On Saturday, Dec. 22, the PEM wrestlers would compete in the home gym for the first time all season hosting a quadrangular meet that featured Westfield (Hayfield and Blooming Prairie consolidated), Rochester Mayo, and Shakopee the #1 ranked AAA team in the state of MN. In addition to the competition, it was Alumni Day at PEM and many Bulldog alumni were present. One of the special highlights of the day was a 10 year reunion of the wrestlers and coaches from the 2008-09 wrestling team that took 3rd place in the state tournament.
The Bulldogs would start the morning with Shakopee and the Sabers would prove to be as good as advertised starting off with 5 straight victories in the dual. At 138, Cael Marx would get the Bulldogs on the board with a 13-3 major decision. At 152, PEM junior Joe Stucky would rally with a 3rd period takedown against Shakopee’s #10 ranked Brandon Kidd to take the match into overtime but would fall 7-5 in the extra period. At 160 Carter Marx would get a pin in the 3rd period. At 170, Alex Rahman nearly got the upset when he threw Shakopee’s DJ Smith to his back in the 3rd period, but Rahman was unable to get the pin and Smith secured the major decision victory. Senior Dustin Dittrich would strike another victory for the Bulldogs at 195, taking out #8 ranked Jack Casey by a score of 11-3. At 285, Logan Wingert would use less than a period to get the fall against Shakopee’s Jade Trelstad to get the Bulldogs’ 4th victory against the top ranked Sabers.
Shakopee #1AAA (SHAK) 50 Plainview-Elgin-Millville (PEM) 20
106: Leo Tukhlynovych (SHAK) over Isaac Walch (PEM) (Fall 0:24)
113: Pierson Manville (SHAK) over Jason Feils (PEM) (Fall 1:19)
120: Paxton Creese (SHAK) over (PEM) (For.)
126: Ben Lunn (SHAK) over Garrett Olson (PEM) (MD 8-0)
132: Tyler Jones (SHAK) over Cooper Hofschulte (PEM) (MD 12-2)
138: Cael Marx (PEM) over Riley Quern (SHAK) (MD 13-3)
145: Sam Treml (SHAK) over Lafe Aarsvold (PEM) (TF 15-0 4:35)
152: Brandon Kidd (SHAK) over Joe Stucky (PEM) (SV-1 7-5)
160: Carter Marx (PEM) over Zackery Coleman (SHAK) (Fall 4:46)
170: DJ Smith (SHAK) over Alex Rahman (PEM) (MD 16-5)
182: Connor Raines (SHAK) over Martin Prieto (PEM) (Fall 2:29)
195: Dustin Dittrich (PEM) over Jack Casey (SHAK) (MD 11-3)
220: Tommy Johnson (SHAK) over Riley Wingert (PEM) (Fall 2:53)
285: Logan Wingert (PEM) over Jade Trelstad (SHAK) (Fall 1:41)
In the second dual of the morning, PEM would fire on all cylinders against Rochester Mayo. At 106, freshman Isaac Walch picked up the first varsity win of his young career by forfeit. Fellow freshman Jason Feils followed with a hard fought 10-5 loss at 113 in a very good performance. In the third weight class, the Bulldogs were open and had to forfeit, giving Mayo an early 9-6 lead. But starting next at 126, sophomore Garrett Olson would start a PEM rally that the Spartans were unable to stop. Using solid offense on his feet and a strong armbar, Olson was able to get the 1st period pin over Brennan Nelson. Not to be outdone, Cooper Hofschulte continued his outstanding season, and followed with another first period pin, this time only taking :30 to get the pin for the Bulldogs.
Continuing with the black and gold momentum, Cael Marx was able to use #8 ranked Marshall Peters aggressiveness against him and throw him to his back in the opening seconds of the 138 lb. match a seal another pin in 1:11. At 145, senior Lafe Aarsvold would keep the ball rolling for the Bulldogs getting the 4th pin in a row in the first period. Junior Joe Stucky broke out a cradle in the second period of the 152 lb. match to get the 5th Bulldog pin in a row extending the PEM lead to 36-9. PEM was not done yet though as they would head into the upper weights. Senior Carter Marx grabbed another pin for the Bulldogs barely beating out the clock in the first period. Alex Rahman followed at 170 with yet another 1st period pin. At 182, senior Connor Jones would get the nod, but Mayo would forfeit.
Dustin Dittrich followed at 195, but the Spartans would forfeit again. Matches would resume at 220 with Riley Wingert landing a BIG lateral drop against Mayo’s Quincy Hill and get yet another 1st period pin for the Bulldogs. Lastly at 285, Logan Wingert would put an exclamation point on the dual meet for PEM with one last pin, this time in the 2nd period.
Plainview-Elgin-Millville (PEM) 72 Rochester Mayo (MAYO) 9
106: Isaac Walch (PEM) over (MAYO) (For.)
113: Riku Kobayashi (MAYO) over Jason Feils (PEM) (Dec 10-5)
120: Ian Funk (MAYO) over (PEM) (For.)
