Dukowitz wins Bunyan crown
Kyle Dukowitz wrestled his way to the Brainerd Warriors' only championship as the 38th annual Paul Bunyan Invitational ended Saturday night at Brainerd High School.
Back
Dukowitz won the 145-pound title with a 4-3 decision over Bemidji's Joe Anderson.
"Anderson is a quality wrestler," Warriors coach Bob Brakke said. "I expected it to be a tough match, and it was. Kyle won it because he went for it and pushed it. He got a couple stalling calls, that were the difference in the match, because of his aggressiveness. You don't like to win on stalling calls, you want to win on more solid points, but at the same time it's a tribute to how he attacked."
Kyle Dukowitz of the Brainerd Warriors (right) tied up with Joe Anderson of Bemidji en route to winning the 145-pound championship match in the 38th annual Paul Bunyan Invitational Saturday night at Brainerd High School. Brainerd Dispatch/Clint Wood
Three other area wrestlers won titles.
Pierz's Kyle Bednar (125) and Jon Andres (135) won titles. The Pioneers' Hank Virnig (119), Cody Luberts (215) and Matt Mrnak (275) were runners-up.
Bednar decisioned Scott County West's Andrew Pudwill 6-4 in the final.
"Kyle got down early and came back," Pierz coach Mark Jensen said. "He put the kid on his back that tied it up, it went into overtime, he made a great shot and finished it out with a takedown to win it. It was a great match by Kyle."
Andres beat St. Cloud Tech's Derrik Orth 7-4 for his title.
"Jon got called for a penalty point," Jensen said. "He got his legs tangled up in an illegal position. He put it within a takedown at the end of the match and was fortunate to be able to hold on and win."
Kyle Dukowitz of the Brainerd Warriors (right) tied up with Joe Anderson of Bemidji en route to winning the 145-pound championship match in the 38th annual Paul Bunyan Invitational Saturday night at Brainerd High School. Brainerd Dispatch/Clint Wood
Staples-Motley's Cory Detloff captured the 215 title with a fall at 1:34 against Pierz's Cody Luberts. Detloff pinned all four of his Bunyan opponents, raising his record to 8-0, with all eight wins by fall.
"He pinned his way through the Bunyan," Cardinals coach Gordy Thompson said. "What else can you say?
"For Staples-Motley this is probably the first Bunyan champion we've had in maybe five years."
Paul Bunyan placewinners
103 -- Champion Kurt Ehrhorn (GR) dec. Pat LaVasseur (BOLD) 6-4 ot; 3rd-Jake Bowland (Fol) pinned Jake Bump (Amery) 2:21; 5th-Kevin O'Brien (Becker) dec. Andrew Wachsmuth (Brd) 6-5; 7th-Kelly Kristianson (Breck) maj. dec. Devin Becker (SM) 16-6
Warrior wrestles to Bunyan title
The key: Kyle Dukowitz scored a 4-3 decision over Bemidji's Joe Anderson to win the 145-pound Paul Bunyan title.
