PEM Competes Against the Best at MN Christmas Tournament

RCTC Field House was the site of Minnesota's toughest wrestling tournament this past weekend. 36 teams from MN, South Dakota, and Wisconsin met on 10 mats in center stage to decide who had the most elite programs in the Upper Midwest. The PEM wrestling team took on the challenge over the 2 day grind and the youngest team in attendance didn't disappoint. The PEM team with 8 of 14 weights having a wrestler in either 8th or 9th grade left the field house with the philosophy from Coach Pfeilsticker, "we either won or we learned". "This tournament shows what needs to be worked on in the practice room and what areas need improvement", he concluded.

Martin Prieto highlighted the PEM team with an 8th place finish and a medal from MN's most prestigious wrestling tournament. Martin finished with a 4-3 record which

included a 4 match winning streak in his 36 man bracket and a close 5-3 loss to South Dakota's 2X state champion. This is Martin's first time placing at the Christmas

tournament and is currently ranked #8 in the state. Coach Daren Wingert concluded after Martin's 7th place match, "this is exactly what Martin needed for competition. He

took on the best in the Upper Midwest and didn't back down from anyone!"

The tournament also created new opportunities for PEM wrestlers as Aiden Graner, Dominic Michel, Garion Wallgren, and Drew Rahman all picked up their first varsity

victories of their young careers. Alex Hinrichs also followed with a 1-2 record at the event.

Aiden earned a fall vs Brock Vaughn of K-M for his first win. Garion Wallgren earned 3 pins to win the championship in his 2nd Chance bracket on Saturday, and Drew

Rahman earned the runner-up prize in his 2nd Chance bracket at 220! Coach Cam Miller commented, "I'm very proud of the resiliency shown by our young wrestlers. Even after some

opening round matches, our guys bounced back and showed their GRIT!"

The Bulldogs will host Triton and Rochester Century on Tuesday Dec. 21st. PEM wrestlers will be honoring their favorite teachers mat-side Tuesday. The event will conclude

with Takedown Cancer night as the PEM Bulldog wrestling team honors Jordyn Schumacher in her battle with cancer. Coach Bobby Bedsted, commented "it will be exciting to get

back in front of our home crowd Tuesday night. The T in GRIT stands for Team and our team looks forward to supporting the teachers and Jordyn!"