Four Hornets compete at state tournament

Photo by Chad Koenen
Frazee freshman Bailey Peichel works for position during the opening round of the state wrestling tournament on Friday morning. Peichel would lose the match by a fall.

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Sometimes a team just can’t catch a break and that was the case for the Frazee wrestlers at the state tournament last week. 

Bailey Peichel and Daniel Graham both lost to the eventual state champion in the opening round of the state tournament. They also fell short in the consolation bracket to end their state wrestling tournament on Friday.

Photos by Chad Koenen
Cade Nagel ties up his opening round opponent Simon Kruse of Saint Clair/Mankato Loyola on Friday morning. Nagel lost by a major decision.

Cade Nagel and Jake Nagel also lost in the opening round of state and their opponent fell in the quarterfinals to end their state tournament after just one match. Of the four wrestlers who made it to state, Frazee had a pair of freshmen and a pair of juniors.

In the opening round of state, freshman Cade Nagel fell to seventh ranked Simon Kruse of Saint Clair/Mankato Loyola by a major decision. Kruse lost in the quarterfinals to end Nagel’s season with a record of 9-6 overall. 

At 132 lbs., freshman Bailey Peichel fell to top ranked and eventual state champion Walker Bents of Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in the opening round by a fall at 3:41. Since Bents won his next match, Peichel wrestled Hunter Grunchow of West Central Area in the consolation bracket. Grunchow won by a fall at the 2:16 mark of the match to end Peichel’s season with a record of 20-12. 

Jake Nagel dropped a close 4-0 decision in the opening round of the state wrestling tournament on Friday morning to Konner Harpestad of Maple River/USC.

At 152 lbs., seventh ranked Jake Nagel fell to unranked Konner Harpestad of Maple River/USC by a 4-0 decision. Harpestad secured a pair of take downs in the first and second period, and was able to hold Nagel scoreless in the third period to pick up the win. He lost to the eventual state runner up Jacob Leibold of Royalton/Upsala in the next round to end Nagel’s junior season with a record of 30-4.

Daniel Graham had another tough opening round match up as he fell to third ranked and eventual state champion Anthony Sykora of West Central Area in the opening round by a tech fall. In the consolation bracket, Graham fell to the eventual third place finisher Caden Johnson Tracy-Milroy-Balaton-Westbrook-Walnut Grove by a fall at the 3:11 mark of his match to end his junior season with a record of 23-15. 

113- Champ. Round 1 – Simon Kruse (Saint Clair/Mankato Loyola) 45-6 won by major decision over Cade Nagel (Frazee) 9-6 (MD 9-1)

132- Champ. Round 1 – Walker Bents (Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa) 46-1 won by fall over Bailey Peichel (Frazee) 20-12 (Fall 3:41), Cons. Round 1 – Hunter Gruchow (West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansille) 45-14 won by fall over Bailey Peichel (Frazee) 20-12 (Fall 2:16)

152- Champ. Round 1 – Konner Harpestad (Maple River/USC) 37-14 won by decision over Jake Nagel (Frazee) 30-4 (Dec 4-0)

170- Champ. Round 1 – Anthony Sykora (West Central Area/Ashby/Brandon-Evansille) 47-5 won by tech fall over Daniel Graham (Frazee) 23-15 (TF-1.5 2:33 (16-0)), Cons. Round 1 – Caden Johnson (Tracy-Milroy-BalatonWestbrook-Walnut Grove) 43-4 won by fall over Daniel Graham (Frazee) 23-15 (Fall 3:11)