PEM Places 3rd out of 9 at Andover Invitational

Stucky and Wingert Bring Home Individual Titles!

On Saturday Dec. 7, the PEM wrestlers traveled to Andover, MN to compete in a 8 team invitational that featured #2 ranked Kasson Mantorville. The Bulldogs had wrestlers competing in 12 weight classes, and placed in the top 4 in 9 of them, including 4 finalists and 2 tournament champions.

Isaac Walch led off a great day for the Bulldogs at 106, going 3-1on his way to 3rd place. Isaac’s only loss on the day came at the hands of top-ranked Tyler Wells of Princeton. At 113, wrestling in his first varsity tournament, Riley Boland scored 3 team points by virtue of finishing 6th.

Austen Michel picked up the 1st 3 wins of his varsity career at 126 for the Bulldogs. After a 1st round victory by pin, Austen lost a 1 point heartbreaker in the semi-finals to the eventually tournament champion. But Austen battled back with 2 more pins to earn a 3rd place finish.

At 132, freshman Dominic Michel got his first ever taste of varsity action, and made the most of his opportunity. In the first round, Dominic had a back and forth match, but was able to pull away in the last period and record a fall for his first ever varsity win. In the semifinals, Dominic faced #4 ranked Landon Parent of Princeton, and was sent to the wrestle-backs. In the consolation semis, Dominic picked up another pin over his Royalton opponent. Dominic lost to 2019 state entrant Giovanni Ruffo of K-M in the 3rd place match and ended his day in 4th place.

At 138, junior Cooper Hofschulte got a first round bye. Then in the semifinals, Hofschulte used a second-period arm-bar to put his opponent to his back and get the fall that would put him into the finals. In the championship match Hofschulte would drop the match to #3 ranked Kyle Boeke of Princeton, but still scored 18 points for the Bulldogs enroute to his 2nd place finish.

Junior Kael Lamb picked up a bye into the semifinal round at 145, but lost a decision to state ranked Jacob Leopold of Royalton. Bouncing back in the wrestle-back round, Lamb earned a 1st period fall, to set up his 3rd place match, but he would eventually fall to 4th place in the final round. At 152, junior Cael Marx scored two 1st period pins in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. But Marx would fall in the finals to #5 ranked Zack Wells of Princeton to finish in 2nd place.

Senior Joe Stucky started his day off with a 2nd period pin over his Minneapolis South opponent. Then in the semifinals, Stucky would face K-M’s Dylan Baker. Unfortunately, during a first period scramble, Baker would injure his knee and was unable to continue. So Stucky would make his way into the finals via injury default. In the finals, Stucky was pitted against 2018 South Dakota State Champion and 2019 Minnesota State Champion Carlos Ruffo of Kasson Mantorville. In the first period, the action was fast paced. The defending champ scored a 1st period takedown but Stucky escaped quickly making the score 2-1. Stucky continued to force the action, and push a good pace into the 2nd period. In the 2nd, Ruffo chose the down position, and Stucky used a dominating ride to wear out Ruffo’s stamina. At one point in the 2nd period Ruffo was warned for stalling as Stucky continued to apply pressure. Ruffo escaped at the very end of the 2nd period, to stretch the lead to 3-1, but used a critical amount of energy to do so. Then in the 3rd period, Stucky escaped immediately to pull within 1 at 3-2. Stucky continued to force the action on the feet taking numerous shot attempts on Ruffo who was visibly tiring. Within the 1st minute of the 3rd period, Ruffo was called for stalling again giving Stucky another point to tie the match at 3-3. In the final minute, Stucky continued to bring a high pace further tiring out the defending champ, who was called for stalling 1 more time in the final :20 seconds to give Stucky the go ahead point and a 4-3 lead. Ruffo made one more attempt at a takedown in the final :10 seconds, but Stucky was able to hold off the attack and hang on for the upset victory and tournament championship!

At 170, junior Dereck Boyum had a come-from-behind victory in the first round to advance to the semi-finals. Boyum would drop his semi-final match, but then would rebound in the wrestle-back round, with a technical fall victory to finish in the top 4.

