The Hutchinson/BLHS wrestling team’s long wait is over. After nearly two decades without a section championship, the Tigers took down St. Peter 35-30 in the final Saturday to win the team’s first title since 2003, and its seventh in program history.
“It feels awesome, just awesome,” Riley Gill said about the achievement. “It's the first time in 17 years, and we've always been so close. To finally do it, it's amazing.”
After a strong finish to the regular season that included nine wins in their last 10 duals, Hutchinson plowed through the first round of playoffs with a 50-22 win over Glencoe-Silver Lake/Lester Prairie Thursday. In the semifinals Saturday the Tigers took down Tri-City United 33-25. Hutch only led by two points going into the final match, but heavyweight Cody Kurth pinned his opponent to seal the match.
Kurth would again be called upon later to anchor the Tigers in the championship.
Despite only being seeded No. 5 in the section, the Saints proved to be a worthy opponent. They defeated the No. 1 seed, Scott West, in the semifinals, keeping the Panthers out of the championship match for the first time since 2013. St. Peter carried that momentum into the finals, winning five of the first seven matches to build an early 17-point lead. Cale Luthens, Gill, and Hayden VanderVoort won the next three matches to narrow the lead, but another St. Peter pin made it 30-17 with three matches to go.
Hutch caught a break at 195 when Alex Nelson won via medical forfeit to make it a seven-point match, and then 220-pounder Tanner Gill pinned his opponent in the final period to bring the Tigers within one point. Once again it all came down to the 285-pound match, and once again Kurth delivered, pinning his rival to complete the comeback.
“We have a good bond together as a team,” Kurth said. “It's easy to fight back when you have your whole team next to you.”
The win was a huge moment for the wrestling program. Many years the team has come close to capturing a title, but now it finally pushed through. Many of the current wrestlers watched the team when they were younger competing for titles. Now they are he ones celebrating the victory and inspiring the next generation of Tiger wrestlers.
“Growing up, I would go to all the section tournaments and team sections,” Kurth said. “It was always close and tough, but we never made it. To be in my senior year and make it now is really nice.”
While members of the team will have two weeks to enjoy the excitement of winning the team championship, they’re also preparing for the Section 2AA individual championship this weekend. Thanks to Hutchinson High School's new facilities, Hutchinson is hosting the tournament for the first time since 1989.
The two-day tournament starts at 3 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday and doesn’t stop until the top two wrestlers from each weight class qualify for state.
“There's a great handful of us that have an opportunity to wrestle (at state) as an individual,” Luthens said. “Now we're going as a team, it would be fun to do both.”
Section 2AA Tournament (Feb. 13, 15)
Hutchinson 35, St. Peter 30
106: NaKiye Mercado (SP) 20-4 tech fall over Max Martin ... 113: Treyton Card (H) 12-0 maj. dec. over Taylen Travaille … 120: Grant Peirce (H) 12-9 dec. over Amir Loredo Hollon ... 126: Noah Hunt (SP) pinned Parker Peterson at 2:14 ... 132: Brogan Hanson (SP) 7-5 SV-1 dec. over Tristian Lang ... 138: Nathan Fogal (SP) 15-3 maj. dec. over Payton Jepsen ... 145: Michael Connor (SP) pinned Camden Kron at 3:51 ... 152: Cale Luthens (H) 4-3 dec. over Wareke Gillette ... 160: Riley Gill (H) 9-3 dec. over Cole Filand ... 170: Hayden VanderVoort (H) 12-3 maj. dec. over Kole Guth ... 182: Eli Hunt (SP) pinned Brady Andersen at 0:53 ... 195: Alex Nelson (Hutchinson) medical forfeit over Connor Travaille ... 220: Tanner Gill (H) pinned Nathan Pettis at 5:25 ... 285: Cody Kurth (H) pinned Jason Beckman at 2:20
Hutchinson 33, Tri-City United 25
106: Zach Balma (T) pinned Max Martin at 1:11 ... 113: Grant Peirce (H) 3-2 dec. over Chris Johnson ... 120: Brant Lemieux (T) 10-9 dec. over Treyton Card ... 126: Cole Franek (T) pinned Parker Peterson at 3:19 ... 132: Tristian Lang (H) pinned Carter O`Malley at 2:41 ... 138: Caleb Whipps (T) 9-1 maj. dec. over Payton Jepsen ... 145: Camden Kron (H) DQ over Caden O`Malley ... 152: Cale Luthens (H) 7-1 dec. over Adam Fredrickson ... 160: Marco Reyes (T) 10-5 dec. over Riley Gill ... 170: Hayden VanderVoort (H) 7-2 dec. over Brody Rud ... 182: Alex Nelson (H) 7-6 dec. over Riley O`Malley ... 195: Brady Andersen (H) 4-2 dec. over Tegan Determan ... 220: Jose Reyes (T) 11-6 dec. over Tanner Gill ... 285: Cody Kurth (H) pinned Robert Bastyr at 1:53
Hutchinson 50, Glencoe-Silver Lake/LP 22
106: Connor Meyer (G) pinned Max Martin at 2:38 ... 113: Grant Peirce (H) pinned Dawson Meyer at 0:48 ... 120: Parker Peterson (H) 16-1 tech fall over Dawson Varpness ... 126: Carter Ruschmeier (G) 14-5 maj. dec. over Jay Rickertsen ... 132: Tristian Lang (H) pinned Logan Lambrecht at 1:25 ... 138: Camden Kron (H) 10-7 dec. over Jace Cacka ... 145: Sawyer Varpness (G) over Payton Jepsen Dec 8-5 ... 152: Zachary Voelz (G) 4-0 dec. over Riley Gill ... 160: Cale Luthens (H) pinned Joey Barrett at 0:55 ... 170: Keegan Lemke (G) pinned Jesse Reiner at 1:47 ... 182: Hayden VanderVoort (H) pinned Carter Ziegler at 1:17 ... 195: Alex Nelson (H) pinned Riley Butcher at 2:54 ... 220: Cody Kurth (H) won forfeit … 285: Tanner Gill (H) won forfeit
