THIEF RIVER FALLS- The Perham wrestling team saw its team season end prematurely in Thief River Falls on Friday night.
Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton, the third seed in the west, made a run to the Section 8AA championship round with a 34-21 semifinal win over the Yellowjackets
“We battled hard, and congratulations to DGF,” Perham’s head coach David Vetsch said. “A couple of toss-up matches didn’t go our way. DGF is pretty good on top, but so are we. They got the better of us in the end.”
Perham’s 138-pounder Carson Byer thought the Yellowjackets could’ve made the match more exciting toward the end.
“There were a couple of matches where we gave DGF some bonus points,” he said. “If we didn’t give up those points, the score probably would have been closer. It would’ve set up a better ending.”
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DGF started the matchup with a Kayleb Kosen (106) pin of Bo Bush. The Yellowjackets answered with a Dresden Wegscheid (113) victory over Gabe Schmitz by decision (4-0). Isaac Adams (120) secured a 5-2 decision win over DGF’s Sam Schmitz to tie the match at 6-6.
Both teams traded decision wins before Chandler Mickelson (132) muscled out a win by decision (5-2) over TJ Fuller. Byer followed with a 3-0 decision over DGF’s Austin Lenhart. Johnny Ramos joined his teammates with another decision victory (10-8) in thrilling overtime fashion against Camden Mustachia.
The three consecutive decision victories propelled the Yellowjackets in a 15-9 lead.
The Rebels won the next four matches to go up 25-15. Perham’s Hudson Hackel (195) notched the last win of the night for Perham. He pinned DGF’s Cole Julin only 28 seconds into the match. The Rebels capped the night with decision and pin victories.
With the team season over, Vetsch enjoyed seeing his guys grow throughout the year.
“It was seeing the boys progress this season,” he said. “You get different kids making varsity and see how the young kids improve with the older kids. It’s always fun every year, seeing the cycle of wrestlers and how they improve.”
Some of the surprises this season were the younger wrestlers on the team that played a big role in Perham’s success.
“I would say our seventh and eighth-graders on varsity really improved and helped the team,” Vetsch said. “We have a really good ninth-grade class, so we are really excited for next year.”
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“This season was kind of like last season,” Byer said. “We didn’t start off the greatest, and towards the end of the year, we got more physical, and the young guys got into it more. Like yeah, we got hot, made a run, but it wasn’t the way we wanted it to end.”
Byer now has his eyes set on Individual state next week. The Perham grapplers will rejoin the mat with their section opponents Feb. 24-25 at Detroit Lakes High School.
“I am pretty excited because this is my year to do some damage,” Byer said. “I’m hoping to do something and make some noise.”
DILWORTH-GLYNDON-FELTON 34, PERHAM 21
106 – Kaylen Kosen (DGF) def. Bo Bush by fall (4:42)
113 – Dresden Wegscheid (PER) def. Gabe Schmitz by dec. (4-0)
120 – Isaac Adams (PER) def. Sam Schmitz by dec. (5-2)
126 – Jacob Luebke (DGF) def. Tiegan Detloff by dec. (4-3)
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132 – Chandler Mickelson (PER) def. TJ Fuller by dec. (8-4)
138 – Carson Byer (PER) def. Austin Lenhart by dec. (3-0)
145 – Johnny Ramos (PER) def. Camden Mustachia by dec. OT (10-8)
152 – Roy Rude (DGF) def. Kaden Feldt by fall (2:54)
160 – Joey Arends (DGF) def. Logan Guck by MD (11-3)
170 – Thomas Thureen (DGF) def. Trystan Larson by dec. (11-4)
182 – Jordan Summer (DGF) def. Braylon Rach by dec. (3-0)
195 – Hudson Hackel (PER) def. Cole Julin by fall (0:32)
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220 – Bryce Fischer (DGF) def. Rorey Lindquist by dec. (3-1)
285 – Caleb Johnson (DGF) def. Jaxon Vetsch by fall (4:40)
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