Wrestling: Big win for Team United from its big guy

ST. PAUL — Brady Rhode is well prepared for pressure moments.

With the Class AA state wrestling consolation championship on the line against Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus, Rhode was ready to deliver for Dawson-Boyd/Lac qui Parle Valley/Montevideo. The United faithful’s chant of “RHO-DE” echoed through the Xcel Energy Center as the 285-pounder battled through three periods.

“It energized me,” said Rhode, a junior from Montevideo. “It made me just push and push until I won at the end.”

And like he’s done a handful of times this season, Rhode led United to victory. His 4-2 decision over the Roadcrew’s Riley Peters sealed a 35-32 victory and a 2-1 showing for the unseeded United.

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

“We told Brady that he needs the pressure on him in order to perform,” United head coach Hank Ireland said with a laugh.“He’s stepped up every time we put him out there.”

United opened with a 47-18 loss to third-seeded Kasson-Mantorville. They bounced back in the consolation semifinals, beating unseeded Mora 42-30.

“They were pretty down after that first loss,” Ireland said. “I think once they hit the mat, they shook the cobwebs off and focused up and got the job done.”

“This was a big team effort,” Ireland added. “It’s just nice to bring home some hardware.”

Macy Moore / West Central Tribune

Against PL/PRB, United won four straight matches from Holland Schacherer at 126, Daniel Gunlogson at 132, Kameron Sather at 138 and Zander Clausen at 145 to build a 20-11 lead.

Clausen and Ben Gunlogson both went 3-0 for United on the day.

“We bumped Zander up two times and he did a great job and did his job,” Ireland said. “We got great leaders on the team. … They really hold this team to a high standard and the kids step up.”

The Roadcrew led 32-26 with two matches to go. Zach DeBeer tied the dual at 32-all with a first-period fall over Payton Scott at 220.

Despite losing his first two matches of the day, Rhode was undeterred.

“I knew I could do it; I’ve done it all year long,” Rhode said. “I just had to kick away the negative thoughts and focus on the match.”

Rhode added, “At the start of the year, I didn’t know how I thought about this team. But we’ve all worked our butts off all season long and proved myself wrong.”

Top-seeded Simley won its fifth straight Class AA championship, beating second-seeded New Prague 46-20.

Seven United wrestlers — Ben Gunlogson (106), Daniel Gunlogson (126), Sather (132), Clausen (138), Holt Larson (170), Parker Bothun (195) and Rhode (285) — compete in the two-day Class AA individual tournament starting on Friday.

106: Ben Gunlogson, U, pinned Trevor Holmberg, 1:34
113: Parker Zutter, P, tech fall Eli Olson, 16-1
120: Easton Miller, P, pinned Tygan Long, 0:27
126: Holland Schacherer, U, dec Owen Dabill, 7-1
132: Daniel Gunlogson, U, maj dec Sean Kilpatrick, 9-0
138: Kameron Sather, U, maj dec Grant Thompson, 9-0
145: Zander Clausen, U, dec Brady Ruhl, 3-0
152: Chance Abraham, P, pinned Ethan Moravetz, 1:10
160: Earl Stockman, P, pinned Noah Meyer, 5:35
170: Trey Tuchtenhagen, P, tech fall Mason Pederson, 15-0
182: Holt Larson, U, pinned Paxton Goddard, 0:19
195: Corbin Knapp, P, maj dec Parker Bothun, 12-1
220: Zach DeBeer, U, pinned Payton Scott, 0:45
285: Brady Rhode, U, dec Riley Peters, 4-2

106: Eli Olson, U, pinned Joseph Connor, 0:33
113: Ben Gunlogson, U, pinned Stratton Nelson, 1:21
120: Mason Nelson, M, Holland Schacherer, 12-6
126: Daniel Gunlogson, U, pinned Cooper Sjodin, 3:00
132: Nathan Nelson, M, pinned Bentleigh Bothun, 0:50
138: Kameron Sather, U, pinned Cole Grams, 2:25
145: Zander Clausen, U, dec Brock Folkema, 4-2
152: Avery Nelson, M, dec Ethan Moravetz, 8-2
160: Connor Gmahl, M, pinned Noah Meyer, 2:00
170: Tucker Hass, M, pinned Mason Pederson, 1:14
182: Holt Larson, U, dec Jared Yates, 6-4
195: Parker Bothun, U, pinned Brock Peterson, 4:19
220: Zach DeBeer, U, pinned Dyllon Adams, 4:38
285: Curtis Maegi, M, pinned Brady Rhode, 0:49

106: Ben Gunlogson, U, pinned Kalin Anderson, 1:01
113: Broc Vaughan, KM, tech fall Eli Olson, 22-6
120: Holland Schacherer, U, pinned Jonah Coleman, 5:04
126: Aiden Friedrich, KM, dec Daniel Gunlogson, 6-2
132: Owen Friedrich, KM, dec Kameron Sather, 6-1
138: Zander Clausen, U, pinned Noah Swarts, 3:06
145: Joseph Kennedy, KM, pinned Adrian Norman, 3:46
152: Luke Swanson, KM, maj dec Ethan Moravetz, 16-2
160: Kaylub White, KM, dec Noah Meyer, 11-8
170: Cole Glazier, KM, tech fall Holt Larson, 23-8
182: Dominic Mann, KM, pinned Mason Pederson, 2:58
195: Owen Nelson, KM, dec Parker Bothun, 6-3
220: Eli Richardson, KM, dec Zach DeBeer, 2-0
285: Heath Parrish, KM, pinned Brady Rhode, 3:24