Boyceville wrestlers down Durand, setup showdown with Spring Valley/Elmwood for Dunn-St. Croix title

DURAND — For the second week in a row, the Boyceville wrestling squad came from behind to win a key Dunn-St. Croix conference dual.

Trailing by seven points late in their January 19 contest in Durand, the Bulldogs won the dual’s final four matches – three on pins and the other via forfeit – to upend the much-improved Panthers 48-31.

“We wrestled really well,” said Boyceville head coach Jamie Olson of the Bulldogs dual victory in Durand. “Durand is a very improved team and I give their coaches a lot of credit.”

The victory was an important one for Boyceville, now 2-0 in conference, as it kept the squad on track for yet another title showdown with Spring Valley/Elmwood. The Bulldogs will travel to Spring Valley this Thursday evening to face the 3-0 Cardinals with the winner taking the 2016-2017 D-SC wrestling crown. 

Boyceville has not beaten Spring Valley/Elmwood, who has  won seven straight conference championships along with a Division 3 state title (2015), since 2013 when it shared the D-SC crown with the Red Birds.

In the Durand dual, Boyceville took an early 12-0 advantage as Garrett Joles, who bumped up to 220 pounds and Noah Novotney at 285 pounds opened the competition with back-to-back pin falls.

But the Panthers, who Olson said are “really good” in the lower weights quickly draw the dual back to even and took a six-point lead with pins at 106 and 113 pounds and a forfeit at 120.

Nick Goodell had a key second-period pin over Justin Paje at 126 pounds to draw the Bulldogs back into a tie at 18.

The teams would trade falls over the next two matches.

Durand’s Casey Boardman pinned Bulldog Liz Bealer just 28 seconds into the match at 132 pounds to put the Panthers back in front 24-18.

But Jarod Nelson got the fall back when he stuck the Panthers Lucas Zeilinger  at the 2:49 mark of the 138-pound match.

Nelson wrestled in place of an injured Micadin Kahl and once again the match was tied, this time at 24.

Durand would take the next two matches for a 31-24 lead, its largest of the evening.

Tristan Casey pulled out a 12-1 win over the Bulldogs’ Sam Retz at 145 pounds and Ceejay Schlosser majored Boyceville’s Trey Brinker, 14-2, in the 152-pound match.

That would be the Panthers final victories, however.

State-ranked grapplers Brock Schlough, Justin Malean and James Palmer all won on pins and Dylan McNew earned a forfeit at 182 as the Bulldogs scored 24 unanswered points to claim the 48-31 victory.

Schlough pinned Josh Biesterveld in 2:15 at 160; Malean went 4:43 before sticking Dalton Hartung in the 170-pound bout; and Palmer needed but 26 seconds to finish off Cody Gilbertson in the final match of the dual at 195 pounds.

“It was an awesome team effort,” stated Olson, who also credited Eli Swanson, Shiann Wagner, Liz Bealer and Trey Binker for great effort in their match.

Following Thursday’s match in Spring Valley, Boyceville will wrap up the conference and regular season hosting Mondovi next Tuesday, January 31. The Big Rivers/Dunn-St. Croix Conference Challenge will be held February 4 at River Falls High School. The WIAA tournament series will get underway the following Saturday, February 11, with regional competition in Clear Lake. 

Boyceville 48, Durand 31

220-Garrett Joles (B) pinned Jacob Zeilinger (D), :47; 285– Noah Novotney (B) pinned Kyle Abramson (D), 3:12; 106-Brannon Humphrey (D) pinned Eli Swanson (B), 1:25; 113-Treyden Casey (D) pinned Shiann Wagner (B), 1:01; 120-Dylan Dorwin (D) received a forfeit; 126-Nick Goodell (B) pinned Dustin Paje (D), 3:45; 132-Casey Boardman (D) pinned Liz Bealer (B), :28; 138-Jerod Nelson (B) pinned Lucas Zeilinger (D), 2:49; 145-Tristan Casey (D) dec. Sam Retz (B), 12-11; 152-Ceejay Schlosser (D) majored Trey Brinker (B), 14-2; 160-Brock Schlough (B) pinned Josh Biesterveld (D), 2:15.; 170-Justin Malean (B) pinned Dalton Hartung (D), 4:43; 182– Dylan McNew (B) received a forfeit; 195-James Palmer (B) pinned Cody Gilbertson (D), :26.