歪歪漫画

ST. PAUL 鈥� There鈥檚 a saying in sports that鈥檚 often used incorrectly.

鈥淥nly one team gets to end the season with a win.鈥�

While the adage refers to there being one champion every year, it鈥檚 almost always wrong at every level in most team sports in a literal sense.

In the professional ranks, at least half of the teams don鈥檛 qualify for the postseason, giving organizations on the outside looking in a chance to end on a high note. While most NCAA team sports give each team an automatic bid to their conference tournament, some leagues don鈥檛, giving dozens of programs opportunities to end their respective seasons with a victory.

At the high school level in Minnesota, every team gets a chance in the postseason, which would lend truth to the aforementioned phrase. However, it does not account for third place and consolation matches.

On Thursday at the Class 3A state team wrestling tournament, the Bemidji High 歪歪漫画 boys wrestling team was a beneficiary of the saying鈥檚 inaccuracies. After dropping a tight quarterfinal match against No. 4 Albert Lea, the fifth-seeded Lumberjacks battled their way through the consolation side of the bracket to take home fifth place.

Courtesy / Bill Johnson

鈥淕etting here was a big goal for us,鈥� head coach Greg Skerik said. 鈥淥nce we got here, we just said, 鈥楬ey, let鈥檚 see how good we are.鈥� Let鈥檚 put ourselves and our 13 guys to the test in every single match and see where that puts us. For that to get us fifth place and a consolation championship, that鈥檚 a huge mark. The boys just showed the grit and the hard work they had all year long.鈥�

After losing to Albert Lea 33-26, BHS rebounded to beat Hastings 30-29. In the consolation championship, the Jacks picked up their most decisive victory of the day in a 40-27 win over Prior Lake.

Ozzie Hanks kicked off the consolation match with a 3-0 decision win over Rocco Mikolyzyk at 107 pounds. After Dekai Brown and Liam Collins put the Lakers ahead 10-3, Casey Sisneros (127 pounds), Gabe Morin (133), Gavin Osbon (139) and Nick Strand (145) helped the Lumberjacks take a commanding 23-10 lead.

Alec Newby (172) and Kohen Donat (189) put the match out of reach. Newby pinned Thomas Wycoff in less than two minutes before Donat pulled out a 16-0 technical fall win over Charlie Nelson. Nehemiah Schwinghammer put the cherry on top of the consolation championship by pinning Alex Tremain in 75 seconds.

鈥淜ohen Donat stepped up and got some big wins,鈥� Skerik said. 鈥淭hat tech fall against Prior Lake there to end it, it was just huge. Overall, it was just a huge day for Kohen and a huge day for our seniors. They battled some really tough kids today. Our studs, our people who needed to score points, scored a lot of points.鈥�

Courtesy / Bill Johnson

Hanks, Strand, Newby and Schwinghammer each went 3-0 on Thursday, with all three of Strand鈥檚 victories coming by fall. Sisneros, Osborn, Morin and Donat went 2-1.

鈥淚 get to see the day today and the hard work that鈥檚 put in,鈥� Skerik said. 鈥淚 ask a lot out of them, and they don鈥檛 question it, they don鈥檛 back down from anything. For me, just to see all of that pay off for them to get some hardware and show the state that they really are this good 鈥� that they didn鈥檛 just get here by luck 鈥� it鈥檚 huge. They came down here and won two matches, and that鈥檚 an unbelievable group of young men who worked really hard to get this.鈥�

Much like the Section 8-3A title bout against Willmar, Bemidji鈥檚 state quarterfinal match came down to heavyweight. Schwinghammer pinned Sklyer Sandsmark in 1:35 to pull the Lumberjacks within three points with one match remaining.

Albert Lea鈥檚 Evan Schroeder, however, put the finishing touches on the seven-point win with a 12-1 major decision triumph over Ben Derosier.

Hanks picked up a win by technical fall to kick off the Jacks鈥� match against the Tigers. Sisneros (121) and Osborn (139) notched wins by decision before Strand pinned Malakai Olson in 41 seconds at 145 pounds.

Skerik came away impressed with Sisneros鈥� performance in the first round.

鈥淐asey Sisneros in the first match today beat the fifth-ranked guy in the state,鈥� Skerik said. 鈥淚 told him going into that match that he could wrestle that kid because I know how good Casey is. Regardless of whether he鈥檚 here to wrestle individually or not, he鈥檚 definitely one of the top 16 kids in his weight class. We just wrestle in a tough section.鈥�

Courtesy / Bill Johnson

Newby earned a 9-4 decision win over Triton Cox to level the match at 17-17 before Albert Lea pulled away by winning two of the final three matches.

