TROJAN WRESTLING: Trojans fall in semifinals

SLAYTON — Despite being eliminated in the semifinals of the Class 2A Dual Team Wrestling Section 3 Tournament, the Worthington Trojans have a fire that already burns for next season.

Dawson-Boyd/Lac Qui Parle Valley ousted Worthington 41-27 from the postseason on Friday at Murray County Central High School by being a little stronger at the upper weights.

The United rallied from an 18-11 deficit by winning six of the final seven matches to post the 14-point decision.

“We won seven of our last eight matches to close this season, really came together as a team and wrestled hard tonight,” Trojans head coach Mark Prunty said. “We lost a couple close ones down below and we knew (Dawson-Boyd) was strong up on top. We needed to win down below and pick up some bonus points.”

Worthington went ahead 18-11 on the strength of wins from Hser Eh Pwae (13-5 major decision at 106), Hser Moo Pwae (19-4 technical fall at 120), Anthony Luft (38-second pin at 126) and Vince Riley (10-6 decision at 138).

After that, the United took six of the final eight bouts, while Zach Kempema and Blake Schroeder tried to turn the momentum back into Worthington’s favor.

Kempema, who dropped a 5-2 decision to Garth Ochsendorf, kept the bout close until the final seconds of the third period.

Ochsendorf, who is wrestling with a knee injury, is a state qualifier from last season.

Schroeder gave the Trojans one last chance by using a headlock to score a takedown against Joe Weeding on the final second of the bout.

“I beat him earlier this season, so I knew I could do it again,” Schroeder said. “But I kind of messed up at the beginning and he took advantage of it. At the end, I knew he was tired and I had to go after him and, luckily, at the end.”

Worthington trailed 23-21 until DB/LQPV took three of the final four matches with a pair of pins and a forfeit.

With no seniors to graduate this season, Prunty believes the future shines bright for the Trojans.

“I want our wrestlers to watch this finals match because our goal will be to be back here next year, but one-step farther by being in the finals,” Prunty said. “We told the kids, way back in the first week of the season, that we thought we had a chance to make it to the (section) final four. After starting out 2-7 and 3-10, we started to wonder if the kids were belieiving our goal. But they came together at the end of the season, won seven matches in a row and bought into our strategy.”

Daily Globe Sports Editor Jeff Arenz may be reached at 376-7328.

CLASS AA

TEAM WRESTLING

SECTION 3 TOURNAMENT

Friday

At Murray County Central, Slayton

Semifinals

AWSON-BOYD/LAC QUI PARLE VALLEY 41, WORTHINGTON 27

106: H.E. Pwae (W) major de-cision D. Bothum, 13-5; 113: J. Bothum (DB/LQPV) pin Pavelko, 1:00; 120: H.M. Pwae (W) technical fall C. Struxness, 19-4; 126: Luft (W) pin Bukowski, 0:38; 132: Herman (DB/LQPV) technical fall Bruns, 24-5; 138: Riley (W) decision Stottler, 10-6; 145: Abraham (DB/LQPV) pin Michelson, 1:39; 152: Ireland (DB/LQPV) decision Mills, 11-7; 160: Ochsendorf (DB/LQPV) decision Kempema, 5-2; 170: Schroeder (W) decision Weeding, 4-3; 182: Staab (DB/LQPV) pin Cerda, 1:47; 195: Hagen (W) pin Bungarden, 1:21; 220: J.D. Struxness (DB/LQPV) pin Abraham, 1:54; 285: Schmitt (DB/LQPV) won by forfeit.

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