2 weeks Ago By Joe Brown
MELROSE — The Paynesville wrestling team kicked off its season with a victory at the Defender Open. With four finalists and two champions, the Bulldogs finished with 165 points, beating Mille Lacs’ 162.5.
Thief River Falls was third in the 15-team tournament with 152.5. Seventh-grader Tyson Meagher and senior Mason McNab were champions for Paynesville.
Meagher went 3-0 and won the 107-pound bracket with a 12-1 major decision against Sartell’s Jayce Gruber. McNab was 4-0 and won at 133 following a 7-4 overtime decision against Alexandria’s Nolan Fettig. Mason Hanson placed second at 152, winning two straight before a loss to Thief River Falls’ Elias Motta in the final.
Mitchell Blonigen also went 2-1, losing the 160 final to Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa’s Brett DeRoo in a 9-5 decision. DeRoo had the top finish for the Jaguars, who finished 10th with 85 points. BOLD placed 14th.
Edgar Kopel had the Warriors’ best showing as the runner-up at 114. He lost to Mille Lacs’ Vincent Schmid in a 4-0 decision in the final. Defender Invite Defender Invite Girls Tournament Sisters Adamaris and Tianna Chable Rodriguez each finished on the podium for Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg in the Defender Invite Girls Tournament at Melrose.
Adamaris went 3-1 and placed second in the 170-pound bracket. She won by first-period fall in her first three matches before losing by fall in 3:52 to Thief River Falls’ Samantha Zoller in the final. Tianna went 4-1 and placed fifth at 118.
After starting 1-1, Tianna won her final three matches, with two falls and a tech fall. The pair helped the Fighting Saints to a ninth-place finish with 40.5 points.
Mora was the team champion with 159. BOLD’s Ava Kiecker was the 124 runner-up. She won her first two matches by fall before dropping a 15-6 major decision in the final to Mora’s Bridget Bankers.
Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa’s Elizabeth Rademacher finished fourth in the 130 bracket with a 2-2 showing..
