Bulldog wrestlers corral Mondovi Buffaloes

BOYCEVILLE – Head coach Jamie Olson knew heading into the Boyceville’s conference opening dual against Mondovi last Thursday night that the lower weights would hold the key to victory.

And, as usual, the veteran coach was right.

The Bulldog grapplers won the majority of the lower weight contests and dominated the middle weight matches to run roughshod over the Buffaloes, 54-21, in Boyceville January 10.

“The key match-ups were in the lower weights,” stated Olson. “Wolfe, (Seth) Swenson and Lindo all had big wins for us, with (important) bonus points.”

“Our middle continued to get bonus points,” Olson added.

Dominic Olson, Jon Harnisch, Wyatt Hansen, Bryor Hellmann,  and Josh Cormican all earned decisive wins for the Bulldogs and got the team off to a great start and a solid finish.

The middle weights “continue to wrestle with a lot of confidence for us,” Olson said.

“I thought all the way through our line-up the kids wrestled with a lot of energy,” Olson stated. “I was very pleased with the team effort and the individual toughness throughout.”

Freshman Jordan Morse stepped in at 152 pounds to accept a forfeit for the Bulldogs. The move not only gave Boyceville the dual’s first points but allowed Olson to bump his other middle-weight wrestlers up a weight class. A strategy that paid dividends for the home-standing Bulldogs.

Wyatt Hansen, who usually wrestles at 145 pounds, actually went up two weight classes and scored a 17-0 technical fall over Mondovi’s Ben Andress at 160.

Bryor Hellmann followed that with a pin at 170 as he stuck the Buff’s Zach Prissel in just 54 seconds to give the Bulldogs a quick 17-0 advantage.

Josh Cormican received a forfeit at 182 pounds and pushed the Boyceville lead to 23 points

The Buffaloes’ Neil Matchey would finally break the visitor’s goose egg at 195 pounds when he pinned the Bulldogs’ Dylan Windsor in 2:56.

Mondovi would make it two straight pins and wins when Austin Schwinefus stuck Boyceville freshman Jake Lake just 30 second into the pair’s match at 220 pounds. The back-to-back wins pulled the Buffs to within 11 points.

But Boyceville would win the next three consecutive and six of the final eight match to take an easy 54-21 victory.

Brandon Windsor won by forfeit at 285.

Austin Wolfe scored a late, third-period pin at 106 and Sawyer Swenson took a solid 12-2 major decision over Brett Larson at 113 pounds to extend the Boyceville lead to 39-12.

Jake Larson would take the 120-pound match for Mondovi as he pinned the Bulldogs’ Brock Swenson.

James Lindo added to Boyceville’s score with a pin of Nic Rausenberger at 126.

The Buffaloes fourth and final win came at 132 pounds where Sophomore Logan Giedd earned a 7-0 decision over Boyceville’s Dylan Lamm.

Dominic Olson and Jon Harnisch would close out the varsity match with a pair of victories for Boyceville. Olson pinned Trevor Giedd at the 3:26 mark of their 138-pound bout while Harnisch went the full six minutes at 145 pounds and earned a 7-2 win over Lee Becker.

The win got the Bulldogs off on the right paw as they went to 1-0 in conference duals. Still Coach Olson sees room for improvement especially in the upper weights.

“We need to get better on the top,” noted Olson. “And that is our main focus right now.”

Boyceville will host rival Glenwood City tomorrow night (Thursday, January 17) in a key Dunn-St. Croix dual. The Hilltoppers, 0-2 in conference action, are coming off a pair of single-digit loses to Spring Valley/Elmwood and St. Croix Central. Boyceville will then head to St. Croix Falls Saturday, January 19 for a tournament.