Cardinals take down Barnesville wrestlers

The Staples Motley wrestling team took a big step in getting a high section seed with a win over Barnesville 39-33 in the first round of the Don Dravis Duals Jan. 16. The Cardinals lost their next two matches, 42-27 to Quad County and 39-34 to Sartell. The Cardinals also beat Wadena-Deer Creek 40-25 on Jan. 12.

Staples Motley has one more big section matchup on Thursday, Jan. 21, against Bertha-Hewitt and Pelican Rapids. If they win those two, they should get the second seed going into the section tournament in February.

“We did what we needed to do,” said Coach Dave Anglin.

Against Barnesville, the Cardinals swept the first four weights, including a pin by Owen Bjerga, before running into a state ranked wrestler. After a forfeit win and a pin by Alex Erpelding, the damage was done and another forfeit win gave Staples Motley some breathing room.

The lower weights of Spencer Miller, Bjerga, Blayne Dumpprope and Eric Lisson continued to do well the rest of the tournament, despite going up against quality wrestlers. The only loss was Bjerga’s 5-4 match against a Sartell wrestler ranked in the top ten in Class AAA. “In the third period, Owen realized ‘I can wrestle with him,’” said Anglin.

Due to injuries, the Cardinals had some young and inexperienced wrestlers in the lineup. Although they didn’t produce wins, Anglin praised them for improving every day. “If they keep working hard, good things will happen,” he said.

Anglin also praised several Cardinals who are wrestling above their ideal weights to fill the lineup, including Shawn Trantina, Jonathan Lisson and Braden Tyrell. Anglin said Trantina is a good example, “he wrestles with heart, he is a true team player.”

Team results

Staples Motley 40, Wadena-Deer Creek 25

106 Spencer Miller W fall; 113 Owen Bjerga W 5-1, 120 Logen Weite W injury default; 126 Eric Lisson W 13-2; 132 Jasiah Paskewitz W ff; 138 Matt Miller W 4-2; 145 Shawn Trantina W ff; 152 Isaac Swensrud L 4-0; 160 Jonathan Lisson L 16-4; 170 Alex Erpelding W ff; 182 Shaine Guggenberger L fall; 195 Braden Tyrell L fall; 220 Nathaniel Rodriques L fall; 285 double ff

Don Dravis Duals

Aitkin – 1st place

Quad County – 2nd place

Sartell – 3rd place

Staples Motley – 4th place

Barnesville – 5th place

Crosby-Ironton – 6th place

 106 – S. Miller  3-0

113 – Bjerga  2-1

120 – Dumpprope  3-0

126 – E. Lisson  3-0      

126 – Mason Nyhus  0-1

132 – Paskewitz  1-2

138 – M. Miller  2-0

145 – Dalton Holmberg 2-1

152 – Shawn Trantina  0-3

160 – Alex Erpelding  3-0

170 – J. Lisson 0-3

182 – Guggenberger 0-3

195 – Tyrell  2-1

285 – Kyle Serich  1-1