Most varsity wrestlers have night off as Bemidji faces Perham, TRF
PERHAM – After an exhausting week which included a home dual against Grand Rapids, the Big Bear tournament and Thursday’s triangular with Moorhead and Badger-Greenbush-Middle River, Bemidji wrestling coach Rance Bahr decided to give most of his varsity athletes Friday night off.
The Lumberjacks faced Perham and Thief River Falls in Perham but many of the varsity members were bystanders. As a result, BHS lost 58-17 to Perham and 42-23 to the Prowlers.
“Part of the reason for going with some junior varsity kids was because we have had a tough schedule but we also were looking ahead,” Bahr said. “A kid can wrestle only 36 times a year and we already have some kids with 17 matches. We knew there would be times this season when we had to sit out some of the varsity wrestlers and we thought this was one of those times.
“These matches also gave us the chance to see the junior varsity kids in action,” the coach added.
Senior heavyweight Alex Johnson did wrestle Friday and he went 2-0, pinning Jessie Buchold of Perham in 47 seconds and earning a 7-2 decision over Chris Kucera of Thief River Falls. Those wins upped Johnson’s career total to 102.
On Thursday he reached triple figures in wins with victories over his opponents from Moorhead and BGMR.
Bemidji’s other double winner Friday was Parker Beyer (106 pounds) who posted a technical fall against Perham and a pin over his TRF foe.
Cody Freyholtz (132) collected an 11-8 decision victory over Jacob Juehna of Perham and Josh Dreyer (182) won 5-2.
In the Thief River Falls match Tyler Maas (113) was awarded a forfeit, Lucas Gast (145) won 6-1 and Alex O’Neal cruised to a 20-5 win.
“Overall I thought the kids put forth a good effort,” Bahr said. “It is difficult to go against tough teams without many of your starters. We want to be competitive but, in the long run, when section time rolls around the benefits of sitting out some varsity wrestlers on Friday will outweigh the negatives.”
Perham 58, Bemidji 17
106: Beyer (B) tech fall Johnson 16-0
113: Pirrotta (P) pin T.Maas 1:44
120: Curtis (P) won by forfeit
126: Fudge (P) won by forfeit
132: Freyholtz (B) dec. Juehna 11-8
138: Germolus (P) pin Bedeau
145: Ganetzey (P) pin Gast 1:40
152: Monsen (P) pin Martell 2:38
160: Glenn (P) dec. O’Neal 13-3
170: Parks (P) pin Tschudi 2:21
182: Dreyer (B) dec. Klatt 5-2
195: Garcia (P) won by forfeit
220: Nylander (P) won by forfeit
Hwt: Johnson (B0 pin Buchold 0:47
Thief River Falls 42, Bemidji 23
106: Beyer (B) pin Zuniga 0:44
113: T.Maas (B) won by forfeit
120: Elexsin (TRF) won by forfeit
126: Double forfeit
132: Bernier (TRF) pin Freyholtz 1:50
138: Hjelle (TRF) pin Kleeb
145: Bohl (TRF) pin Martell 4:54
160: O’Neal (B) tech fall Samuelson 20-5
170: Holecek (TRF) pin Tschudi 0:52
182: Nelson (TRF) won by forfeit
195: Brown (TRF) pin Dreyer 2;42
220: Double forfeit Hwt: Johnson (B) dec. Kucera 7-2