Next: Rocori vs. Brainerd at Pillager, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday
112 -- Champion Tony Valek (SW) dec. Spencer Beech (Breck) 10-8; 3rd-Andrew Lockrem (Frz) dec. Mike Hines (SRR) 6-2; 5th-Tyler Jensen (Brd) dec. Dan Soular (GR) 6-1; 7th-Cory Foss (Fol) dec. Tanner Tetrick (Prz) 9-6
119 -- Champion Jed McGuire (GR) dec. Hank Virnig (Prz) 9-5; 3rd-Ross Neubauer (BOLD) dec. Lucas Edberg (SW) 5-2; 5th-Evan Warnert (SRR) dec. Nick Lingwall (Brd) 9-7; 7th-Tony Pozorski (Fol) dec. Dustin Green (Amery) 7-4
125 -- Champion Kyle Bednar (Prz) dec. Andrew Pudwill (SW) 6-4; 3rd-Robert Koranda (Becker) dec. John Mailloux (Tech) 9-3; 5th-Nate Rubin (Brd) dec. Nick Ward (Bem) 1-0; 7th-Tyler Spiczka (SRR) dec. Chris Harmon (BOLD) 6-3
130 -- Champion Paul Bjorkstrand (Burns) dec. John Hopkins (GR) 10-5; 3rd-Ben Anderson (Frz) maj. dec. Edward Dvorak (SW) 9-0; 5th-Justin Kessler (And) dec. Jake Jaeckels (Fol) 3-1; 7th-Alex Johnson (Breck) dec. Travis Beighley (Bem) 8-6
Kyle Dukowitz of the Brainerd Warriors (right) tied up with Joe Anderson of Bemidji en route to winning the 145-pound championship match in the 38th annual Paul Bunyan Invitational Saturday night at Brainerd High School. Brainerd Dispatch/Clint Wood
135 -- Champion Jon Andres (Prz) dec. Derrik Orth (Tech) 7-4; 3rd-Bryce Mackey (Burns) dec. Zach Shaw-Rajkowski (Fol) 8-4; 5th-Tony Schuster (SW) dec. Nick Loreno (Brd) 4-0; 7th-Zach Sullinger (Frz) by inj. def. Brent Puffe (Bem)
140 -- Champion Matt Hopkins (GR) maj. dec. Greg Stumwoll (Fol) 13-2; 3rd-Andy Johnson (Tech) dec. Kerry Lockrem (Frz) 5-2; 5th-Cole Neubauer (BOLD) dec. Zach Rudolph (SRR) 7-3; 7th-Chris Black (Bem) by inj. def. Russ Lumley (Becker)
145 -- Champion Kyle Dukowitz (Brd) dec. Joe Anderson (Bem) 4-3; 3rd-Mike Fouquette (Fol) dec. Mark Revier (BOLD) 6-3; 5th-Nick Gruber (Prz) dec. Riley Holub (Becker) 8-1; 7th-Dan Schermerhorn (Frz) pinned Duff Brown (SM) 2:16
152 -- Champion Noel Sweeney (GR) dec. Matt Brauer (Burns) 11-5; 3rd-Jacob Roberts (SW) dec. Greg Skerick (Bem) 4-2; 5th-Zach Lavigne (Fol) maj. dec. Brandon Backes (Becker) 14-1; 7th-Nathan Britz (Prz) dec. Jake Sailer (Frz) 4-1
160 -- Champion Tom Elfering (BOLD) dec. Corey Weston (GR) 7-3; 3rd-Dave Bjorkstrand (Burns) dec. Kyle Girtz (Prz) 9-8; 5th-Andrew Willard (Bem) pinned Chris Herrmann (SW) 2:38; 7th-Seth Klostreich (Breck) dec. Mike Rittenour (Becker) 10-5
171 -- Champion Kyle Henry (Fol) maj. dec. Tyler Ascheman (Breck) 10-2; 3rd-Trent Squibb (BOLD) dec. Adam Hahnert (Brd) 4-0; 5th-Danny Stoutland (SW) dec. Jordan Olsen (SM) 2-1; 7th-Ryan Cameron (Tech) dec. Nick Sauer (Frz) 1-0
189 -- Champion Paul Denne (Tech) dec. Jared Freudenberg (Fol) 3-1; 3rd-Jesse Aultman (GR) dec. Dan Sorby (Bem) 6-4; 5th-Jeremy Nelson (Becker) dec. Mark Pietig (BOLD) 7-4; 7th-Haken Binek (SM) dec. Thad Betzold (Amery) 2-1
215 -- Cory Detloff (SM) pinned Cody Luberts (Prz) 1:34; 3rd-Mike Hopkins (Becker) pinned TJ Kerr (And) 1:28; 5th-Brian Hagen (BOLD) pinned Derek Studenski (Fol) 2:16; 7th-Scott Forseth (Bem) pinned Kory Johnson (GR) 2:22
275 -- Champion Chris Miller (Bem) dec. Matt Mrnak (Prz) 5-0; 3rd-Ryan McKay (Brd) pinned Tyler Nyberg (SW) 2:02; 5th-Mike Abrego (Apollo) dec. Anthony Daniels (GR) 4-2; 7th-Carlos Patino (Becker) dec. Mark Tollefson (SM) 6-4
Next meet -- Rocori vs. Brainerd 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Pillager.
Mike Bialka can be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.