Junior Alex Rahman would drop his first two matches at 182, to two very tough Princeton opponents. But Rahman would recover to pin his Royalton opponent in the 5th place match.

At 195, sophomore Tony Roberton would get his first two varsity matches of his career but fail to place in the top 6.

Finally, at 285, top ranked senior Logan Wingert would have a fairly easy road to the finals getting a first round bye, and then a 2nd round forfeit. In the finals, Wingert would take just over a minute to pin his only opponent of the day and earn his 2nd Andover Invitational championship in the last 2 years.

Pictures of the Event are available here!

Team Scores

1 Kasson-Mantorville 208.0

2 Princeton 181.5

3 PEM 165.0

4 Andover 155.0

5 Rogers 153.0

6 Royalton-Upsala 120.0

7 St. Paul Como Park 52.5

8 Minneapolis South 44.0

106

Isaac Walch (4-1) placed 3rd and scored 15.5 team points.

Quarterfinal - Isaac Walch (PEM) 4-1 won by injury default over Jorge Nieto (St. Paul Como Park) 0-3 (Inj. 4:17),

Semifinal - Tyler Wells (Princeton) 2-0 won by tech fall over Isaac Walch (PEM) 4-1 (TF-1.5 3:01 (20-5)),

Cons. Semi - Isaac Walch (PEM) 4-1 won by tech fall over Navarro Kornwolf (Rogers) 2-5 (TF-1.5 3:45 (15-0)),

3rd Place Match - Isaac Walch (PEM) 4-1 won by decision over Michael Zimmerman (Royalton-Upsala) 2-2 (Dec 7-2)

113

Riley Boland (0-4) placed 6th and scored 3.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Max Ricks (Rogers) 5-0 won by fall over Riley Boland (PEM) 0-4 (Fall 0:25),

Cons. Round 1 - Riley Boland (PEM) 0-4 received a bye () (Bye)

Cons. Semi - Dominic Mann (Kasson-Mantorville) 3-1 won by tech fall over Riley Boland (PEM) 0-4 (TF-1.5 3:22 (17-0)),

5th Place Match - Alex Bultman (Andover) 2-2 won by fall over Riley Boland (PEM) 0-4 (Fall 1:44)

126

Austin Michel (3-2) placed 3rd and scored 18.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Austin Michel (PEM) 3-2 won by fall over Jacob Goodman (Kasson-Mantorville) 0-2 (Fall 1:05),

Semifinal - Will Gorecki (Royalton-Upsala) 3-0 won by decision over Austin Michel (PEM) 3-2 (Dec 6-5),

Cons. Semi - Austin Michel (PEM) 3-2 won by fall over Tusun Lee (St. Paul Como Park) 1-4 (Fall 2:25),

3rd Place Match - Austin Michel (PEM) 3-2 won by fall over Keyan Laganiere (Kasson-Mantorville) 2-2 (Fall 0:29)

132

Dominic Michel (2-2) placed 4th and scored 14.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Dominic Michel (PEM) 2-2 won by fall over Brock Costanzo (Royalton-Upsala) 0-2 (Fall 5:01),

Semifinal - Landen Parent (Princeton) 3-0 won by fall over Dominic Michel (PEM) 2-2 (Fall 1:17), Cons. Semi - Dominic Michel (PEM) 2-2 won by fall over Jackson Armour (Andover) 1-2 (Fall 3:37),

3rd Place Match - Giovanni Ruffo (Kasson-Mantorville) 3-1 won by fall over Dominic Michel (PEM) 2-2 (Fall 3:43)

138

Cooper Hofschulte (2-1) placed 2nd and scored 18.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Cooper Hofschulte (PEM) 2-1 received a bye () (Bye),

Semifinal - Cooper Hofschulte (PEM) 2-1 won by fall over Stone Frasl (St. Paul Como Park) 4-2 (Fall 2:56)

