MONTGOMERY -- The Jackson County Central Huskies are heading back to the Class AA state wrestling tournament.
The Huskies won all three of their matches Saturday in the Section 2AA tournament, including a 38-19 victory over Scott West in the sectional final Saturday.
JCC will face Perham, the Section 7AA champion, in the state quarterfinals in St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center, Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m.
Facing the section's top-seeded team in Scott West in the finals, the second-seeded Huskies opened with victories in their first three matches. Cooper Moore (103) pinned Francis Dvorak in five minutes, 49 seconds, Derek Schlager (112) topped Mark Dvorak 5-2, and Cole Von Ohlen scored a major decision against Tyler Kivel, 10-0, to open up a 13-0 lead.
Scott West rallied with a pair of pinfalls in the next two weights as Lucas Edberg (125) pinned JCC's Zach Croatt in 3:48, and Teddy Gunderson stopped Sterling Bargfrede in 1:58, cutting the deficit to 13-12.
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JCC regained control by winning four of the next five matches. Torey Stewart (135) topped Tony Valek, 6-4, Jacob Johnson (140) stopped Tim Hentges, 4-3, Devin Bezdicek (152) scored a 7-6 victory over Nick Brandt, and Calvin Ferguson (160) pinned Derek Boumeesters in 3:01, pushing the Huskies' lead to 28-15 with four matches to go.
After Peter Eischens (171) scored a major decision victory for Scott West over JCC's Joe Skow, the Huskies won the final three matches to win the title. Travis Rutt (189) earned a major decision over Alex Krautkremer, 16-2, Caleb Lines (215) decisioned Tyler Nyberg, 6-3, and Mitch Ferguson (Hwt.) beat Travis Hentges, 5-4.
JCC had advanced to the championship with a pair of victories in the early rounds. After a first-round bye, the Huskies opened their day with a 66-3 rout of St. Peter -- with the lone defeat coming at heavyweight.
In the semifinals, JCC won a tighter match over Montgomery-Lonsdale/LeCenter, 41-26.
