There are plenty of talented wrestlers in Section 3, and a lot of it was on display in Tracy last Thursday, as the Panthers hosted section rivals Pipestone Area and Adrian Area.
In the end, the Panthers would split with the two teams, beating the Arrows 38-32 and falling to the Dragons 38-27.
“Those are two of the teams that are probably going to be in the (section) mix, and you can see why,” TMB/WWG coach Karl Campbell said. “It was a huge night — you see Pipestone knocking off Adrian, then we turn around and beat Pipestone, then we get beat by Adrian — it’s all about matchups.”
The evening didn’t start out auspiciously for the home team, as the Arrows took the first three bouts for a 16-0 lead. Taylor Squires got a fall at 127, and after Mason Fruechte earned a pin for PA, TMB/WWG took over.
David Schuh won by forfeit at 145, and Nolan Verlinde got an 18-2 technical fall at 152 to pull the Panthers to within one points. A pin by the Arrows made it a seven-point match before Nevin Marten, who has been less than healthy for some time, won a 3-0 decision at 172. The Arrows got four more points with a major decision at 189, but TMB/ WWG rallied, as Adam Hippe (215) and Lawton Verlinde (285) put the Panthers over the top with falls.
“Adam has done a lot of really good things,” Campbell said. “He’s really improved, but he always keeps finding a way to come up short. Tonight, he took advantage of his opportunity, and we needed that; we don’t get that (win), we don’t get that dual.”
Against the Dragons, TMB/WWG trailed 12-0 before a decision by Logan Petersen and a Squires pin. Adrian went up 15-9 with a decision at 133, but an Oakley Bornitz decision at 139 and a Schuh pin put TMB/WWG up 18-15. The Dragons went back ahead with a technical fall at 152, and widened the gap with three straight pins to seal it. Lawton Verlinde and Jack Willhite both won their matches to make the final 38-27.
“Adrian has four or five guys in their lineup that are really tough,” Campbell said. “It starts with (Travis) Weiss at 133, then they’ve got (Charger) Erlandson at 152. You’ve gotta get bonus points and you can’t give up bonus points. One thing our team really seems to struggle with is giving up pins. We give up a lot of pins, and our studs for the most part didn’t go out and get bonus points.”
Campbell said he didn’t have to remind his wrestlers about the importance of Thursday’s matches.
“It’s not just about the match itself, it’s about the preparation and controlling some of the other things that I think we need get better at,” he said. “These guys haven’t completely bought in to going over and above when nobody’s looking.”
The Panthers haven’t faced their section foes much this year, but that is changing. They have a number of matches during the final week of the year that will go a long way to determining seeding for the section tournament that is Feb. 12 and Feb. 14. He said matches against Redwood Valley, Springfield, Luverne, Fulda/ Murray County Central and Jackson County Central will give a truer picture as to how the section will unfold.
“We all know the potential of this team,” said Campbell. “This team has a chance to win the section. We’re having a good year.”
The Panthers were 17-8 overall heading into this week’s action and on Friday will face F/MCC, a section foe they lost to back on Jan. 10 in Sheldon, Iowa.
TMB/WWG 38, Pipestone Area 32 107 Oscar Ramirez PIPE over Ethan Johnson TMBW (F 2:35) 114 Jibril Razzaq PIPE over Lane Hoffman TMBW (F 1:45) 121 Lane Fruechte PIPE over Logan Petersen TMBW (MD 9-0) 127 Taylor Squires TMBW over Ayden Koprek PIPE (F 0:29) 133 Mason Fruechte PIPE over Mua Vang TMBW (F 0:32) 139 Weston Marten TMBW over William Perez-Garcia PIPE (F 0:23) 145 David Schuh TMBW won by forfeit PIPE (FF) 152 Nolan Verlinde TMBW over Carlos Saenlouangraj PIPE (TF 18-2 (4:46) 160 Haden Mulvihill PIPE over Tyler Arnold TMBW (F 1:28) 172 Nevin Marten TMBW over Marcus Niz PIPE (Dec 3-0)
189 Oliver Sterud PIPE over Mavrick Snyder TMBW (MD 15-4) 215 Adam Hippe TMBW over Santino Teboe PIPE (F) 285 Lawton Verlinde TMBW over Griffin Smidt PIPE (F 4:01)
Adrian Area 38, TMB/WWG 27 107 Riley Harberts ADAR over Ethan Johnson TMBW (F 2:16) 114 Will Jenniges ADAR over Lane Hoffman TMBW (F 2:03) 121 Logan Petersen TMBW over Rayden Boyenga ADAR (Dec 10-9) 127 Taylor Squires TMBW over Jackson Penning ADAR (F 0:23) 133 Travis Weiss ADAR over Weston Marten TMBW (Dec 5-1) 139 Oakley Bornitz TMBW over Aiden Timmer ADAR (Dec 9-4) 145 David Schuh TMBW over Cael Schettler ADAR (F 1:58) 152 Charger Erlandson ADAR over Nolan Verlinde TMBW (TF 19-4 (5:29) 160 Jackson Jenniges over Tyler Arnold TMBW (F 2:18) 172 Caleb Wolf ADAR over Nevin Marten TMBW (F 0:15) 189 Jesse Bullerman ADAR over Adam Hippe TMBW (F 1:05) 215 Lawton Verlinde TMBW over Garrett Penning ADAR (Dec 6-1) 285 Jack Willhite TMBW over Cody Graff ADAR (F 4:03)
LANE HOFFMAN tries to get out of a hold against Adrian Area’s Will Jenniges.
WESTON MARTEN pins Pipestone Area’s William Perez-Garcia for his 75th career win during last week’s triangular in Tracy. Photo / Tara Brandl
