Gophers/Bulldogs Battle For TRC Wrestling Title

For wrestling, the TRC has two divisions, East and West.  With some help from a postponement, West co-leaders PEM (8-0, 18-6), and Chatfield (8-0, 11-1) met in primetime (Saturday, 7 p.m.) to conclude the regular season.  The dual for TRC supremacy was decided by a single point.  It came down to the final weight.  Chatfield got wins from Seth Goetzinger (106 > 12-5 D), Cael Bartels (113 > Pin), and Tate Karver (120 > pin) to start 15-0.  PEM then slowly reeled the Gophers in.  The Bulldogs won four of five matches from 126 to 152 (three decisions, one major).   Nathan Goldsmith (138 > 11-2 MD) had the sole Gopher victory.  Heading to 160, Chatfield led 19-13.  Top ranked (145) Jake Mandt (wrestled 160) and Carter Fishbaugher (182) had pins over the next three weights.  Davontae Goldsmith (170) fell 3-2 to Carter Marx (AA #5 at 152).  Chatfield led 31-16 with three left.  PEM’s big boys are strong.  They took 195 (major) and 220 (pin), making it a 31-26.  At 285, Bulldog Logan Wingert took advantage of a 50-pound size edge to pin Isaiah Froese, giving PEM its only lead, the winning tally; 32-31.  Five Gopher losses were to Cael Marx (31-10), Joe Stucky (28-12), Carter Marx (34-6), Austin Rother (26-7), and Dustin Dietrich (30-4).   Three matches were on the borderline of decision/major (each team had a 7-point decision win, PEM an 8-point major).   Gophers Campbell Berge (145) and Luke Ihrke (152) lost 17-11 and 10-5 respectively.  Both were in position for pins, scoring third period, three-point near-falls.  Chatfield (3-1 vs TRC-West, 8-1 vs TRC-all, 11-2 overall) is 1A’s 3-seed and will host either LARP (6-seed, 9-10) or 11-seed Triton (5-16).