Austin Staticha earned his 100th career wrestling win as the Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus Road Crew went 3-0 in the Rausie Cummings Memorial Duals Tournament Friday, Jan. 28, at Pequot Lakes. The Road Crew toppled Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 51-12 and Minneapolis North 84-0 and edged Princeton 37-33.
The Road Crew improved to 23-1 overall, but the individual highlight was the milestone win for Staticha.
“Austin has put together an outstanding season, and has a 27-1 record,” Road Crew coach Travis Hoffarth said. “Reaching his 100th win is a great accomplishment. He now joins his fellow senior teammates Connor Tulenchik, Caleb Ruhl, and Owen Carlson as active wrestlers who have reached triple digits in wins. Our seniors have combined for 626 career wins if you add Karsen and Korey Kinyon.”
Parker Zutter, Tulenchik and Corbin Knapp all went 3-0 on the night for the Road Crew.
“D-G-F is an up and coming team in our section, but they don't have any seniors in their starting lineup,” Hoffarth said. “We wrestled really well against them, which carried over to our duel against MinneapolisNorth. (North) has done a nice job of building their numbers, but they are young and we matched up with them really well.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Hoffarth said his squad “didn’t match up the best” against Princeton.
“We were familiar with (Princeton) since they were the team that knocked us out in the Class 2-A state quarterfinals last season,” he said. “We were prepared for (Princeton) to make a run through the middle of our lineup, but didn't expect that we would give up so many falls.
“In order to reach our goals, we will have to get off our backs in the section tournament. Earl Stockman and Corbin Knapp each won the key toss-up decisions. Those were two matches, we knew could go either way, and they both did a great job of finishing. This team has done such a good job all season of picking the next guy up. They really fight for each other.”
This team has done such a good job all season of picking the next guy up. They really fight for each other.
The tournament was named after Rausie Cummings, a former team manager who died in September of 2020.
“We intend to continue this event for years to come,” Hoffarth said. “(Rausie) was a special part of our team and loved this team. It was fitting to honor the seniors on this night, as Rausie would have been a part of this graduating class. It’s a special group of kids, who have put their stamp on this program in so many positive ways. To win the first Rausie Cummings Memorial tournament was just icing on the cake.”
Road Crew are scheduled to compete at the Fergus Falls Triangular Thursday, Feb. 3.
