WARRIOR WRESTLING KICKS OFF SEASON EXCITED FOR THE YEAR

The Fulda/MCC Wrestling Warriors kicked off the 22/23 wrestling season with almost 30 wrestlers in the books. They have Nick Henning at the helm, Kody Kramer, and Clayton Hartle at his side and this writer foresees it to be a terrific season.

On Thursday December 1st the Warriors took a bus on a small road trip to Pipestone for a triangular against Pipestone and Red Rock Central.

Red Rock Central would be the 1st opportunity for the Warriors to take a dual win for the season and they did with a final score of 49-27 Warriors.

8th grader Kaston Clarke from the Warriors weighing in at 106 drew junior Keagan Steen of RRC. Kaston Clark broke through two tight cradles put on by Steen for consecutive nearfalls in the first period. The second and third period were relatively eventless as Steen ran legs and held Kaston to the mat. Steen would take the match 12-0 earning a 4 point major decision for RRC.

Brayden Gilb another 8th grader for the Warriors took on 8th grader Marshal Willhite and earned the pin and 6 team points after scoring a takedown on a single leg then securing a tight cradle.

Freshman Lucas Kuball at 132, following consecutive forfeits for Thomas Pruitt at 120 and Teague Meyer at 126, took on Johan Skarupa. Kuball snapped Skarupa down in the tie and earned two on a go behind takedown then didn’t hesitate to capture the nearside cradle putting Skarupa on his back and earning another 6 for the team.

Junior Denver Ash at 138 with a quick single leg take down wrestled himself into position to secure a reverse cradle on Junior Andrew Pankonin for the 6 putting the Warriors up 30 to 4. Freshman Noah Mathiowetz drew Evan Bartholomaus of RRC and couldn’t escape a headlock after the initial takedown by Bartholomaus giving 6 back to RRC.

Junior Aiden Lorenzen would wrestle junior Carter Beranek and go the distance scoring 16 points with multiple Hi Crotch takedowns and a couple half nelson nearfalls. Beranek was only allowed to score 3 escape points as Lorenzen dominated the match earning a 4 point major decision.

Freshman Quintin Lewis came out of the gate firing on all cylinders as he took a single leg takedown and secured a half nelson before they even got to the mat. By the time Junior Quintyn Vold got to the mat he was already stuck in a half nelson and let his back go down rewarding Lewis with a pin and 6 team points.

Senior Carter Benda took on Senior Bode Determan and wrestled a very strong 3 periods earning an escape out of the down referees position in the second period then snapping Determan to the mat with a good tie and earning two takedown points on a go behind. After 3 periods of wrestling Benda won the match 3 to 1 only giving up a penalty point earning a decision for the team. Sophomore Carson Klein received a forfeit at 182 and the Warriors have an open weight at 195 trading 6 for 6 team points.

At 220 we would see Colby Kesteloot go three periods with state ranked Vander Mathiowetz eventually losing by Technical fall giving 5 more to RRC. Rylan Klein rounded out the dual wrestling Keaton Skarupa falling to a pin at 50 seconds.

The Fulda/MCC Warriors wrestling team took the dual with a 49-27 score showing some real promise for the upcoming season.

The Pipestone Arrows were next up for the Warriors and there was some real anticipation as the Warriors defeated the Arrows last year to make the final four in the section.

First up was Kaston Clarke and Mason Fruchte where Clarke had the first takedown and a hard ride for the first period. The second period Clarke earned a quick escape from bottom referees position only to suffer a takedown by Fruechte, but Clarke held his composure by sitting out catching a leg and putting Fruechte in a near side cradle pinning him and earning 6 team points starting the Warriors off with a nice lead.

Brayden Gilb at 113 fended off Mikio Hernandez offense for two periods and in the third period earned a reversal out of a nearfall to hold Hernandez to a major decision holding on to the lead for the Warriors.

After a forfeit to Teague Meyer, Kaden Landsman and Lucas Kuball both suffered pins. Then Denver Ash took on the state ranked Hudson Burnett and put on a pretty good show defending Burnett’s attack and hold him to a technical fall.

Freshman Noah Mathiowetz at 145lbs took Davis Budden to the second period before he suffered a fall. Following Mathiowetz was Aiden Lorenzen who took a whopping 22 second to takedown and pin 9th grader Carlos Saenlouangraj with a reverse cradle.

Carter Benda in the 170 bout, following a pin by Bode Bruns over Quinten Lewis, took on Xavier Banjoko. Benda with some quick feet secured the early takedown and Banjoko quickly defended earning an escape and the duo finished the first period hard fighting for position. The 2nd period put Benda in the down position and Banjoko secured a crossface cradle, but it wasn’t enough as Benda got his hips out and came out on top earning a reversal then took a headlock position and squeezed Banjoko till his shoulders fell to the mat giving Benda the pin and 6 points for the team.

8th grader Weston Kruger, showing no fear at 195 going against another 8th grader Griffin Smidt, got caught in an early takedown and left a small window for Smidt to secure a pinning combination.

The 220 weight class put Colby Kesteloot up against the tall Aiden Voss and Colby pushed Voss for three periods holding him to a major decision. Rylan Klein finished out the dual against Valentin Barrios and wasted no time taking Barrios down and catching his arms in a Minnesota twist pinning him earning 6 team points finishing the dual on a high note with a final score of 30-49 Pipestone.

On Saturday the Warriors made the annual road trip to Okoboji Iowa for the Okoboji tournament and saw a lot of success placing 7 of 9 wrestlers in the top six of the 11 team tournament. Lucas Kuball and Quintin Lewis both finished 6th in their weight class. Teague Meyer, Colby Kesteloot, and Aiden Lorenzen all earned 5th. Rylan Klein and Denver Ash each made the podium as Klein took 4th and Ash took 3rd.

This week the Warriors look forward to a quadrangular meet Thursday night against Windom, Marshall, and Adrian at the MCC High School Gym. Then on Saturday the Warriors travel to Jackson for the JCC tournament.

GO WARRIORS!!!