Pickar repeats as state champion
ST. PAUL -- In 1984, moments after Jim Caughey won his second consecutive state wrestling championship, he did a backflip on the mat to celebrate his achievement.
On Saturday, Brainerd's Andy Pickar joined Caughey as a two-time state champion, pinning Northfield's Mike Quamme in 64 seconds at 152 pounds in the Class 3A tournament at the Xcel Energy Center.
"I suppose I could have tried that if I knew how to do a backflip," Pickar said, "but I probably wouldn't have been walking off the mat if I would have tried a backflip."
Pickar, who earlier this season passed Caughey as the winningest wrestler in Warrior history, finished his senior season 36-1.
"Wow, wow, what an exclamation point on the end of the season, incredible," Warriors coach Bob Brakke said.
In his six-year varsity career, Pickar was 146-25. He qualified for state five times, made the finals three times, was runner-up once and champion twice.
"This was a big match," Pickar said. "I've been here before, that kid hasn't. He hasn't been to state before. It's his first time, so he probably was a little stiff in the first period. I'm sure if it would have went longer, he would have been loosened up, getting the nerves out."
Quamme was unbeaten and ranked second. Pickar, ranked No. 2 at 145, quickly seized control, scoring a two-point near fall before tipping Quamme on his back with a leg cradle.
"The coaches didn't want me to use it," Pickar said of the hold. "I could hear them from the side saying, 'No.' Then I had to use it."
Brakke thought Pickar came out with confidence in his eyes because he was a defending champion.
"That was the key," Brakke said. "We worked on that. Since the end of his match (Friday) we talked about, 'You're the champion. He's got to beat you.' It's amazing what confidence will do."
The Little Falls Flyers were confident burly 160-pounder Adam Gosiak was going to win the championship. Simley's Kyle Anderson, ranked No. 1, had other ideas.
Anderson took Gosiak down in the opening period before the Flyer senior escaped to trail 2-1.
Following a scoreless second period, Gosiak escaped to tie. Anderson took him down late in the third before Gosiak escaped for the final 4-3 score.
"You've got to go out and do your offense, not worry about the other guy, and that's what Adam did, he just came up short," Flyers coach Mike Hendrickson said.
Gosiak finished 35-5, falling one place short of joining Tom Brutscher and Dwight Ballou as the only champions in Flyers history.
"We knew he had the potential to place, just how high was a matter of getting into his head," Hendrickson said. "We saw some kids that didn't place in his weight class. It's awfully, awfully tough. My goodness, this is a tough tournament.
"He came down here last year and saw what it was all about. We knew this was his year to do something. He's tough enough to do it, he just came up short. He plans on wrestling in college, so he's not done yet."
Class 3A Individual Results Saturday
152-Championship: Andy Pickar (Brd) pinned Mike Quamme (Northfield) 1:04, Pickar finishes 36-1
160-Championship Kyle Anderson (Simley) dec. Adam Gosiak (LF) 4-3, Gosiak finishes 35-5