1st Place Match - Kyle Boeke (Princeton) 3-0 won by major decision over Cooper Hofschulte (PEM) 2-1 (MD 12-4)

145

Kael Lamb (2-2) placed 4th and scored 10.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Kael Lamb (PEM) 2-2 received a bye () (Bye),

Semifinal - Jacob Leibold (Royalton-Upsala) 2-1 won by major decision over Kael Lamb (PEM) 2-2 (MD 8-0)

Cons. Semi - Kael Lamb (PEM) 2-2 won by fall over Laquan Burks (St. Paul Como Park) 1-4 (Fall 1:42),

3rd Place Match - Riley Paetznick-Huhtala (Princeton) 2-1 won by major decision over Kael Lamb (PEM) 2-2 (MD 13-5)

152

Cael Marx (3-1) placed 2nd and scored 20.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Cael Marx (PEM) 3-1 won by fall over Henry Paulson, (Kasson-Mantorville) 0-2 (Fall 0:28),

Semifinal - Cael Marx (PEM) 3-1 won by fall over Brayden Conrad (Royalton-Upsala) 2-2 (Fall 1:49),

1st Place Match - Zack Wells (Princeton) 3-0 won by tech fall over Cael Marx (PEM) 3-1 (TF-1.5 5:06 (20-5))

160

Joe Stucky (4-0) placed 1st and scored 24.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Joe Stucky (PEM) 4-0 won by fall over Rio Starr (Minneapolis South) 2-2 (Fall 3:03), Semifinal - Joe Stucky (PEM) 4-0 won by injury default over Dylan Baker (Kasson-Mantorville) 1-3 (Inj. 1:05),

1st Place Match - Joe Stucky (PEM) 4-0 won by decision over Carlos Ruffo (Kasson-Mantorville) 3-1 (Dec 4-3)

170

Dereck Boyum (3-2) placed 4th and scored 11.5 team points.

Quarterfinal - Dereck Boyum (PEM) 3-2 won by decision over Zach Marshall (Princeton) 2-2 (Dec 13-6),

Semifinal - Kail Wynia (Kasson-Mantorville) 3-0 won by tech fall over Dereck Boyum (PEM) 3-2 (TF-1.5 3:29 (15-0)),

Cons. Semi - Dereck Boyum (PEM) 3-2 won by tech fall over Braden Nienaber (Princeton) 1-3 (TF-1.5 4:52 (19-4)),

3rd Place Match - Ross Meskimen (Rogers) 5-3 won by fall over Dereck Boyum (PEM) 3-2 (Fall 0:59)

182

Alex Rahman (2-2) placed 5th and scored 7.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Malachi Kolhoff (Princeton) 3-1 won by major decision over Alex Rahman (PEM) 2-2 (MD 9-1),

Cons. Round 1 - Alex Rahman (PEM) 2-2 received a bye () (Bye)

Cons. Semi - Kaden Olsen (Princeton) 2-2 won by fall over Alex Rahman (PEM) 2-2 (Fall 4:42),

5th Place Match - Alex Rahman (PEM) 2-2 won by fall over Isaac Kasella (Royalton-Upsala) 1-3 (Fall 1:58)

195

Anthony Roberton (1-2) place is unknown and scored 0.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Aidan Winter (Andover) 3-0 won by tech fall over Anthony Roberton (PEM) 1-2 (TF-1.5 3:33 (16-0)),

Cons. Round 1 - Austin Wensmann (Royalton-Upsala) 2-3 won by fall over Anthony Roberton (PEM) 1-2 (Fall 3:49)

285

Logan Wingert (3-0) placed 1st and scored 24.0 team points.

Quarterfinal - Logan Wingert (PEM) 3-0 received a bye () (Bye),

Semifinal - Logan Wingert (PEM) 3-0 won by forfeit over Justus Deloach (St. Paul Como Park) 1-2 (For.)

1st Place Match - Logan Wingert (PEM) 3-0 won by fall over Jadin Decora (Minneapolis South) 1-1 (Fall 1:05)