Vikings foiled by KMS in 5A semis

In one of the most thrilling matches of the season that had boisterous fans from both sides screaming, top-seeded Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg escaped Minneota's upset bid by less than an inch Saturday in Benson and prevailed 31-29 in the Section 5A semifinals.
No. 3-seeded Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa topped No. 2 Canby 40-19 in the other semifinal match. BBE then went on to knock off KMS 38-25 in the championship.
"Both teams really didn’t have a lot of moves, so the match-ups we had were ones we thought we would get," said Minneota co-coach Matt Buysse "We lost a lot of close matches from 106 to 138, but the kids competed really well and left it all out on the mat."
Minneota, which finished the season 19-6, trailed KMS 25-20 with two matches remaining and needed pins in the final two weights to win the match
Eli Gruenes, moving up a weight to 220 pounds, was trailing 1-0 with just 40 seconds left when he was able to put Owen Kidrowski on his back. Viking teammates and coaches leaped high in the air when the official's hand slapped the mat to indicate the fall with 33 seconds remaining.
Hudson Scholten, rated No. 6 in his weight class in Class A, needed a pin in his match against Jason Jones to upend the Fighting Saints.
Scholten wrestled well throughout his match as KMS' Jason Jones went on the defensive to avoid going to his back.
Scholten built his lead to 3-2 in the opening period with teammates encouraging him from the bench. Scholten then managed to turn Jones for back points, putting everything he had into prying his shoulders to the mat. Finally, Jones was able to get out of the grip and avoid the fall.
Scholten scored a takedown in the middle stanza for a 7-2 lead.
With both wrestlers spent, the final minute became anti-climactic and Scholten, who turned in a valiant effort, came away with a 12-5 win."Hudson is a great kid and teammate and I don’t think he really felt too much pressure," said Buysse. "He knew what was at hand and wrestled as hard as he could for six minutes and the outcome just didn’t end how we needed it to. That situation is a hard one to be in because the other kid knows he just cannot be pinned and so he’s able to wrestle very defensively, Hudson did everything he could and that’s really all the team and us as a staff can ask of him."
Both teams won seven matches. The Fighting Saints had one more pin than the Vikings and won three of the four matches that were by three points or less.
The Vikings got pins from Peyton Gillund at 126 pounds and Gruenes at 220. Adam DeVlaeminck at 113 won by a technical fall. Earning decisions were Zack Fier at 152, Destin Fier at 160, Alex DePestel at 182 and Scholten at 285.
"We felt the team wrestled very well. Some things just didn’t go our way, and that happens a lot in wrestling," said Buysse. "These kids prepared themselves very well the past month to give themselves a chance. We had great leadership from our upper class-men and the only thing we ask our kids to do is wrestle as hard as they can and leave it all out on the mat. The kids should be proud of how they came together and we look forward to a great individual section tournament."
The Section 5A individual tournament will be held on Saturday, Feb. 25 at Minnewaska Area High School. DeVlaeminck, Gillund and Zack Fier all qualified for state last season. Fier placed fourth in his weight class. DeVlaeminck is ranked No. 4 at 113 pounds, Gillund is ranked No. 8 at 126 and Fier is ranked No. 2 at 152.

KMS 31, Minneota 29
106: Colton Noble, KMS, dec Kaden Lasnetski 5-3
113: Adam DeVlaeminck, Min, techfall Cole Froehlich 19-4
120: Trey Gunderson, KMS, pin Quinton Anderson :27
126: Peyton Gillund, Min, pin Tanner Wilts 3:19
132: Taytan Nielsen, KMS, dec Zeke Monzon 4-1
138: Noah Johnson, KMS, dec Brock Fier 4-3
145: Jeff Olson, KMS, pin Browdy Lozinski 1:37
152: Zack Fier, Min, dec Chase Magaar 7-0
160: Destin Fier, Min, dec Luke Froehlich 10-5
170: Aaron Jones, KMS, majdec Noah Gorecki 12-1
182: Alex DePestel, Min, dec Collin Johnso 3-1
195: Masyn Olson, KMS, pin Kyler Lozinki 1:18
220: Eli Gruenes, Min, pin Owen Kidrowski 5:27
285: Hudson Scholten, Min, dec Jason Jones 12-5

****************************
Minneota downs Paynesville in 5A quarterfinals, 32-27

The Vikings, the No. 4 seed in the Section 5A tournament, topped No. 5 Paynesville 32-27, winning eight of the 14 matches. last Thurday in Minneota.
Minneota nipped Paynesville 31-30 in an earlier meeting this year.
Trailing 3-0, Minneota got a technical fall from Adam DeVlaeminck at 113 pounds for a 5-3 advantage. DeVlaeminck held a 4-1 lead after the first period, then increased it to 10-2 entering the final period before notching having Devan Schmidt on his back three times in the final period to make the final score 18-3.
Paynesville then notched a technical fall at 120 pounds to regain the lead 8-5 before Mason Javers' 9-3 decision at 126 tied the match, 8-8.
Peyton Gillund then followed with a pin at 132 pounds for Minneota. After dominating the first period and leading 7-0, Gillund scored a reversal and led 9-0 before locking Brayden Kierstead-Hahn in a cradle and pinning him in 2:26.
The Bulldogs came back to tie the match 14-14 with a pin by Mason Hansen at 138 after he trailed Zeke Monzon 6-1 after two periods.
The Vikings then reeled off four straight wins; a 10-0 major decision by Brock Fier at 145, a 14-9 decision by Destin Fier at 152, a 17-2 technical fall by Zack Fier at 160, and a 5-1 decision by Alex DePestel at 170. DePestel and Aaron Mages were locked in a scoreless tie after two periods. Mages then took a 1-0 lead before DePestel scored a takedown and nearfall with 10 seconds remaining to secure the win and give the Vikings a 29-14 lead.
Paynesville then prevailed in the next two matches, a pin and a major decision to close within 29-24.
Eli Gruenes then clinched the victory with a 3-1 decision at 220 pounds.

Minneota 32, Paynesville 27
106: Roman Roberg, Pay, dec Kaden Lasnetski 9-4
113: Adam DeVlaeminck, Min, techfall Devon Schmidt 18-3
120: Mason McNab, Pay, techfall Quinton Anderson 15-0
126: Mason Javers, Min, dec Preston Welling 9-3
132: Peyton Gillund, Min, pin Brayden Kierstead-Hahn 2:26
138: Mason Hansen, Pay, pin Ezequiel Monzon 4:34
145: Brock Fier, Min, majdec Mitchell Blonigen 10-0
152: Destin Fier, Min, dec Jose Anaya 14-9
160: Zack Fier, Min, techfall Grant Wendlandt 17-2
170: Alex DePestel, Min, dec Aaron Mages 5-1
182: Peyton Hemmesch, Pay, pin Noah Gorecki 1:34
195: Seth Vearrier, Pay, majdec Kyler Lozinski 18-6
220: Eli Gruenes, Min, dec Kevin Raya Botello 3-1
285: Spencer Eisenbraun, Pay, dec Hudson Scholten 5-3