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Becker Triangular

Both Jack Baker (114) and Evan Pommier (172) kept their excellent seasons going, despite the fact the Vikings lost both duals in the Becker Triangular last Thursday, January 16.  Big Lake dominated the Vikings 60-8.  Baker got three of those eight points with a 10-7 decision over Grant Volk, and Pommier picked up the other five points with a 15-0 technical fall at 2:42 over Caleb Smith.

In the 53-20 loss to Big Lake, Baker squeaked by Rylan Kujawa of Becker in a 10-9 decision.  Pommier finished off a 16-0 technical fall over Kendrick Tomasko with seven seconds left in the first period.  Parker Deniger (189) pinned Logan Carrigan at 2:14, and Moses Ochoa’s forfeit win at 285 got the Viking point total to 20.

St. Croix Lutheran Crusader Invitational

Evan Pommier (172) dominated the competition at the St. Croix Lutheran Crusader Invitational last Saturday, January 18, winning by technical fall over all four of his opponents to claim the tournament championship at 172 pounds.  Ethan Kester (145) came up just short, losing by a 16-3 major decision to Deegan Birkaker of Ogilvie – who is ranked seventh in the state in Class A at 139 pounds –  in the championship match and settling for second place.

Kester opened his day by pinning Brannick Malchow of Chisago Lakes at 56 seconds.  In the semifinal, he won by fall over Zach Quast of WEM-JWP in exactly the same amount of time – 56 seconds – before losing to Birkaker in the first-place match.

Pommier ended all four of his matches in the first period.  He beat Colin Wilson of St. Paul Highland Park 17-2 in 1:25.  In the quarterfinals, he won 19-4 over Wyatt Mosser of Cannon Fall in 1:34.  Pommier triumphed over Maddox Moreno of WEM-JWP 19-4, completing the technical fall with six seconds left in the third period.  In the championship match against Devin Hufstedler of Ogilvie, Pommier got a takedown at 41 seconds.  He then got two four-point nearfalls – one at 1:01 and one at 1:19 -to go up 11-0.  Pommier was awarded one more four-point nearfall at 1:54 – exactly the same time that his semifinal match ended – to make the score 15-0, completing his fourth technical fall of the day an earning Pommier the championship.  Pommier, 28-0 on the season, has won 16 of his matches by technical foul, including the last seven in a row.

“There is nobody better on their feet than Even,” said Viking head coach Kyle Kahl.  “He can beat anybody.  He gets five or six takedowns in the first period, and he has beaten multiple ranked guys.  Now, he needs to focus on conditioning to get ready for sections and, hopefully, the state tournament.  His toughest opponent at sections will be Carter Gmahl of Mora, who is 31-1.  Gmahl pins everyone.  He has 15 pins on the season.  Even versus Gmahl will be an interesting matchup in sections.”

Jack Baker (114) is 22-4 on for the season and pinned Kathryn Marstein of Princeton two weeks ago for his 100th career win.    Kahl said “All of the kids Jack has lost to are really tough to beat.   Evan, Jack, and Ethan Kester are a huge core of what we do, and they are all fun to watch.”

The Vikings and Moses Ochoa got a bit of a scare at 285.  In Ochoa’s semifinal match, with Keegan Kuball of WEM-JWP, Kuball accidentally headbutted Ochoa just before Kuball pinned Ochoa at 1:07.  Ochoa appeared to be okay but was held out of the third-place match as a precaution.

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