Wrestling: Chatfield Takes an Impressive Second at “The Clash”

On back-to-back weekends, La Crosse hosts big wrestling tourneys. One week after the individual Wisconsin/Minnesota Bi-State tourney, squads flocked for “The Clash XXI” team-based duals. Thirty-two teams from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Arizona, Missouri, California, and Connecticut competed across two days. To show the strength on said tourney, Minnesota Class A runner-up Caledonia/Houston won the sixth-place bracket last year (placing 21st of 32). St. Michael/Albertville is the two-time defending champ. The last three champs have been Class AAA schools. The Class A #1-ranked Chatfield Gophers thus added another huge notch to their already impressive 2023-2024 resume. They went 5-1, winning their eight-team bracket, advancing to the first-place duals. Their only loss is to the #1 team in Class AAA in Minnesota.
The Gophers started with an easy 50-12 win over Illinois’ Carol Stream-Glenbard North. With wrestling starting at 121-pounds, Chatfield led 10-9 after 145, but then won seven straight. North’s four wins all came by decision. Jameson Priebe (107), Gage Bartels (133), Carson Rowland (152), Ben Carrier (160), Will Boelter (189), Kail Schott (215), and Miles Mulhern (285) all won by fall. Alden Pearson (139) and Ayden Miner (172) won 15-4 and 13-2 majors. The Gophers then faced off with AAA #4 Shakopee in the bracket’s semis. The Sabers were Clash champs in 2020. Wrestling started at 127-pounds. The Sabers won five of the first seven “middle” weights for a 22-10 lead heading to 189. But Chatfield’s big guys came through. Boelter (189) won by fall, Schott (215) by 5-1 decision, and Mulhern (285) by 4-3 decision to even the dual at 22-22. Shakopee took 107 by major but a 10-5 decision win by Javier Berg (114) made it 26-25. Kaisen Johnson (121) then won the dual with a 13-4 major, as Chatfield prevailed 29-26. Jack Dornack (145 > 12-1 major) and Rowland (152 > fall) had the early wins. The Gophers won seven bouts, Shakopee six. In the Bracket D finals, the Gophers took on Iowa’s Division III #3, and nationally ranked #48, Bettendorf. Wrestling started at 133-pounds. Bettendorf took the first two matches, Chatfield the next two. The Gophers led 12-8. The teams then went back-and-forth for four weights with the lead changing after every bout. A Boelter pin (215) put the Gophers back ahead 21-18. It was one of four straight falls, as Mulhern (285), Priebe (107), and Berg (114) followed. All came in the first period. They gave the Gophers an insurmountable 39-18 lead. Chatfield won the dual and their bracket 39-30! Dornack (145) and Rowland (152) had Chatfield’s first two wins by fall. Miner (172) won their only non-pin, a 3-2 decision.
Matt Mauseth’s Gophers moved on to round-robin duals with the other three bracket winners, #1 in AAA St. Michael-Albertville, #6 in AA Zumbrota-Mazeppa, and California’s state-wide #10-ranked Vacaville. The Gophers wrestled STMA first and they finally were out-matched. With guys ranked at every weight but two, the nationally ranked (#24) Knights lost just four matches in posting a 43-14 win. Dornack (145) and Schott (189) won 17-5 and 13-5 major decisions. Bartels (133) and Mulhern (285) won 13-8 and 8-3 decisions. STMA notched three falls, three tech falls, a major, and two decisions. Chatfield then faced one-time section adversary, Z-M. The teams partook in a low-scoring tight dual, but Chatfield never trailed. With wrestling starting at 145-pounds, Chatfield took seven of the first nine weights for a 26-7 lead. Miner (172 > pin), Schott (189 > 10-2 major), and Berg (114 > 15-1 major) scored bonus points. Dornack (145 > 9-8), Rowland (152 > 8-1), Mulhern (285 > 6-3), and Priebe (107 > 4-2) won by decision. The Gophers then hung tight in losing the last four weights. All fell only by decision or major. Bartels’ falling to Z-M’s Jack Krier 3-1 cemented the match at 133, as Chatfield led 26-17 with one weight left. They prevailed 26-21, topping another 1AA power (K-M). The Gophers wrapped up their exhilarating two days by saving their tightest dual until last. Versus Vacaville, wrestling started at 152-pounds. Like versus Z-M, Chatfield took an early lead but sweated out the ending as their foe made a comeback. The Gophers took six of the first eight matches. Carrier (160), Schott (215), and Mulhern (285 pin) notched pins. Rowland (152) registered a 16-1 tech fall. Priebe (107 > 5-4) and Kaisen Johnson (121 > 9-5) added decision wins in the run. Chatfield led 29-13 heading to the last four weights. Vacaville took 127 by decision and 133 by fall to cut the lead to 29-22. Chatfield then needed a win, or no more than two decision losses, to take the dual. They got the later. Alden Pearson (139) battled Qusai Marini to a 5-4 decision loss (29-25). Dornack (145) fell to Isaac Padilla but by 14-9 decision. Their efforts kept the score still slightly weighted in Chatfield’s favor. Via a 29-28 victory, the Gophers took the dual. It gave them the Clash XXI second place behind St. Michael-Albertville (10-0). Only one team has gotten to 20 on STMA. Chatfield’s finish is the highest for a Class A team in the tourney’s 21-year history. They again indubitably stay #1. Mulhern, a senior, was one of 46 wrestlers to go 6-0. Schott and Rowland went 5-1. Dornack went 4-2. Bartels, a senior, won his 100th career match. Chatfield is now 3-0 in the TRC, 8-1 overall in duals.