The Pequot Lakes-Pine River-Backus Road Crew placed third at the ever-tough Wadena-Deer Creek wrestling tournament on Dec. 1. Perham, the team that placed second in the state last year, won the tournament with 255 points. Thief River Falls placed second with 175 points while the Road crew came in third with 156.5 points. Greenbush-Middle River-Badger, currently rated ninth in the state in Class A according to Guillotine Wrestling Magazine, was fourth with 151.5 points.
Perham continued from where they left off last year leading the pack with eight champions at the tournament. "They made a statement today," said Road Crew Coach Tom Demars. "They showed that they are in a league of their own."
Wrestling at 103 pounds was seventh-grader Drey Loge. In the semifinals he lost to the state's fourth-ranked Andrew Gorentz from Perham before coming back to win by a 7-1 score earning fifth place. Overall he had two varsity wins for the tournament.
Joe Knutson, at 112 pounds, placed sixth.
Returning state entrant tenth-grader Cody Schrupp (119 pounds) placed third.
Ninth-grader Chris Harrison, (125 pounds) who had 24 wins last year, placed fourth at the tournament.
Nic Harrison dominated the 130-pound weight class. In the semifinals he won with a pin at 1:35 and took first place with a fall at 4:30 defeating the 10th-rated state wrestler.
Nathan Waslaski, at 135 pounds and rated fifth at 140 pounds, placed second to Thief River Falls' Steve Keogh who is rated fifth at 135.
Tenth-grader Levi Allen (140 pounds) placed fifth with a 46-second pin.
"Dustin Campbell (152 pounds) wrestled well against good competition," said coach Demars. Campbell won third place with a 6-3 win.
Marcus Hernandez, at 171 pounds, wrestled a tough weight class and placed sixth.
The Road Crew's Pat Bresnahan placed third with a 7-0 win. This year the 189-pound class is very strong with a number of very good wrestlers.
Wrestling at 285 is Troy Griffith who won in the semifinals with a pin and dominated the finals winning first place 9-0.
The Road Crew's next match-up is on Thursday, Dec. 6 at Pequot Lakes.
