Senior Wrestlers Bring Home 2 State Medals!

Last weekend PEM’s wrestling season officially came to an end at the MN State Wrestling Tournament, held at the Xcel Center. The Bulldogs qualified two wrestlers for the tournament, seniors Joe Stucky and Logan Wingert. For both of them, it was the 2nd time they had qualified for the tournament. Wingert qualified last year as a junior, and Stucky qualified two seasons ago as a sophomore.

After a Thursday morning send-off at PEM high school, the wrestlers and coaches headed to St. Paul to check in at the tournament and participate in one final workout on Thursday afternoon in preparation of Friday morning’s opening round. The boys were on the move again early on Friday morning and back at the Xcel Center for weigh ins at 8:00 am. A couple hours later, the opening round was underway.

Competing first for the Bulldogs was 152 Joe Stucky versus Jordan Summers of Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton. In the opening period, Stucky provided all the offense, with many shot attempts, but the very strong Summers was able to fend them for about 45 seconds when Stucky got the 1st takedown. On a restart, Stucky elected to give Summers an escape and put him back on his feet. Stucky made good on the decision by getting another takedown to end the 1st period and take a 4-1 lead into the 2nd period. In the 2nd period, Stucky chose down, and got a reversal to stretch his lead to 6-1. In the final period, Summers chose down, but Stucky rode him out for the entire duration and advanced into the quarterfinals with a 6-1 victory. A short time later, Logan began his 1st round match against Shea Albrect of Orono. In the first period, Wingert brought many shot attempts and connected on one to take a 2-0 lead into the 2nd period. Wingert chose down to start the 2nd period and got a quick escape followed by another takedown to stretch his lead to 5-0. But Wingert wasn’t done yet as he put Albrect to his back and finished with a pin to move into the quarterfinals as well.

In the evening’s quarterfinal round, Stucky was matched against 41 match winner Reid Lawrence of Mahtomedi. After a very even 1st period where both wrestlers took many attempts, Stucky struck first finishing a takedown to end the period on top with a 2-0 lead. In the 2nd period, Stucky chose down and got an escape to extend his lead to 3-0, but Lawrence retaliated with a takedown of his own to close within a point at 3-2. Stucky got a quick escape to bring the lead back to two at 4-2. After both wrestlers were again neutral, Lawrence got in on a very nice single leg, but was unable to finish, as Stucky battled the position while hopping on one leg. Stucky was warned for stalling to end the 2nd period, but nonetheless took a 4-2 lead into the final period. Lawrence chose down to start the 3rd period, and hit Stucky in a reversal, to tie the match at 4-4. But it was short-lived, as Stucky would post a reversal of his own to retake the lead at 6-4. However, Lawrence wasn’t finished yet, and he would get an escape to close within a point at 6-5. With seconds left in the match, Stucky held a 1 point lead and had already been warned for stalling. As the seconds wound down, Stucky did what he needed to do, staying offensive to ward off a critical 2nd stall warning-which would have tied the match, while defending numerous attacks by Lawrence. When the final second ticked off the clock, Stucky had earned a place on the state podium and spot in the semifinals with a 6-5 lead. Only minutes later, Wingert took the mat for the Bulldogs in his bid to earn a state medal for the 2nd year in a row. Facing Matt Baker of Delano, Wingert again got off to a quick start scoring the first takedown and gaining a 2-0 lead which he would maintain into the 2nd period as Baker would be unable to escape. In the 2nd period, Wingert chose down, and got a quick reversal to extend his lead to 4-0. Unsatisfied, Wingert kept the pressure on until he hooked up a “butcher” and finished it to record his team leading 28th pin of the season to advance to the semifinals and earn his 2nd state medal.

The tournament continued Saturday morning with the semifinals. Once again, Stucky was up first, this time facing 45 match winner Jude Link of Dassel-Cokato-Litchfield. Both wrestlers competed hard in a very even first period but couldn’t score a takedown, and the first period would end still tied at 0-0. Stucky struck first in the 2nd period with an escape, but midway through the period, Link executed a Kelly that put Stucky on his back and eventually culminated in a fall, sending Stucky to the wrestle-backs. In the Bulldogs’ 2nd match of the round, Wingert took his shot in the semis versus Chisago Lakes’ Connor Bleymeyer. The very tall, Bleymeyer scored the first takedown of the match to take a 2-0 lead. But Wingert recovered quickly and escaped to narrow the gap to 2-1. Once again, back on the feet, Wingert hooked into a left arm underhook and pushed in for a knee-pick. Unfortunately, Bleymeyer was able to use Wingert’s momentum to hit a lateral drop that landed Wingert on his back and ultimately ended in a pin sending Wingert to the wrestle-backs as well.

In the consolation semifinals, both Bulldogs showed their grit and rebounded well. Stucky was matched against 43 match winner Cale Luthens of Hutchinson in his wrestle-back match. Despite Luthens impressive record, Stucky showed that on this day he was the better wrestler, dominating the match on his feet. In the 1st period, Stucky gained the 1st takedown of the match. Then in the 2nd, Stucky gained 2 more, followed by 2 more in the 3rd period. By the time the match was over, Stucky had rolled to an impressive 11-5 victory. Logan Wingert followed suit a short while later versus Kessler Kenning of Annandale/Maple Lake. In the 1st period, no takedowns were scored, but Wingert took many attempts to Kessler’s zero and Kessler was given a warning for stalling. In the 2nd period, Wingert escaped to take a 1-0 lead. Then Wingert continued pushing the pace on the feet, getting Kessler called for stalling yet again, this time earning Wingert a penalty point to take a 2-0 lead into the final period. In the final period, Wingert hooked up a butcher and turned Kessler to his back. To Kessler’s credit, he then did something very few opponents have been able to do this season, by getting off his back. Even after Kessler’s escape, Wingert held a commanding 5-1 lead and continued to force the action, getting Kessler called for stalling yet again. After one final takedown from Wingert, the match ended with an 8-1 victory.

