Photo by Jake McNeill: Marshall wrestler Drew Chandler (top) wrestles with Jackson County Central's Benjamin Dahlin during a 152-pound match as part of a triangular at Marshall High School on Tuesday night.

MARSHALL — After a back-and-forth start in the first dual of its home triangular on Tuesday, the No. 6 Marshall wrestling team pulled away late for a pair of decisive wins over Jackson County Central and Worthington on Tuesday night. The Tigers won six of the last seven matches in their dual against JCC to claim a 44-18 win, and then shut out Worthington for a 76-0 win.

“I feel like we’re peaking at the right time toward the end of the season. I think we’re ready,” Marshall wrestler Tyson Louwagie said of his team’s recent success.

Pins came early and often in Marshall’s dual against JCC. Keynan Coequyt got a pin for Marshall in 1:21 in 107 and Levi Kraft got a pin in 4:46 in 121. Yet, each of the two Marshall victories was followed by a tying defeat, as Lincoln Christenson fell in 1:44 in 114 and Landon Marthaler was pinned in 2:41 in 127, leaving the dual tied at 12-12 through four matches.

The two teams continued to battle back and forth as Gavin Williams took control against Elijah Theis early and never looked back, claiming a 17-12 decision in 133. Yet, the Huskies again answered in the next weight class as Dawson DeCamp finished on the losing end of an 8-2 decision against Dallas Gossen. 

Marshall finally went ahead for good when Louwagie took on Ryan Fricke in 145. He got a takedown just after the match started and built on his lead with a near-fall at the buzzer to finish the first period with a 7-0 advantage. It didn’t take long into the second for him to finish the job, pinning Fricke at 3:08.

“I felt like I had to be physical because they were getting the best of us the last few matches,” Louwagie said. “I had to really work to try and get physical to get it back in our favor.”

In 152, Drew Chandler made it a two-match lead for the Tigers. Chandler was taken down in the final seconds of the first period, putting him in a 3-0 deficit to enter the second. Yet, Chandler didn’t let Benjamin Dahlin gain an inch from there.

A quick escape got Chandler on the scoreboard and he got a takedown to finish the second period leading 4-3. Dahlin wasn’t able to get Chandler down in the third period and Chandler held on for the narrow 4-3 decision, extending Marshall’s advantage to 24-15.

Brayden Chandler kept the momentum going, earning an early takedown before pinning Cael Entriken in 1:28. 

From there, Josh Kraft clinched the victory in 172, scoring point after point before eventually claiming a 20-4 technical fall at 5:17. The 5 points he earned for his team made the score 35-15, eliminating the possibility of a Husky comeback.

“We weren’t getting down on ourselves and we were continuing to cheer everyone on,” Louwagie said of the team’s ability to pull away after the dual’s back-and-forth start. 

Aidan Mattison fell via an 8-3 decision to Ryan Haley in 189, breaking up a stretch of 20 unanswered points for the Marshall Tigers. Yet, Gavin Schaefer dominated his 215 match against Karsen Janssen from the jump and claimed a pin in 3:00 to get the points back and then some. 

Brooks Hess then closed out the victory in 285 with a 3-0 decision. He scored a takedown toward the end of the first period to get all the points he needed, holding on from there against Michael Hansen to solidify the final score of the Marshall victory at 44-18.

In the Jackson County Central dual, Eh Kwor wrestled his first varsity match for the Marshall Tigers. Not only did he get his first taste of varsity action, but he did so victoriously, pinning Tony Hernandez in 2:44.

Forfeits decided Marshall’s dual against Worthington before it started, with Christenson, DeCamp, Louwagie, Schaefer, Hess and Drew Chandler each earning 6 points for the Tigers by forfeit.

Coequyt scored the first points of Marshall’s dual against Worthington, picking up a 10-0 major decision to earn 4 points for his team. After Christenson’s 114 win, Levi Kraft earned the dual’s first pin by taking down Kian Ling in 1:48.

In 127, Marthaler earned a takedown to capture an early lead against Christian Dailey and never let up, securing the pin at 1:39.

Colton Chandler fell behind in his 133 dual against Miguel Moreno after a takedown was scored in Moreno’s favor. Yet, he turned the tables with a reversal to make it tight and turned those points into momentum, eventually claiming a pin at 1:38.

The Marshall wrestling team improves to 16-1 with the win and will next compete at Holdingford High School for an Invitational on Friday at 5 p.m.

RESULTS

Marshall 44, JCC 18

107: Keynan Coequyt (MARS) over Mathias Liepold (JCC) (Fall 1:21) 114: Kayden Eller (JCC) over Lincoln Christenson (MARS) (Fall 1:44) 121: Levi Kraft (MARS) over Ever Munoz Mazariegos (JCC) (Fall 4:46) 127: Isaac Rodriguez (JCC) over Landon Marthaler (MARS) (Fall 2:41) 133: Gavin Williams (MARS) over Elijah Thies (JCC) (Dec 17-12) 139: Dallas Gossen (JCC) over Dawson DeCamp (MARS) (Dec 8-2) 145: Tyson Louwagie (MARS) over Ryan Fricke (JCC) (Fall 3:08) 152: Drew Chandler (MARS) over Benjamin Dahlin (JCC) (Dec 4-3) 160: Brayden Chandler (MARS) over Cael Entriken (JCC) (Fall 1:28) 172: Joshua Kraft (MARS) over Carson Kolander (JCC) (TF 20-4 5:17) 189: Ryan Haley (JCC) over Aidan Mattison (MARS) (Dec 8-3) 215: Gavin Schaefer (MARS) over Karsen Janssen (JCC) (Fall 3:00) 285: Brooks Hess (MARS) over Micheal Hansen (JCC) (Dec 3-0)

Marshall 76, Worthington 0

107: Keynan Coequyt (MARS) over Sam Dagel (WORT) (MD 10-0) 114: Lincoln Christenson (MARS) over (WORT) (For.) 121: Levi Kraft (MARS) over Kian Ling (WORT) (Fall 1:48) 127: Landon Marthaler (MARS) over Christian Dailey (WORT) (Fall 1:29) 133: Colton Chandler (MARS) over Miguel Moreno (WORT) (Fall 1:34) 139: Dawson DeCamp (MARS) over (WORT) (For.) 145: Tyson Louwagie (MARS) over (WORT) (For.) 152: Drew Chandler (MARS) over (WORT) (For.) 160: Brayden Chandler (MARS) over Arthur Htoo (WORT) (Fall 1:02) 172: Joshua Kraft (MARS) over Brayden Raymo (WORT) (Fall 0:16) 189: Eh Kwor (MARS) over Tony Hernandez (WORT) (Fall 2:44) 215: Gavin Schaefer (MARS) over (WORT) (For.) 285: Brooks Hess (MARS) over (WORT) (For.)