"Early on we got the matchups that we wanted," said Stifter. "At 145 and 152 we got the matchups and we were looking for a couple of pins there and they held off. Crosby was able to get some pins on us. I figured it was going to be a barnburner and that it would be decided by four points or less, then they won by 11, but that's the way it goes."
Ranger Triangular
Highlights: Brandon Biever earned a decision over Dalton Stevens and C-I collected two late pins to knock off rival Aitkin
Overall: Ait 12-3, CI 8-2 SM 7-8
Next: Aitkin in Grand Rapids tournament 11 a.m. Saturday; C-I at Hawley triangular 5 p.m. Tuesday; Staples-Motley hosts Wadena-Deer Creek 7:30 p.m. Jan. 31.
C-I's Ben Rothstein, who normally wrestles at 171, bumped up to 215 and pinned Levi Stifter for a 35-30 lead.
Senior Levi Kugel added the insurance as he pinned Aitkin's Tyler Wilke in the heavyweight match for the win.
"I knew that all I needed to do was win the match," said Rothstein. "I just wanted to be smart and not get into any trouble and get the win. To get the pin was really nice because going into the heavyweights we could have still lost by the decision so it gave Levi a little cushion."
The victory should give C-I the upper hand over Aitkin in the Section 7-1A seedings.
In the Gobblers' victory over S-M, Aitkin benefited from two forfeits and pins by Stevens, Craig Leathers, Bitker, Hallberg and Christensen to knock off S-M in the first meet of the night.
The bonus points helped the Gobblers withstand pins from the Cardinals' Devin Becker, Andrew Becker, Kodeiy Lind, Ryan Detloff and Nick Trout.
"I thought we wrestled a little flat in that match," said Stifter. "We talked a lot about the C-I match and I think C-I did the same thing and Staples almost snuck out two."
Staples-Motley Cardinals 130-pounder Devin Becker (left) pinned Jeff Moe of the Aitkin Gobblers in their match Tuesday.
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Lind, Trent Carlson and Andrew Becker tallied pins to help the Cardinals defeat C-I in the second dual. Again, the Rangers built a 27-10 advantage before dropping the next five matches to fall behind 36-27. This time Rothstein and Kugel couldn't make up the difference despite both winning their matches.
"At 112 that was a big match for us and coming through the middle weights we had kind of a catch fall," said Cardinals head coach Gordy Thompson. "At 130 pounds with Trent Carlson, it was a good match and either one of them could have won it, but we ended up with six points. Things were going our way there."
Crosby-Ironton 41, Aitkin 30
103: Hayden Zillmer (CI) tech. fall Jordan Chouanard 5:23
112: Keith Wasserzieher (A) pinned Riley Patrick :28
119: Brandon Biever (CI dec. Dalton Stevens 4-2 OT
125: Wade Adams (CI) tech. fall Craig Leathers 5:59
130: Andrew Kayfes (CI) pinned Jeff Moe 2:58
135: Sam Srock (CI) maj. dec. Ryan Skinner 14-2
140: David Booth (CI) pinned Kevin Handt 1:47
145: Taylor Bitker (A) dec. Kevin Burns 9-4
152: Justin Chouanard (A) dec. Chris Rothstein 13-6
160: Andrew Hallberg (A) pinned Jesse Scott :30
171: Nathan Cummings (A) forfeit
189: Matt Christensen (A) pinned Cody Vogt :41
215: Ben Rothstein (CI) pinned Levi Stifter 5:48
Hwt: Levi Kugel (CI) pinned Taylor Wilke 5:11
Staples-Motley 36, Crosby-Ironton 34
103: Zillmer (CI) forfeit
112: Brandon Sterriker (SM) maj. dec. Johnny Melenich 11-6
119: Biever (CI) pinned Andrew Robbins 1:03
125: Adams (CI) pinned Brandon Flickinger 5:08
130: Trent Carlson (SM) pinned Kayfes 3:54
135: Srock (CI) maj. dec. Devin Becker 9-1
140: Booth (CI) tech. fall Gavin Kodec 3:24
145: Andrew Becker (SM) pinned Burns 3:45
152: Jordan Bendson (SM) forfeit
160: Rothstein (CI) dec. Dylan Shequen 3-1
171: Spencer Kadlek (SM) Tech. fall Scott 5:09
189: Kodeiy Lind (SM) pinned Vogt :29
215: Rothstein (CI) dec. Ryan Detloff 5-0
Hwt: Kugel (CI) maj. dec. Nick Trout 12-3
Aitkin 45, Staples-Motley 33
103: Chouanard (A) forfeit
112: Wasserzieher (A) forfeit
119: Stevens (A) pinned Bendson :16
125: Leathers (A) pinned Robbins 3:52
130: D. Becker (SM) pinned Moe 1:24
135: Carlson (SM) dec. Skinner 6-4
140: A. Becker (SM) pinned Handt 1:26
145: Chouanard (A) dec. Bendson 3-1
152: Bitker (A) pinned Petritch 1:22
160: Hallberg (A) pinned Shequen 4:42
171: Christensen (A) pinned Kadlek 2:57
189: Lind (SM) pinned Stifter :26
215: Detloff (SM) pinned Wilke 3:03
Hwt: Trout (SM) pinned Ken Math 2:57
JEREMY MILLSOP may be reached at jeremy.millsop@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5856.