Five Brainerd wrestlers notched two wins as the Warriors swept their last home triangular of 2021 against Central Lakes Conference opponents Sauk Rapids and St. Cloud Tech Saturday, Feb. 27.
Senior Forrest Gibson pinned Tech’s Spencer Gustin at heavyweight to give Brainerd the 41-34 edge in its first dual.
Gibson’s pin came in 3:09 and Warriors head coach Mikkey White was happy Gibson got his moment on senior day.
“I’m so glad Forrest got that opportunity,” White said. “We felt Forrest had a great opportunity to win that match and for him to seal that, he hasn't had that opportunity to seal it in a while. It’s kind of like the field goal kicker everyone puts everything on them even though there is so much that goes on up until that point.”
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Gibson was not the only senior to shine for his last time on the mat at Brainerd High School. Senior Jaden Petrie pinned both his opponents in the second period to go 2-0.
“We love watching Jaden wrestle,” White said. “For him to get a couple wins today is awesome.”
Junior Gabe Wagner picked up his second pin of the day against Sauk Rapids’ Owen Scheeler in 47 seconds to pace the Warriors in a 43-27 win over the Storm in the second dual.
“These were two tough duals for us,” White said. “We had to wrestle really hard and we had some guys do some things for the team over themselves and that’s hard to do.”
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Wagner ranks 10th in Class 3A at 145 pounds and has been what White calls “Mr. Consistent” for Brainerd this year.
“It’s nice when you have guys where you look at your lineup and go, “You know the other team doesn’t want to wrestle them,’” White said. “He’s Mr. Consistent for us and wins all the time and it all comes down to his work ethic.”
Wagner doesn’t focus on his ranking. He just goes out and wrestles the same every time.
“You can’t let up for anything, so I have to wrestle like I’m wrestling the best guy,” he said. “We have had some tough duals lately and lost a couple and it was nice to get a couple of wins today.”
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Wagner also was fired up when Gibson clinched the Tech match with his pin. This year’s senior class has meant a lot to Wagner.
“I’ve known these seniors for a long time,” he said. “They are some of my best buds and I’m proud of them.”
Cade Ostrwoski pinned both his opponents for Brainerd with a 1:07 fall of Tech’s JJ Ruiz at 113 pounds and then a pin of Sauk Rapids’ Jack Barz at 120 pounds.
Isaiah Germann picked up two wins with a 15-0 technical fall win over Tanner Hugg of Tech and then a first period pin of Sauk Rapids’ Luke Scheeler in 1:12.
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Brainerd won the first three matches against Tech before a forfeit at 126 put the Tigers on the board. At 132 pounds, Tech’s Jaxon Kenning, the seventh-ranked wrestler in Class 3A at 126 pounds, defeated Brainerd senior Kyle Eschenbacher in a 9-1 major decision.
Eschenbacher bounced back with a major decision of his own in a 13-2 win over Sauk Rapids’ Bradyen Ness.
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Tech used pins at 152, 160 and 182 pounds cut Brainerd’s lead to 32-28 before Shane Carlson’s 5-4 decision at 195 pounds put Brainerd up seven with two matches left.
Tech’s Tucker Hugg, the eighth-ranked wrestler in Class 3A at 220 pounds, pinned Brainerd’s Ethan Kosloski in 1:10 to pull the Tigers to one point, and set up Gibson’s second-period pin at heavyweight to seal the victory.
Carlson notched his second win at 195 with a second period pin of Sauk Rapids’ Beaux Sychampanakhone to guarantee a Warriors sweep.
Brainerd finishes its regular season with two road triangulars Tuesday, March 2, and Friday, March 5. The team Section 8-3A tournament is slated for Wednesday, March 10.
“We have some things that we are going to work on from what we saw today,” White said. “We have a little different schedule, so our week of practice will be broken up a little bit, but we aren’t going to let off the gas at all.”
Brainerd 43, Sauk Rapids 27
106: Vance Barz (SR) dec. Easton Dircks 6-1
113: Alex Diederich (SR) pinned Gus Carlson 1:29
120: Cade Ostrwoski (Brd) pinned Jack Barz 2:38
126: Isaiah Germann (Brd) pinned Luke Scheeler 1:12
132: Kyle Eschenbacher (Brd) maj. dec. Bradyen Ness 13-2
138: Andrew Wollak (SR) dec. Isaiah Jillson 4-3
145: Gabe Wagner (Brd) pinned Owen Scheeler 0:47
152: Reid Kiffmeyer (SR) pinned Adam Cox 5:27
160: Jaden Petrie (Brd) pinned Kieran Hixson 3:29
170: Gus Wagner (Brd) dec. Matt Krepp 9-8
182: Cole Ackerman (SR) dec. Damien Bentho 6-0
195: Shane Carlson (Brd) pinned Beaux Sychampanakhone 2:51
220: Joey Hoeschen (SR) pinned Forrest Gibson 1:28
285: Cole Larkin (Brd) pinned Dane Dingmann 3:17
Brainerd 41, St. Cloud Tech 34
106: Easton Dircks (Brd) pinned Noah Neuman 3:36
113: Cade Ostrwoski (Brd) pinned JJ Ruiz 1:07
120: Isaiah Germann tech. fall Tanner Hugg 15-0
126: Daniel Hughes (SC) forfeit
132: Jaxon Kenning (SC) maj. dec. Kyle Eschenbacher 9-1
138: Isaiah Jillson (Brd) dec. Mahamat Hissein 7-3
145: Gabe Wagner (Brd) pinned Nick Hamak 3:06
152: Aiden Orth (SC) pinned Adam Cox 1:36
160: Andy Johnson (SC) pinned Gus Wagner 2:34
170: Jaden Petrie (Brd) pinned Logan Lunceford 3:03
182: Cody Brott (SC) pinned Damien Bentho 2:21
195: Shane Carlson (Brd) dec. Sutton Kenning 5-4
220: Tucker Hagg (SC) pinned Ethan Kosloski 1:10
285: Forrest Gibson (Brd) pinned Spencer Gustin 3:09
Warriors sweep last home tri
Key: Three Warriors tallied two pins to help Brainerd walk away with a sweep on senior day.
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Conference: Brd 9-2.
Overall: Brd 17-10.
Next: Brainerd at Little Falls 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 2.
CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.
