Cobras 42, Red Bulls 28
Windom/Mt. Lake/Butterfield-Odin recorded seven pinfall victories Thursday as the Cobras rolled into the Section 3AA semifinals with a 42-28 win over Martin County at Windom.
The Cobras fed off the energy from a large, enthusiastic student section, which gained more energy from each Cobra pinfall.
Evan Kish got the Cobras on the board with a pin in 1:12 at 107. After a decision loss at 114, the Cobras got back-to-back first-period pins from Jacob Lopez (121) and Matthew Voehl (127).
The Red Bulls got a third-period pin at 133, but the Cobras answered. Eighth-grader Hugo Lopez recorded a thrilling pin in 1:01 at 139 pounds, followed by a pin by Dagen Hansen in 1:03 at 145 pounds. At 152 pounds, Elliot Xayavong rallied after allowing an early takedown, building a commanding lead before recording a pinfall in 3:13.
The match of the night came at 160, where Cobra Kameron Koerner, ranked sixth at 145 pounds, bumped up to face Torrey Paplow, ranked seventh at 152. Koerner raced out to an 8-0 lead, but Paplow rallied, eventually claiming an 11-8 decision win. But the energy from the match carried over to 172, where a pinfall in 1:40 from Damien Davison sealed the Cobras’ first trip to the section semifinals since the team returned to Class AA competition.
Martin County won the final three weight classes with a major decision and two pinfalls.
With the win, the Cobras advance to face the top-seeded north team, Marshall, in the section semifinals, which will be held Saturday in Fairmont, beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Falcons 41, Cardinals 36
Huskies 69, Falcons 6
Red Rock Central opened the Section 3A team wrestling tournament with a forfeit-filled 41-36 victory over Luverne, but saw the dual meet season end with a 69-6 loss to top-seeded Jackson County Central Thursday in Jackson.
Against Luverne, the Falcons received six forfeit victories. A technical fall victory from Jackson Radmaker at 121 pounds was RRC’s only on-mat victory of the match, while Luverne recorded a pair of first-period pinfalls and received four forfeits.
Against JCC, the Falcons started the match with a pinfall in 1:20 from Braxton Weber at 107 pounds. The rest of the match was all JCC, as the Huskies recorded five pinfalls, one technical fall and a major decision. JCC also received four forfeit victories from the Falcons.
Next matches: Check for updates after each match.
WMLBO: vs. Marshall (at Fairmont), Feb. 14
RRC: at Section 3A Individual Tourney (Springfield), Feb. 21
