5 hours Ago By Conrad Engstrom
BRAINERD — Eight different Brainerd Warriors tabbed two wins as they swept a Central Lakes Conference triangular Tuesday, Jan. 21, at Brainerd High School. The Warriors defeated the Alexandria Cardinals 55-17 and the St.
Cloud Crush 49-20. The two victories put Brainerd firmly in second place in the CLC with a 6-1 record trailing Willmar, who came into Tuesday 6-0. ADVERTISEMENT “I think our team did pretty well today,” senior captain Ethan Kosloski said.
“There were a lot of close matches that we could’ve won. We’ve put in a lot of hard work in the practice room. We want to be able to get to the section final and have a chance to go to state as a team.
” The first four wrestlers in Brainerd’s lineup — William Dircks, Crewe Dahlheimer, Cole Berhow and Ben Rodriguez — all went 2-0 to ignite the Warriors. Dircks started both matches with first-period pins at 107 pounds. Dahlheimer earned an 11-8 decision against Alexandria’s Logan Becker and won by forfeit against St.
Cloud at 114. At 121, Berhow won by forfeit against Alexandria and won by a 1-0 decision against St. Cloud’s Grady Doering.
Rodriguez won by a 17-0 technical fall against St. Cloud’s Connor Frederiksen and by a 14-2 major decision against Alexandria’s Isaac Seward. “Having William at 107 really helps us and we have a really good group of young kids,” Warriors’ head coach Jim Kath said.
“They have wrestled together for a number of years in our youth program and outside the season. It’s nice to see them come to the high school level and make that next step.” Junior Easton Dircks returned to the Warriors lineup from injury last week.
He earned two wins Tuesday, one by forfeit against St. Cloud and the other with a 49-second pin against Alexandria’s Ty Larson, at 145. Dircks is a three-time state wrestler, which includes a fourth-place finish as an eighth grader.
He is Class 3A’s third-ranked wrestler at 145. ADVERTISEMENT Dircks missed six weeks of the season due to hand surgery. “He’s a really solid kid to have back in our lineup,” Kath said.
“We are super happy to have him back. We had a lot of kids step in when he was out and perform well. We know it’s going to be a team effort, but we are a better team with Easton Dircks on it.
” Kosloski added: “Having Easton back is a morale booster. Seeing him back in action is really good to see.” Freshman Tyce Faber recorded two first-period pins at 172, including a nine-second pin against St.
Cloud’s Ethan Brott. “Tyce is a unique wrestler,” Kath said. “I was looking at his record the other day and most of his wins are falls.
He’s a young kid and a strong kid. He continues to improve and did a lot of work in the offseason. We are excited about him and he is performing well.
” Kosloski went 2-0 with a third-period pin against Alexandria’s Luke Maanum and a 17-0 technical fall against St. Cloud’s Batuo Teboh. “He’s a nice kid to have at the end of our duals,” Kath said.
“He’s a good that we can count on to wrestle well and he’s a really good leader inside the room. He is one of our more vocal captains. He does a nice job of cheering on the other kids.
” ADVERTISEMENT Kosloski went to state last year at 215. He is the defending Section 8-3A champion. “It’s helped a lot with my confidence,” Kosloski said of last year’s success.
“I am a fairly good wrestler and it doesn’t scare me anymore when I see the rankings because I know that I am right there with them.” Kosloski sits at 88 wins for his career. His goal is to reach 100 by the end of the season.
“I feel a lot more comfortable this year being a senior,” he said. “I know this is my last year wrestling and the end goal would be to place at state.” Brainerd travels to Buffalo Thursday, Jan.
23, to face the Bison and the Wayzata Trojans in a triangular. “The kids overall have wrestled well, but we want to focus on where we will be at the end of the season during section time to give us a chance to beat a team like Bemidji or Willmar,” Kath said. ADVERTISEMENT.
