BEMIDJI -- The Bemidji High School wrestling team recovered from a 46-22 loss to Perham in the first match to topple Thief River Falls 46-24 in a triangular Thursday night at the BHS Gymnasium.
“It’s early December and we definitely have some things that we need to work on and tonight was a good opportunity to get an idea of the techniques that we were using that were working well for us and what’s not working well,” BHS head coach Rance Bahr said. “We’ll kind of head back to the drawing board and adjust our practices accordingly.”
The Lumberjacks squared off with the No. 5-ranked team in Class AA in the early match of the evening with the Yellowjackets.
Seventh grader Seth Newby pinned his opponent in 1 minute, 10 seconds in the 113-pound bout to even the match at 6-6.
“(Newby) won two big matches for us this evening,” Bahr said of the newcomer to the team. “I thought he wrestled very well.”
ADVERTISEMENT
A couple of successive losses gave Perham a 12-6 advantage but sophomore Joe Hudson levelled the match at 12-12 with his pin in 1 minute, 51 seconds at 132 pounds.
However, Perham built a 32-12 lead after four straight wins and went on to win 46-22. Juniors Chance Hinrichs (160) and Kaleb Beam (285) scored two more wins for the Jacks, winning by a 13-5 major decision and a 1-minute, 17-second pin, respectively.
“Perham’s a very, very good team,” Bahr said. “I thought that we left several points on the mat as far as just finishing matches and hustling, giving a little more effort. I think a few of our kids felt a little overwhelmed tonight and maybe paid a little too much attention to the fact that Perham was ranked (No. 5). But overall I thought we performed well, but we definitely have some things to work on.”
The Jacks rebounded in the second match, building a 21-0 lead early in a run that was started by another wrestler new to varsity, freshman Riley Farris (106), who secured a 12-8 win to start off BHS.
“He got in a little trouble the first match, but the second match he wrestled really well and pulled off a tough match,” Bahr said of Farris.
The Prowlers rallied back to within a point a 25-24 but Bemidji utilized four straight wins, including three by pin, to win 46-24.
The Lumberjacks will travel south to Brainerd for a two-day, 14-team tournament that begins today at 4:30 p.m. and continues Saturday, Dec. 9.
Perham 46, Bemidji 22
106: Brady (PERH) over Farris (BEMI) (Fall 1:10)
113: Newby (BEMI) over Johnson (PERH) (Fall 1:10)
120: Werner (PERH) over B. Golden (BEMI) (Dec 8-2)
126: Bellefeuille (PERH) over Roth (BEMI) (Dec 9-3)
132: Hudson (BEMI) over Pechtel (PERH) (Fall 1:51)
138: J. Fudge (PERH) over Leffelman (BEMI) (Fall 5:17)
145: Rach (PERH) over Solum (BEMI) (Dec 7-5)
152: D. Fudge (PERH) over Co. Hinrichs (BEMI) (Fall 3:03)
160: Guck (PERH) over Wuori (BEMI) (Fall 2:18)
170: Ch. Hinrichs (BEMI) over Hackel (PERH) (MD 13-5)
182: Kellogg (PERH) over Geiger (BEMI) (Dec 5-2)
195: Peterson (PERH) over Moen (BEMI) (Fall 5:48)
220: Moser (PERH) over Schoenborn (BEMI) (MD 20-7)
285: Beam (BEMI) over Lindquist (PERH) (Fall 1:17)
ADVERTISEMENT
Bemidji 46, Thief River Falls 24
106: Farris (BEMI) over Geiser (TRF) (Dec 12-8)
113: Newby (BEMI) over Wienen (TRF) (Fall 3:31)
120: B. Golden (BEMI) by forfeit
126: Roth (BEMI) over Lancto (TRF) (Fall 3:19)
132: Lundeen (TRF) over Hudson (BEMI) (MD 14-4)
138: Davis (TRF) over Leffelman (BEMI) (TF 15-0 3:07)
145: Johnson (TRF) over Solum (BEMI) (Dec 9-4)
152: N. Golden (BEMI) over Lizakowski (TRF) (MD 9-0)
160: Bernier (TRF) over Ch. Hinrichs (BEMI) (Fall 1:17)
170: Miller (TRF) over Mutchler (BEMI) (Fall 5:04)
182: Geiger (BEMI) over Iverson (TRF) (Fall 2:21)
195: Moen (BEMI) over Jensen (TRF) (Fall 0:28)
220: Schoenborn (BEMI) over Swanson (TRF) (Dec 10-8)
285: Beam (BEMI) over Efteland (TRF) (Fall 0:39)
