Not since 2003 have the Cubs made it to the Final Four, but with their convincing win over Osakis Tuesday night, Feb. 16, the Cubs made it to the semi-finals to face number one seed ACGC.
Tuesday night the Cubs came out on fire as they were able to win 10 out of 14 matches. The Cubs were led by Marcus Hamer (103), Tanner Mills (112), Tyler Kuechle (125), Jordan Joseph (135), Mitch Pramann (140) Caramon Hansen (145), Travis Schiefelbein (152), who all won by pin. David Joseph (171), Alex Thurber (189), and Austin Schiefelbein (215) picked up wins by decision for the Cubs.
Kimball Area 51, Osakis 18
103: Marcus Hamer (K) fall Todd Berberich (O) :45
112: Tanner Mills (K) fall Nick Wolterstorff (O) 2:33
119: Derek Stoetzel (O) fall Jeremiah Kelley (K) 1:28
125: Tyler Kuechle (K) fall Nick Sunder (O) 3:16
130: Cole Erie (O) dec Quentin Bryce (K) 7-2
135: Jordan Joseph (K) fall Austin Collins (O) 5:08
140: Mitch Pramann (K) fall Stephan Rutten (O) 1:22
145: Caramon Hansen (K) fall James Gabrielson (O) 2:19
152: Travis Schiefelbein (K) fall Cody Rupert (O) 2:25
160: Nikolaj Hagen (O) dec Travis Wills (K) 9-4
171: David Joseph (K) dec Trent Johnson (O) 5-2
189: Alex Thurber (K) dec Chris Ludwig (O) 10-6
215: Austin Schiefelbein (K) dec Garret Scherr (O) 6-3
Hwt: Cody Torkelson (O) fall Cody Mackereth (K) 1:14
Friday, Feb. 19, the Cubs faced the number one seed Atwater-Cosmos- Grove City in the semi-finals. The Falcons have won the section seven years in a row, and the Cubs gave them a great fight all the way through. The Cubs needed to win all of the close matches in order to come out with the win, but ACGC was just too tough on the night for the Cubs. Picking up wins for the Cubs were Marcus Hamer (103) who won by a decision, Tanner Mills (112) won by a major decision, Mitch Pramann (145) won a very tough-fought match, winning by a decision in sudden death overtime, David Joseph (171) won by a fall, and Alex Thurber (189) won by a major decision.
Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 40, Kimball Area 20
103 Marcus Hamer (KIM) Dec. Logan Peterson (ACGC) 6-2
112 Tanner Mills (KIM) Maj. Dec. Tyler Berghuis (ACGC) 16-5
119 Jessie Whitcomb (ACGC)Fall Jeremiah Kelley (KIM) 2:55
125 Hayden Rouser (ACGC) Dec. Tyler Kuechle (KIM) 6-2
130 Matt Lee (ACGC) Maj. Dec. Quentin Bryce (KIM) 11-2
135 Larry Bomstad (ACGC) Fall Jordan Joseph (KIM) :16
140 Matt Meyer (ACGC) Dec. Caramon Hanson (KIM) 9-3
145 Mitch Prammann (KIM) Dec. Nate Meyer (ACGC) 5-4 (3XOT)
152 Mike Kramer (ACGC) Dec. Travis Schiefelbein (KIM) 8-4
160 Ryan Larson (ACGC) Fall Travis Wills (KIM) 3:30
171 David Joseph (KIM) Fall Jordan Fester (ACGC) 1:32
189 Alex Thurber (KIM) Maj. Dec. Lucas Damm (ACGC) 14-6
215 James Nelson (ACGC) Dec. Austin Schiefelbein (KIM) 2-0
285 Dylan Nelson (ACGC) Fall Cody Mackerath (KIM) 1:49
In the finals, Paynesville knocked off the Falcons in a very exciting match. The Bulldogs will represent section 5A down at the state tournament.
The loss to the Falcons ended the team season for the Cubs who finished with an overall record of 22-6 on the year. Now the focus will be on the individual wrestlers to see how many we can qualify for the state tournament. The individual section tournament will be held in Sauk Centre this year, with wrestling beginning at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, and will continue at noon Saturday.