Lightweights get Frazee off to a strong start

By Robert Williams

Editor

Tenth ranked Frazee won seven matches by fall and broke open a close match in the middleweights en route to a 21st dual victory on the season by defeating Detroit Lakes 48-22 at Lakeshirts Fieldhouse Thursday, Feb. 9.

The victory gives Frazee a sweep over both Class AA Highway 10 rivals after defeating Perham at The Hive in late January. While those victories are not tops on the priority list in terms of being in separate classes, they certainly meant something to the upperclassmen who have gone down in defeat to both the Lakers and Yellowjackets in recent years.

“It’s huge,” said head coach Travis Nagel. “Perham, it was at least six years ago since we beat them and Detroit Lakes, it’s got to be about five years. With this group things are really clicking right now. These aren’t the matches that we’re gunning for all season, that we have our eyes set on, but they’re ones that have left a bad taste in the mouths of our seniors and they wanted this.”

It was a pair of underclassmen that got the Hornets off to a strong start after back-to-back pins by freshman Cash Ostermann and eighth-grader Liam Hamm to start the dual. Ostermann stuck Talan Baker with 18 seconds remaining in his 106-pound match. Hamm put Frazee up a dozen points with a 113-pound fall over Donovan Zima at 3:24.

Those two victories are noteworthy examples of the evolution of the Hornets this season. Early in the year, Frazee was hemorrhaging points at the lightweights. That is no longer the case after some changes the team made in January.

“They all went down a weight so they’re better sized and also just their confidence,” Nagel said. “As of January 13 at the Rick Lee duals in Bemidji, something clicked there. That was a turning point for those guys. Now, instead of giving up big points we’re getting big points. That’s huge for duals.”

Detroit Lakes responded with a major and two decisions to cut the Hornet lead to 12-10 heading into the 138-pound match where Bailey Peichel recorded a first period pin over Cody Andresen to push the lead back to eight points. Peichel got a quick takedown and controlled Andresen winning by fall in front of the Hornet bench in only 78 seconds

Jesse Rollins was injured on a throw by DL’s No. 5AA Tyson Ullyott and was pinned moments later to get the Lakers back to within two points at 145. 

The Hornets middleweight wrestlers took command with back-to-back decisions in tight matches, followed by three consecutive pins that put the match away for the visitors.

Frazee’s Tyler Moe and DL’s Brock Swiers had an entertaining battle that Moe controlled, leading 6-2 after the first, 10-4 after the second, heading to what looked like a major decision. Swiers used a late reversal with less than 10 seconds remaining to save a point and give DL some life, despite the loss, trailing by only five points at 21-16.

The next two matches featured ranked wrestlers from both squads.

No. 3A 160-pounder Jake Nagel squared off with No. 8AA Cade Okeson in a low scoring affair. An early Nagel takedown held up as he only allowed a second period escape to Okeson in a very competitive 3-1 win.

“Over the years, I don’t know if Jake has beaten Cade before, so that was big for him,” said Coach Nagel.

No. 9A Preston Mayfield and DL’s No. 8AA Cade Jackson had the match of the night and Mayfield’s victory allowed Frazee to grab hold of all the momentum.

Trailing 2-0 after the first, Mayfield was up to start the second and rode Jackson the entire two minutes but failed to score. Down to start the third, an immediate reversal tied the match and Mayfield got the loudest cheer from the Frazee stands and all of his teammates were up off the bench to celebrate a pin in the final minute. Frazee led 30-16 with four matches remaining.

“That was the point right there for the dual,” said Nagel. “I tell our guys throughout the season I’m going to find you guys tough matches because I want you tested before we get to sections and the state tournament. I was hoping for that matchup with Preston and Cade. I knew it would be a good match and that could have gone either way but we came out on top.”

Max Rue and Jack Graham silenced the Detroit Lakes crowd with impressive pins at 182 and 195. Derrick Zitzow continued the pin party with a 3:12 fall over Tynan Simpson to turn the match into a rout with the Hornets up 48-16. Rue had the quickest pin of the night needing only 38 seconds. Graham’s pin came in the second period turning a reversal into a quick fall in front of the Laker bench at 3:33. Zitzow did not give up a point and ended his match at 3:12.

DL’s No. 5AA heavyweight Jeffrey Moen sealed the night with a second period pin for the 48-22 final score.

The Hornets’ 21 dual victories are the most since the 2017-18 state runner-up season (24-8). Frazee finished the regular season on a 13-match winning streak to compile a 21-5 overall mark heading into the postseason. The Lakers dropped to 8-11 overall.

“It’s overreached what I thought we could do,” Nagel said. “As far as the duals, we didn’t really set a goal of what we wanted our dual record to look like. Every time we wrestle we really focus on just getting better each time and the end goal is the section tournament, section championship and the state tournament. That’s what we want and we know each time we wrestle is a step to get that direction. I think that just made our guys just go out and wrestle their best every time because they knew we were trying to get better everytime we wrestle.”

The Section 8A team tournament begins with quarterfinals at top seeds on Tuesday, Feb. 14, and the semis and finals at Fertile-Beltrami High School on Friday, Feb. 17.

Frazee 48 Detroit Lakes 22

106: Cash Ostermann (FRA) over Talan Baker (DL) (Fall 5:47)

113: Liam Hamm (FRA) over Donovan Zima (DL) (Fall 3:28)

120: Jeremy Linn (DL) over Blake Sonnenberg (FRA) (MD 13-0)

126: Beau Somdahl (DL) over Brady Borah (FRAZ) (Dec 4-0)

132: LeRoy LaCrosse (DL) over Cade Nagel (FRAZ) (Dec 2-1)

138: Bailey Peichel (FRA) over Cody Andresen (DL) (Fall 1:19)

145: Tyson Ullyott (DL) over Jesse Rollins (FRA) (Fall 2:32)

152: Tyler Moe (FRA) over Brock Swiers (DL) (Dec 13-6)

160: Jake Nagel (FRA) over Cade Okeson (DL) (Dec 3-1)

170: Preston Mayfield (FRA) over Cade Jackson (DL) (Fall 5:17)

182: Max Rue (FRA) over Nathaniel Lembke (DL) (Fall 0:38)

195: Jack Graham (FRA) over Zachary Carlson (DL) (Fall 3:36)

220: Derrick Zitzow (FRA) over Tynan Simpson (DL) (Fall 3:17)

285: Jeffrey Moen (DL) over Westin Mickelson (FRAZ) (Fall 1:09)