126: Garrett Olson (PEM) over Brennan Nelson (MAYO) (Fall 1:20)
132: Cooper Hofschulte (PEM) over Jayden Engelken (MAYO) (Fall 0:30)
138: Cael Marx (PEM) over Marshall Peters (MAYO) (Fall 1:11)
145: Lafe Aarsvold (PEM) over Luiz Gasca (MAYO) (Fall 1:38)
152: Joe Stucky (PEM) over Ethan Plonka (MAYO) (Fall 2:34)
160: Carter Marx (PEM) over Ethan Smith (MAYO) (Fall 1:58)
170: Alex Rahman (PEM) over Bryant Badger (MAYO) (Fall 1:29)
182: Connor Jones (PEM) over (MAYO) (For.)
195: Dustin Dittrich (PEM) over (MAYO) (For.)
220: Riley Wingert (PEM) over Quincy Hill (MAYO) (Fall 0:34)
285: Logan Wingert (PEM) over Damon Hinrichs (MAYO) (Fall 3:32)
In the final dual of the day, wrestling began at 120 with Westfield picking up the first win of the dual to take a 6-0 lead. But that would be the last one for awhile as Garrett Olson would again start a rally that got the Bulldogs started. This time Olson would use a series of arm-bars to win by a 15-0 technical fall. Cooper Hofschulte again followed suit, picking up his 11th win of the season and 7th pin with another 1st period fall. At 138 and 145 the Bulldogs’ Cael Marx and Lafe Aarsvold each collected forfeit victories. Joe Stucky added another 1st period pin at 152 with another cradle to stretch the dual meet score to a 29-6 PEM lead.
PEM would collect 2 more forfeit victories at 160 and 170 by Carter Marx and Alex Rahman before heading into the final 4 weight classes. At 182, freshman Martin Prieto put on a takedown clinic before landing a throw in the 3rd period to seal the pin for the Bulldogs.
The 195 lb. match featured 2 of SE MN’s best wrestlers, Westfield’s Colton Krell (2018 Class A runner-up, Currently ranked #1) vs. PEM’s Dustin Dittrich (2018 Class AA runner-up, Currently ranked #2). In the 1st period Dittrich was able to get deep on a shot and secure the always important first takedown of the match to take a 2-0 lead. Krell escaped to close the lead to 2-1, but Dittrich would get another takedown before the end of the first period, to take a 4-1 lead into the 2nd period. Krell would choose the down position to start the 2nd period but Dittrich would bring an intense amount of pressure and Krell was unable to escape for the entire period. In the 3rd period, Dittrich would get an escape and another takedown to finish the match with a 7-1 decision victory. At 220, junior Riley Wingert would drop a decision to Westfield’s #7 ranked Dylan Nirk heading into the heavyweight match.
In another highly anticipated match-up of top heavyweights PEM’s Logan Wingert avenged one of his losses from last weekend at the MN Christmas Tournament with a pin over Westfield’s Tristan Rieken. After surrendering a 1st period takedown and a 2nd period reversal, Wingert would find himself down 4-0 early. But Wingert would persevere with a 2nd period reversal of his own that would go straight into a cradle and pin. With the victory, Wingert would pick up his team leading 17th win and 14th pin of the season. Wingert now is 17-2 with rematch victories over both of the opponents he has lost to.
Plainview-Elgin-Millville (PEM) 56 Westfield Razorbacks (WF) 9
113: Double Forfeit
120: Keegan Bronson (WF) over Jason Feils (PEM) (Fall 0:49)
126: Garrett Olson (PEM) over Alex Phenix (WF) (TF 15-0 4:13)
132: Cooper Hofschulte (PEM) over Cael Becker (WF) (Fall 0:50)
138: Cael Marx (PEM) over (WF) (For.)
145: Lafe Aarsvold (PEM) over (WF) (For.)
152: Joe Stucky (PEM) over Tyler Archer (WF) (Fall 1:06)
160: Carter Marx (PEM) over (WF) (For.)
170: Alex Rahman (PEM) over (WF) (For.)
182: Martin Prieto (PEM) over Dylan Ehmke (WF) (Fall 5:21)
195: Dustin Dittrich (PEM) over Colton Krell (WF) (Dec 7-1)
220: Dylan Nirk (WF) over Riley Wingert (PEM) (Dec 6-2)
285: Logan Wingert (PEM) over Tristan Rieken (WF) (Fall 3:26)
Team Members and Coaches from the 2008-09 PEM Wrestling team that placed 3rd at State:
1st Row: Coach Chad Getschmann, Coach Steve Hinrichs, Nick Wingert, Aaron Haley, Alan Miller, Dylan Siem, Garrett Miller, Head Coach Mike Matiash. 2nd Row: Asst. Coach Marc Melcher, Manager Trevor Wingert, Asst. Coach Nate Pfeilsticker, Statistician Kalli (Schulz) Miller, Cam Miller, Daren Wingert, Dillon Schumacher, Blaine Miller, Brandon Hanson, Asst.Coach Ryan Marx