The Lumberjacks had a quick turnaround to the consolation semifinals against Hastings. Once again, it went down to the wire.

After Adrian Fuchs pinned Derosier, BHS trailed 29-27 with one match left. Schwinghammer edged out a 5-3 decision win over Elijah Christopher to eke out a one-point victory.

鈥淲e knew we were on this level,鈥� Skerik said. 鈥淏eating Willmar puts us on this level. We knew we had a team to compete down here. I think it鈥檚 just not letting the nerves get to you and not letting the crowd get to you and wrestling your best match. And man, we had some guys today that stepped up for their team with some really good matches.鈥�

While the BHS team season came to a close on Thursday, eight individuals will compete for state gold on Friday and Saturday in St. Paul. Hanks (107), Morin (127), Osborn (133), Strand (139), Newby (160) and Schwinghammer (215) will represent the boys in the individual boys state tournament, while Taylor Merschman (100) and Maya Schmidt (170) qualified for the girls individual competition.

Courtesy / Bill Johnson

Skerik hopes the three-day wrestling extravaganza will provide fuel for the Jacks currently rising the ranks in the youth and high school programs.

鈥淎ctually getting here and having that experience, you can feel all of it,鈥� Skerik said. 鈥淚 think it adds to the hunger and the drive to get here. We can talk about it with them every day, but getting here adds to the experience of going through a season and really makes you want to get back here more than anything else. It鈥檚 a great thing for the program.鈥�

Courtesy / Bill Johnson

No. 4 Albert Lea 33, No. 5 Bemidji 26

107: Hanks (BHS) over Mag. Olson, TF 17-2

114: De. Groess (AL) over Mellema, MD 12-1

121: Sisneros (BHS) over Dy. Groess, Dec 8-3

127: Davis (AL) over Schoneck, Fall 0:29

133: Collins (AL) over Morin, Dec 4-0

139: Osborn (BHS) over T. Ignaszewski, Dec. 15-8

145: Strand (BHS) over Mal. Olson Fall, 0:41

152: B. Ignaszewski (AL) over Schmitt, MD 11-2

160: Koman (AL) over Fredriksen-Holm, Fall 1:30

172: Newby (BHS) over Cox, Dec 9-4

189: Wacholz (AL) over Donat, Fall 1:05

215: Schwinghammer (BHS) over Sandsmark, Fall 1:35

285: Schroeder (AL) over Derosier, MD, 12-1

No. 5 Bemidji 30, Hastings 29

107: Edstrom (HAS) over Glynn, TF, 15-0

114: Hanks (BHS) over McNamara, MD, 16-8

121: Iallandro (HAS) over Sisneros, Dec 7-6

127: Morin (BHS) over Lundstrom, Fall 1:48

133: Beissel (HAS) over Osborn, MD 17-5

139: Strand (BHS) over Ward, Fall 5:00

145: Little Soldier (HAS) over Schmitt, Dec 5-3

152: Peterson (HAS) over Fredriksen-Holm, Dec 5-0

160: Svoboda (HAS) ovr Rinehart, TF 17-0

172: Newby (BHS) over Esterby, TF 19-4

189: Donat (BHS) over Hoff, Fall 5:07

215: Fuchs (HAS) over Derosier, Fall 4:55

285: Schwinghammer (BHS) over Christopher, Dec 5-3

No. 5 Bemidji 40, Prior Lake 27

107: Hanks (BHS) over Mikolzyk, Dec 9-6

114: Brown (PL) over Mellema, MD 16-2

121: Collins (PL) over Schoneck, Fall 0:30

127: Sisneros (BHS) over Jerstad, Fall 2:34

133: Morin (BHS) over Trondson, MD 12-3

139: Osborn (BHS) over Smith, MD 10-2

145: Strand (BHS) over Gegenheimer, Fall 4:44

152: Gabler (PL) over Schmitt, TF 17-2

160: Graham (PL) over Fredriksen-Holm, Fall 1:22

172: Newby (BHS) over Wycoff, Fall 1:39

189: Donat (BHS) over Nelson, TF 16-0

215: Schwinghammer (BHS) over Tremain, Fall 1:14

285: Zurn (PL) over Derosier, Fall 0:28