With the victories, both boys earned a spot in the 3rd place match. In his final match of his career, Stucky was pitted against Perham’s Jack Fudge (39-3). At the end of the first period, Stucky again struck first getting a takedown to gain a 2-0 lead heading into the 2nd period. In the 2nd period, Fudge earned a quick escape to make the score 2-1, but after an exciting scramble, Stucky had another takedown and a 4-1 lead. Fudge escaped again, and once again the match was on the feet with Stucky holding a 4-2 lead. After another scramble ensued, this time Stucky attempted a duck under that unfortunately ended up with him getting thrown in a headlock and pinned.

Wingert next faced Fergus Falls’ Dustin Portales. In a rematch of last year’s semifinal, the first period ended knotted at 0-0 with both heavyweights unable to score a takedown. In the 2nd period, Portales earned and escape to take a 1-0 lead, then in a display of great strength, threw Wingert to his back for 5 more points. Refusing to be pinned, Wingert powered his way off his back, but unfortunately was in quite a hole down 6-0 on the scoreboard. Undeterred, Wingert got an escape and immediately got back to work on the feet taking shot after shot. Near the end of the 2nd period Portales was warned for stalling. Wingert chose down to start the 3rd and earned a quick escape to pull within 4 at 6-2. Needing to score, Wingert again took many shot attempts resulting in another Portales takedown and an 8-2 lead. Again showing his refusal to quit, Wingert escaped and continued coming after Portales getting him called again for stalling and closing the gap to 8-4. Wingert continued forcing the action against an obviously tiring Portales and earned his first takedown of the match to pull within 2 at 8-6. Wingert continued applying the pressure on top, and had a butcher hooked up 3 different times. But each time Portales nose would start bleeding and the match needed to be stopped. With :15 seconds left, Portales was called for stalling yet again to make it a one point match at 8-7. With time running low, Wingert elected to concede 1 point to put Portales back on his feet. Needing a takedown to send the match into overtime, Wingert got in on a single-leg and hoisted it into the air. Portales was crashing to the ground as time expired. But the takedown was not awarded as Wingert would have needed a mere 1 or 2 more seconds to score the match tying takedown. Like Stucky, Wingert would end his State Tournament run as the 4th place finisher.

The two senior Bulldogs end their high school careers as two of PEM’s most decorated wrestlers. Joe Stucky’s 145 wins leave him tied with the legendary Mark Krier for 4th most in program history. In addition, his 299 takedowns and 81 pins, place him firmly in 4th and 5th place all-time. Joe was a 6-time Section 1AA placewinner and was named 1st Team All Conference 5 times. Additionally, Joe was a two-time state entrant and one time state placewinner. For his part, Logan Wingert is the winningest heavyweight in PEM history. His 132 career wins leave him tied for 11th overall in program history and 1st among all heavyweights. Wingert’s 94 career pins also ranks 3rd in program history behind only the legendary brother tandem of Blaine and Garrett Miller. Along the way, Wingert broke school records for most team points in a season (250) and most pins in a season (34). Wingert was a 4x Section 1AA placewinner, named 1st Team All Conference twice, was a 2x state entrant and 2x state place-winner. As importantly, both seniors will be remembered for their outstanding leadership on and off the mat.

Pictures of the event are located here!

Individual Results:

152AA

Joe Stucky (34-4) placed 4th

Champ. Round 1 - Joe Stucky (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 34-4 won by decision over Jordan Summers (Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton) 8-8 (Dec 6-1)

Quarterfinal - Joe Stucky (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 34-4 won by decision over Reid Lawrence (Mahtomedi) 41-6 (Dec 6-5)

Semifinal - Jude Link (Dassel-Cokato-Litchfield) 45-2 won by fall over Joe Stucky (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 34-4 (Fall 3:34)

Cons. Semi - Joe Stucky (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 34-4 won by decision over Cale Luthens (Hutchinson) 43-9 (Dec 11-5)

3rd Place Match - Jack Fudge (Perham) 39-3 won by fall over Joe Stucky (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 34-4 (Fall 3:35)

285AA

Logan Wingert (41-4) placed 4th

Champ. Round 1 - Logan Wingert (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 41-4 won by fall over Shea Albrecht (Orono) 25-11 (Fall 4:00)

Quarterfinal - Logan Wingert (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 41-4 won by fall over Matt Baker (Delano) 33-8 (Fall 2:27)

Semifinal - Connor Bleymeyer (Chisago Lakes) 36-6 won by fall over Logan Wingert (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 41-4 (Fall 1:28)

Cons. Semi - Logan Wingert (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 41-4 won by decision over Kessler Kenning (Annand-M Lk Lightning) 31-8 (Dec 8-1)

3rd Place Match - Dustin Portales (Fergus Falls) 17-3 won by decision over Logan Wingert (Plainview-Elgin-Millville) 41-4 (Dec 9-7)