After defeating United North Central to break the school record for wins in a season, the Park Rapids wrestling team was denied a trip to the Section 8A championship match with a semifinal loss to Badger/Greenbush-Middle River Saturday at Thief River Falls.
Park Rapids, the No. 3 seed, defeated No. 6 United North Central 63-15 in the quarterfinals before being eliminated with a 48-25 loss to BGMR in the semifinals. No. 1 Frazee defeated BGMR 47-21 in the championship match to advance to the state Class A tournament for the third year in a row.
The Panthers ended the season with an 18-3 record, breaking the school record for wins set by the 2005-06 team that finished 17-11.
In the other matches at Thief River Falls Saturday, No. 8 Crookston edged No. 9 Walker-Hackensack-Akeley/Nevis 32-28 and No. 7 Mahnomen-Waubun defeated No. 10 Red Lake County Central 54-27 in the first round. Frazee eliminated Crookston 74-3, No. 4 Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton defeated No. 5 Fertile-Beltrami 45-25 and BGMR eliminated Mahnomen-Waubun 63-9 in the other quarterfinals while Frazee defeated D-G-F 56-28 in the other semifinal.
Frazee is rated No. 3, BGMR is rated No. 13 and Park Rapids is rated No. 23 in the latest state Class A poll. Frazee will take a 15-2 record to state.
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Panthers eliminate Warriors
Eight pins sparked the Panthers past UNC in the quarterfinals.
Ashton Clark opened with a pin in 1:15 at 106 pounds before UNC’s Ben Johnson tied the match at 6-6 with a pin in 1:46 at 113.
Pins by Toby Ritter in 5:59 at 120 and Jared Sunram in 30 seconds at 126 gave the Panthers an 18-6 lead before Austin Bacon’s pin in 1:05 at 132 cut the gap to 18-12.
Park Rapids won the next six matches to seal the win. Ben Baumgartner’s pin in 52 seconds at 138, Cody Dravis’ 2-0 minor decision at 145, Logan Johnson’s forfeit win at 152, Justin Dravis’ pin in 39 seconds at 160, Zach Nelson’s pin in 2:31 at 170 and Zachary Tretbar’s pin in 50 seconds at 182 gave the Panthers 51-12 advantage. Baumgartner is rated No. 4 at 138 and Justin Dravis is rated No. 8 at 152 in the latest state Class A poll.
Tristan Palmer, who is rated No. 4 at 195, posted a pin in 21 seconds at 195 to end that run before the Panthers ended the match with Keith McDaniel’s pin in 57 seconds at 220 and Chris Baxter’s forfeit win at 285.
UNC ended the season with a 5-14 record.
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Park Rapids 63, UNC 18
106: Ashton Clark, PR, pinned Isaac Tellers 1:15. 113: Ben Johnson, UNC, pinned Landen Burlingame 1:46. 120: Toby Ritter, PR, pinned Garrett Butler 5:59. 126: Jared Sunram, PR, pinned Austin Bimberg :30. 132: Austin Bacon, UNC, pinned Elijah Bessman 1:05. 138: Ben Baumgartner, PR, pinned Andrew Hendrickson :52. 145: Cody Dravis, PR, minor decision over Toby Hintzman 2-0. 152: Logan Johnson, PR, won by forfeit. 160: Justin Dravis, PR, pinned Lenny Wright :39. 170: Zach Nelson, PR, pinned Aiden Cochran 2:31. 182: Zachary Tretbar, PR, pinned Craig Isaacson :50. 195: Tristan Palmer, UNC, pinned Zachary Hocking :21. 220: Keith McDaniel, PR, pinned Jared Seibert :57. 285; Chris Baxter, PR, won by forfeit.
Late pins send BGMR to final
Four pins down the stretch helped the Gators snap Park Rapids’ 12-match winning streak and advance to the championship match.
BGMR won the first four matches to claim an 18-0 lead before the Panthers won the next four matches to take the lead. Wyatt Becker, who is rated No. 6 at 126, capped off the early run for BGMR.
Nolan Booge’s 9-1 major decision at 132, Baumgartner’s 11-4 minor decision at 138, Cody Dravis’ pin in 3:59 at 145 and Justin Dravis’ pin in 3:14 at 152 gave Park Rapids a 19-18 advantage.
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Brandon Waage, who is rated No. 9 at 152, started BGMR’s late run with a forfeit win. Four pins followed as the Gators led 48-19 before Baxter’s pin at 285 ended the match.
The win lifted BGMR to 13-5 on the season.
BGMR 48, Park Rapids 25
106: Owen Novack, BGMR, pinned Landen Burlingame 2:54. 113: Bryce Bergeron, BGMR, minor decision over Ashton Clark 6-0. 120: Isaak Isane, BGMR, pinned Toby Ritter :32. 126: Wyatt Becker, BGMR, minor decision over Jared Sunram 7-4. 132: Nolan Booge, PR, major decision over Nash Sovde 9-1. 138: Ben Baumgartner, PR, minor decision over Nick Kaml 11-4. 145: Cody Dravis, PR, pinned Devin Dostal 3:59. 152: Justin Dravis, PR, pinned Trevor Underberg 3:14. 160: Brandon Waage, BGMR, won by forfeit. 170: Daron Sikorski, BGMR, pinned Zach Nelson 4:42. 182: Beau Blumer, BGMR, pinned Zachary Tretbar 3:46. 195: Devin Pries, BGMR, pinned Jacob Bittmann 3:10. 220: Adam Lorenson, BGMR, pinned Keith McDaniel :33. 285; Chris Baxter, PR, pinned Ely Novacek 3:13.
