The fourth-seeded Eagle wrest-ling team secured a pair of victories, including an upset of the top-seeded Norwood-Young America Central Raiders, to secure its spot in the Section 4A Championship dual versus the defending section champion and third-seeded Le Sueur-Henderson Giants.
In a dual that came down to the final match, the Eagles dropped this title match by pin, and lost the dual by a 38-29 final to finish as the section runner-up – one win shy of a state tournament team berth – following action from Le Sueur-Henderson High School on Friday, Feb. 14.
Kimball
The Eagles and fifth-seeded Kimball Cubs met in the opening round of the Section 4A team tournament. Behind eight victories – all but one of the bonus variety – the Eagles jumped out to a 26-4 lead and held off the Cubs for the 41-24 win.
The Eagles jumped out to this early 26-4 lead thanks to victories in five of the first six matches. Of those five victories, three came by pin, including Cason Demarais (107), Torii Berg (133), and Brayden Kramer (139). Brody Sieben picked up the 11-4 decision over the Cubs’ Teagan VanNurden, and John Weiss (121) secured the 17-0 technical fall to also account for the Eagles’ first five wins.
The Cubs’ lone victory during that Eagles opening run came at 127, an 11-0 major decision victory for Max Schiefelbein.
Trailing by that 26-4 score, the Cubs rallied back with wins in four of the next five matches – all of the bonus point variety – to pull within seven, at 31-24.
During this run, James Schiefelbein (145) secured a 15-0 technical fall, Mark Schiefelbein (160) the team’s lone pin, Frank Schiefelbein (172) an 8-0 major decision, and Hank Meyer (189) a 17-2 technical fall.
The Eagles’ lone victory during that run came via a Ryder Schmidt (152) 21-2 technical fall.
With the Eagles now leading by just a seven-point margin, at 31-24, with two matches left, the Eagles’ Mitchell Lipinski (215) officially secured the dual victory with a 13-3 major decision over the Cubs’ Garret Rosenow. The Cubs forfeited to the Eagles’ Nick Becker to provide for the final margin.
With the loss, the Cubs’ dual season came to an end, and the Eagles advanced to the section semifinals.
Norwood-Young America
After dropping four straight matches to fall into a 20-10 -deficit, the Eagles responded with four straight victories of their own versus the top-seeded Norwood-Young America Central Raiders.
Brayden Kramer (145) earned a 10-4 decision victory, and Ryder Schmidt (152) a 9-2 decision win to start the run. Carter Scheeler (160) and Treyce Ludwig capped the run with pins to give the Eagles a 28-20 lead. Then the Eagles held on.
Eli Hernandez (189) fell by a 12-0 major decision, and Mitchell Lipinski (215) by a first-period pin. The Eagles trailed 28-30, ensuring the winner of the final match would be the winner of the dual.
Nick Becker (285) ensured the team’s upset win with a pin with 41 seconds left in the second period over the Raiders’ Bryce Urness, securing the Eagles’ spot in the section title match.
Cason Demarais (107) earned an 11-1 major decision win and Brody Sieben (114) a pin with 24 seconds left in the third period to give the Eagles an early 10-0 lead before the Raiders won four straight matches. Of these four Raider wins, two came by pin (127 and 133), one by technical fall (139), and the other by decision – an 8-2 loss for the Eagles’ John Weiss (121) to Judd Pauly.
Le Sueur-Henderson
After three straight wins, including Carter Scheeler’s (160) 19-4 technical fall, Eli Hernandez’s (172) first-period pin, and Treyce Ludwig’s (189) 8-0 major decision, the Eagles had tied its section title dual with the Le Sueur-Henderson Giants at 29-29 with just two matches left.
The Eagles’ Mitchell Lipinski (215) fell to Peyton Tellijohn 10-4, putting the Eagles down 29-32. Both teams had each won six matches. An Eagles’ victory by decision would at the very least tie the dual, but the Eagles would win the dual in that case by virtue of a 7-6 match split. In short, the -winner of the final match would be the section team champion.
This final match-up to decide a section title would feature two ranked wrestlers, in the Eagles’ Nick Becker (ranked ninth at 285 pounds) and the Giants’ George Doherty (ranked third at 215 pounds). Becker would fall by pin with 56 seconds remaining, ensuring the Eagles’ fate: a section team runner-up finish.
Before these late dual dramatics, the Eagles got on the board first with a 9-2 decision for Cason Demarais (107) over LeRoy Haaland.
After Brody Sieben (114) fell by a 15-0 technical fall, the Eagles earned two bonus point wins, including John Weiss’ (121) 15-0 technical fall and Torii Berg’s (127) 29-second pin, to take an early 14-5 lead.
The Giants then responded with four straight wins – all by pin – to put the Eagles in a 14-29 deficit, setting the stage for the Eagles’ rally and the dramatic finish.
Next action
The Eagle wrestlers shift their focus to the Section 4A Individual Tournament from Kimball Area High School on Saturday, Feb. 22.