Wrestling: BBE Jaguars finish 4th at state

ST. PAUL — Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa got its long-awaited ‘W’ at state.

The last two seasons, the Jaguars had been shut out at state. On Thursday, third-seeded BBE ended its skunked streak by opening the Class A state wrestling tournament with a 42-22 win over unseeded Medford.

“We went into uncharted territory,” said BBE head coach Jordan Fester. “We took that demon off our back.”

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

BBE went 1-2 in the tournament, placing fourth at the Xcel Energy Center. The Jaguars lost 33-27 to second-seeded Caledonia/Houston. In the third-place match, fifth-seeded Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted beat BBE 32-30.

“Being the first (BBE) team to place down here is really cool,” said junior 170-pounder Maximus Hanson. “Sad it didn’t go quite the way we wanted. But you can never hang your head with fourth in state.”

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

BBE trailed its opening bout with Medford 22-12 before winning the last six matches. Hunter Laage (160 pounds), Carson Gilbert (182), Talen Kampsen (195) and Ethan Spanier (220) each won by fall in that span.

“That helped our mentality knowing we’d be a state-placing team,” said Hanson, who beat No. 2-ranked Tate Hermes in a 3-2 decision in the Medford match. “It was exciting.”

BBE avenged two of its regular-season losses in the Section 5A tournament. Now, the Jaguars are hoping for that kind of chip on their shoulder in hopes of another state run next season.

“I hope our team keeps that same bad-boy mentality,” Hanson said, “the punch-you-in-the-face and get after it (attitude).”

Six Jaguars are slated to compete in the Class A individual tournament Friday and Saturday: Ryan Jensen (132), Wyatt Engen (138), Laage (160), Hanson (170), Gilbert (182) and Spanier (220).

106: Aiden Mueller, BBE, maj dec Alex Ogle, 12-3
113: Radon Graham, HLWW, pinned Noah Welte, 2:50
120: Louie Tensen, BBE, pinned Tegan Miller, 5:16
126: Gabriel Michels, HLWW, pinned Elliot Spanier, 1:07
132: Ryan Jensen, BBE, maj dec Caleb Michels, 18-6
138: Wyatt Engen, BBE, pinned William Kutz, 1:33
145: Brett DeRoo, BBE, dec Tony Baumann, 7-2
152: Mitchell Mallak, HLWW, maj dec Tanner Viessman, 10-2
160: Caleb Boese, HLWW, dec Hunter Laage, 3-1
170: Maximus Hanson, BBE, maj dec Isaac Cain, 14-5
182: Collin Boese, HLWW, dec Carson Gilbert, 10-3
195: Tyler Graczyk, HLWW, maj dec Talen Kampsen, 9-1
220: Colton Long, HLWW, pinned Ethan Spanier, 4:39
285: Harley Weber, BBE, dec Jakob Duske, 5-1

106: Aiden Mueller, BBE, dec Aiden Burns, 6-2
113: Hunter Frank, CH, maj dec Noah Welte, 14-6
120: Braxton Lange, CH, tech fall Louie Tensen, 17-0
126: Tanner Ginther, CH, pinned Elliot Spanier, 0:22
132: Owen Denstad, CH, dec Ryan Jensen, 5-4
138: Cory Scanlan, CH, pinned Wyatt Engen, 5:50
145: Tucker Ginther, CH, dec Brett DeRoo, 3-2
152: Isaac Blocker, CH, dec Tanner Viessman, 13-7
160: Simon Seymour, CH, dec Hunter Laage, 1-0
170: Maximus Hanson, BBE, tech fall Bronson Knutson, 20-5
182: Carson Gilbert, BBE, maj dec Jacob Francis, 8-0
195: Talen Kampsen, BBE, pinned Alec Weinbender, 4:23
220: Ethan Spanier, BBE, pinned Tyler Jennings, 1:24
285: Harley Weber, BBE, dec Grant Ness, 5-1

106: Aiden Mueller, BBE, pinned Evan Noble, 2:27
113: Luis Lopez, M, pinned Noah Welte, 3:24
120: Kaden Harfmann, M, maj dec Louie Tensen, 11-0
126: Jack Meyer, M, pinned Elliot Spanier, 0:50
132: Ryan Jensen, BE, dec Tommy Elwood, 5-0
138: Wyatt Engen, BBE, dec Evan Schweisthal, 6-0
145: Charley Elwood, M, dec Brett DeRoo, 5-0 
152: Garron Hoffman, M, dec Tanner Viessman, 7-1
160: Hunter Laage, BBE, pinned Kael Neumann, 3:00
170: Maximus Hanson, BBE, dec Tate Hermes, 3-2
182: Carson Gilbert, BBE, pinned Aiden Ahrens, 1:26
195: Talen Kampsen, BBE, pinned Dylan Heiderscheidt, 2:41
220: Ethan Spainer, BBE, pinned Conor Wilson, 0:36
285: Harley Weber, BBE, dec Mason Degrood, 3-1