United North Central used six pins and five forfeits for a 70-12 victory over Park Rapids in a Section 8A quarterfinal wrestling match at Sebeka on Monday, March 8.
The No. 7-seeded Panthers took a 6-0 lead on Robby Sherk’s pin in 45 seconds at 106 pounds. UNC won the next five matches as Reid Pinoniemi’s pin in 4:32 at 113, Zack Hendrickson’s 15-4 major decision at 120, Hunter Skaro’s pin in 1:06 at 126, Ethan Hendrickson’s pin in 1:29 at 132 and Dylan Rasmussen’s pin in 48 seconds at 138 produced a 28-6 advantage. Zack Hendrickson used a takedown and two nearfalls in the first period, a reversal and a nearfall in the second period, and a nearfall in the third period to spark his win.
After Lucas Kritzeck won by injury default at 145 to make it 28-12, the No. 2-seeded Warriors won the final seven matches to eliminate Park Rapids. Joel Isaacson at 152, Dakota Meech at 160, Logan Torma at 170, Shawn Hendrickson at 182 and Torrey Carlson at 195 received forfeits while Cooper Hasbargen’s pin in 1:54 at 220 and Marcus Peterson’s pin in 1:10 at 285 capped off the victory.
UNC, which defeated the Panthers 58-22 during the regular season, improved to 18-8 and will wrestle No. 3 Badger-Greenbush-Middle River at Sebeka on Thursday, March 11 at 7 p.m. in a semifinal bout. The Warriors edged BGMR 43-30 in their regular-season meeting.
Park Rapids, which ended the regular season with Mid-State Conference losses to Aitkin (66-15) and Staples-Motley (57-21) at Aitkin on March 7, fell to 6-19.
ADVERTISEMENT
In the other Section 8A quarterfinal matches, No. 1 Frazee eliminated No. 8 Fertile-Beltrami 60-13, No. 4 Crookston defeated No. 5 Fosston/Bagley 54-18 and No. 3 BGMR ousted No. 6 Mahnomen/Waubun 60-14. Fertile-Beltrami defeated No. 9 Red Lake County Central 41-8 in the first round. Frazee will host Crookston in the other semifinal match.
Cass Lake will host the Section 8A championship match on Saturday, March 13.
United North Central 70, Park Rapids 12
106: Robby Sherk, PR, pinned Zack Davidson :45. 113: Reid Pinoniemi, UNC, pinned Wrigley Clark 4:32. 120: Zack Hendrickson, UNC, major decision over Eli Burton 15-4. 126: Hunter Skaro, UNC, pinned Jarrett Galzki 1:06. 132: Ethan Hendrickson, UNC, pinned Henry Thorson 1:29. 138: Dylan Rasmussen, UNC, pinned Andy Johanning 1:48. 145: Lucas Kritzeck, PR, won by injury default ovr Hank Tellers. 152: Joel Isaacson, UNC, won by forfeit. 160: Dakota Meech, UNC, won by forfeit. 170: Logan Torma, UNC, won by forfeit. 182: Shawn Hendrickson, UNC, won by forfeit. 195: Torrey Carlson, UNC, won by forfeit. 220: Cooper Hasbargen, UNC, pinned Tristan Hill 1:54. 285: Marcus Peterson, UNC, pinned D’Andre Johnson 1:10.
Panthers drop pair
The Panthers closed out the regular season with a pair of Mid-State Conference losses at Aitkin on March 6.
Park Rapids lost to Aitkin 66-15 and Staples-Motley 57-21. Aitkin defeated S-M 67-0 in the other match.
Sherk’s pin in 42 seconds at 106, Kritzeck’s pin in 3:59 at 145 and Tristan Hill’s 1-0 minor decision at 195 accounted for Park Rapids’ three wins against Aitkin, which had four pins and received seven forfeits.
Against Staples-Motley, Sherk’s pin in 57 seconds at 106, Wrigley Clark’s pin in 3:00 at 113, Kritzeck’s 4-2 decision at 145 and Hill’s pin in 57 seconds at 220 led Park Rapids. The Cardinals, who defeated Park Rapids 72-9 on Feb. 2, had two pins and received seven forfeits.
The sweep lifted Aitkin’s record to 3-2 in conference matches and 17-13 overall. The split gave Staples-Motley a 3-2 conference mark and a 16-13 overall record while the Panthers fell to 1-6 in Mid-State duals.
