Perham won the battle of ranked wrestling teams Tuesday night.
The Yellowjackets, who are ranked No. 6 in the latest state Class AA poll, used three pins and three forfeits to defeat Park Rapids 39-33 at the Area High School gym. The Panthers entered this dual meet rated No. 9 in the state Class A poll.
Three forfeits gave Perham an early 18-3 advantage before the Panthers rallied for a 33-33 tie entering the final match.
After the Panthers forfeited the first two matches, Ashton Clark rallied with a reversal and nearfall in the final 10 seconds for a 7-5 minor decision at 120 pounds to make it 21-3. Clark is rated No. 1 at 103 in the latest state Class A poll.
A forfeit to Leighton Rach (who is rated No. 3 at 120 in Class AA) at 126 gave Perham an 18-3 lead before Landen Burlingame's escape and takedown in the third period led to a 7-1 minor decision at 132 and Nolan Booge's pin in 3:06 at 138 closed the gap to 18-12. Burlingame defeated Ben Nelson, who is rated No. 6 at 132 in the latest state Class AA poll, while Booge is rated No. 7 at 138 in the state Class A poll.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Yellowjackets won the next two matches for a 27-12 advantage before Park Rapids rallied by winning four of the next five bouts. Jared Sunram used a reversal in the second period and takedown in the third period for a 4-1 minor decision at 160, Cody Dravis recorded a pin in 3:54 at 170, Justin Dravis received a forfeit win at 182 and Jacob Bittmann recorded a pin in 2:57 at 220 to tie the dual at 33-33. Cody Dravis is rated No. 8 at 160, Justin Dravis is rated No. 4 at 170 and Bittmann is rated No. 9 at 220. Perham's Ty Moser, who is rated No. 7 at 182, recorded a pin at 195 during that stretch.
Perham prevailed on Jonathan Staebler's pin in 1:02 in the 285-pound match. Staebler is rated No. 4 at 285 in the latest state Class AA poll.
The win lifted Perham, who wrestled without Gabe Bellefeuille (No. 5 at 113) and Zach Peterson (No. 2 at 170), to 8-0 on the season while the Panthers fell to 1-2 in dual meets.
"I think our kids wrestled well, probably the best I have seen of them for the year," said Park Rapids head coach Matt Clark. "If we can keep making these little strides, we should get to where we want to be at the end of the year."
Perham 39, Park Rapids 33
106: Owen Werner, P, won by forfeit. 112: Dylan Johnson, P, won by forfeit. 120: Ashton Clark, PR, minor decision over Jack Fudge 7-5. 126: Leighton Rach, P, won by forfeit. 132: Landen Burlingame, PR, minor decision over Ben Nelson 7-1. 138: Nolan Booge, PR, pinned Patrick Johnson 3:06. 145: Dylan Fudge, P, pinned Kaleb Vang 3:36. 152: Gage Paurus, P, minor decision over Logan Johnson 13-9. 160: Jared Sunram, PR, minor decision over Evan Guck 4-1. 170: Cody Dravis, PR, pinned Dawson Kellogg 3:54. 182: Justin Dravis, PR, won by forfeit. 195: Ty Moser, P, pinned Jack Hensel 3:46. 220: Jacob Bittmann, PR, pinned Jose Lopez 2:57. 285: Jonathan Staebler, P, pinned Logan Veo 1:02.
