Pries Wins Title, Gators Finish Fourth at WDC Invite

Pries wins title, Gators finish fourth at WDC Invite By: Ryan Bergeron

Heading into their first tournament action of the season, the Gators took to the mat for the annual Dennis Kaatz Memorial Invite at Wadena-Deer Creek High School in Wadena on Saturday, December 3. For some Gators, they would compete in their first ever varsity tournament. At day’s end, the Gators had 10 place winners, two finalists, and one champion in senior Devin Pries (220). As a team, the Gators tied for fourth with Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale/Parkers Prairie, and behind third place Staples-Motley, second place Thief River Falls, and tournament champion Perham.

“As a team, we had some ups and downs throughout the day, but I kind of expected that with a young team,” Gator Head Coach Todd Bergeron said. “Now, we can get back to the practice room and I know there’s a few things we need to fine tune, but I think in the long run, you will see growth and improvement throughout the year.”

Pries started his championship run by making quick work of his first two opponents, including two first period pins. These victories set a finals match up with Thief River Falls’ Connor Swanson. Pries would trail in this match early, but would use a five-point roll to retake the lead and would pull away late in the third period to secure the 14-5 major decision.

The second Gator finalist, senior Seth Dostal (170) picked up a first period pin in his first round match, setting up a semifinal bout against Perham’s Dawson Kellogg. Trailing in the third period, he would catch Kellogg in a headlock position and pin him with 53 seconds left in the match to advance to the finals. In the championship match, Dostal would wrestle Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale/Parkers Prairie’s Zach Waln, a last-year state entrant. Dostal would trail 2-0 in the second period before getting caught and pinned at the 3:45 mark to finish with runner-up honors.

“It was nice to see both our seniors find their way to the finals and I would like to congratulate Devin (Pries) on a Wadena-Deer Creek title,” Coach Bergeron said.

Securing the next highest Gator finish, eighth-grade Dominik Vacura (195) responded from a loss by pin in the semifinals to last year state entrant Ethan Kimber of Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale/Parkers Prairie’s with two pins of his own to finish third. The second pin came over Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus’ senior Chris Foster.

Three Gators also came with fourth place finishes in Avery Augustson (132), Owen Novacek (138) and Andy Dostal (145).

Augustson began his day with an overtime pin to advance to the semifinals, where he fell to Thief River Falls’ Cole Johnson 11-5. He would win by default to set up his third place match against Perham’s Patrick Johnson. Augustson couldn’t get anything going offensively, falling to Johnson by technical fall.

Competing in a weight class with four state entrants, including himself, Owen Novacek advanced to the semifinals with a 13-5 major decision to face top-seeded Eric Lisson, a fifth-place state finisher last season. Novacek would hold a 3-2 lead late the third period over Lisson. Novacek would shoot in to try and score a takedown, but Lisson would defend it and score the takedown on Novacek to take the lead with about 15 seconds remaining in the match. Novacek couldn’t escape to tie the match and would fall 4-3. Responding from the loss, Novacek would secure a pin to set up a third place match with another last year state entrant in Spencer Richards. Novacek would fall in this match by an 8-1 score to finish fourth.

The final fourth-place finisher, Andy Dostal started his day with a 4-0 decision over second-seeded Peter Koering of Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus to advance to the semifinals. After Thief River Falls’ Kyle Fowler pinned him in the first period, he responded by posting another shutout win, 3-0, to set up a third-place match with Perham’s Wyatt Guck. He would fall to Guck by pin to end his day.

Garrett Undeberg (106) and Zach Evans (285), both competing in their first varsity tournament, and Tyler Isane (160), experiencing a semifinal loss, each finished their days with 2-2 marks to finish fifth. Bryce Bergeron (120) rounded out the Gator placers, falling in three overtimes to Perham’s Gabe Bellefuille in the semifinals before dropping two straight matches to finish sixth.

Austin Maurstad (126), Dade Melby (152) and Jacob Bergsnev (182) competed for the Gators but wouldn’t place.

Some Gator wrestlers also saw some junior varsity action, including in Park Rapids on Friday, December 2, and then at the tournament in Wadena the next day.

In Park Rapids, all the Gator wrestlers picked up at least one win, led by Colten Gust’s, Nathan Waage’s, and Caleb Vacura’s 3-0 finishes. Dale Grindahl, Derrick Corneliusen, Kobe Dostal, Joe Dezelar, Tristan Locken, Jacob Bergsnev, Dawson Beito, and Ethan Waage all finished with 2-1 marks. Brandon Pries and Cauy Hasbrouck each picked up one win.

In Wadena, Joe Dezelar and Dale Grindahl each finished 3-0 and Colten Gust 2-0 to lead the junior varsity. Brandon Pries, Kobe Dostal, Tristan Locken, Ethan Waage, and Caleb Vacura completed their days with 2-1 records. Rounding out the junior varsity results, Derrick Corneliusen finished 1-1, Colby Wooten, Dawson Beito, Tony Olson, and Nathan Waage went 1-2, and Cauy Hasbrouck also competed, but finished 0-3.

The Gators’ next action would come on Tuesday, December 6 in a triangular dual event versus Section 8A opponents Mahnomen-Waubun and Dilworth-Glyndon- Felton in Mahnomen. The Gators then head to the annual Sertoma dual tournament at Grand Forks Central High School on Friday, December 9 and Saturday, December 10.

Copyright of The Tribune (Greenbush, Minn.)