WRIST TWIST — Blue Earth Area grappler Ty Peterson pulls Kenyon-Wanamingo opponent Alec Johnson’s wrist in order to turn him during the 138-pound match of Saturday’s Section 2A team championship dual meet at St. James Area High School. Peterson went on to post an 8-2 win. (Photo by Charlie Sorrells)

ST. JAMES — Blue Earth Area took a shot at slaying the proverbially Class A wrestling dragon in Kenyon-Wanamingo for a second straight season during Saturday’s Section 2 team finale, but the No. 12-ranked Knights dethroned the 2020 champion Bucs.

Kenyon-Wanamingo reeled off three consecutive falls to trigger five winning decisions in a row to help outjoust the Bucs, 45-24, in the Section 2 team showdown in St. James. The No. 11-ranked Jackson County Central Huskies, however, ended K-W’s team run by pressing out a 45-30 Class A state quarterfinal win over the Knights later Saturday.

JCC advances to the 9 a.m. Class A state team semifinals on Saturday, March 27, at St. Michael-Albertville High School against a Final Four opponent to be determined. The Huskies captured the Section 3 crown earlier Saturday via a hard-fought 33-29 victory over Minneota.

“It’s always a good year when you reach the sectional championship dual meet,” said Blue Earth Area head coach Randy Wirtjes, whose talent-laden lineup slammed the brakes on K-W’s four-year sectional winning streak with a 39-23 decision in 2020. “They’re (the Knights) a really tough opponent, and we just didn’t quite match up with them at a couple of spots in our lineup today.

“I’m glad that our seniors (Ty Peterson, Max Ehrich, Nick Frank, Logan Johnson and Luke Mertens) had the opportunity to wrestle for a section championship and a chance at another state bid, and you can’t ask for much more than that.”

Unfortunately for Wirtjes and the Bucs, the Knights built a commanding 27-0 lead before one of his seniors — Ty Peterson — stepped to the canvas at 138 pounds. Peterson used a first-period takedown, a second-period reversal and a two-point near-fall in the third to help highlight an 8-2 victory over Alec Johnson to halt K-W’s five-match winning string.

Jaedin Johnson (145) and Bray Olson (152) combined to generate nine more points for the Knights before another Buc senior standout — No. 2-ranked 170-pounder Max Ehrich — dropped to 160 to earn six team points.

Ehrich utilized a catch-and-release strategy to amass a 10-4 lead over Owen Craig after one period before eventually pinning his Knight opponent in 4:30.

Tyler Craig then mathematically secured the Knights’ team triumph by posting a 5-3 win at 170. The Bucs trailed by 30, with only a maximum of 24 team points available via four matches to close out the dual.

Ironically, No. 10-ranked 195-pounder Nick Frank, who dropped to 182, and teammate Adam Schavey, who wrestled at 195, actually delivered back-to-back falls to whittle the Bucs’ final deficit.

Frank built a 5-0 lead over Dillon Bartel after two periods before earning the slap of the canvas in 4:20 to reduce K-W’s lead to 39-15 at that juncture. Schavey led by a 4-0 margin in the second period of his match with Logan Meyers before pressing Meyers’ shoulders flat in 3:52.

No. 5-ranked 220-pounder Carter Quam, however, answered for K-W by pinning Logan Johnson in 3:43 before undersized Buc heavyweight Luke Mertens slayed another state-ranked opponent for the second dual meet in a row.

After a scoreless opening period, Mertens earned the lone takedowns of both the second and third segments to earn a hard-fought 5-3 win over No. 10-ranked heavyweight Armani Tucker.

Mertens pinned No. 6-ranked heavyweight Gavin Hermes of Medford to break BEA’s 27-all tie with the Tigers during the sectional team semifinals three days earlier in Blue Earth and propel the Bucs to Saturday’s “super sectional.” Mertens, who weighed in at 236 pounds Saturday, gave away 30 pounds to Hermes on Wednesday night, and then 43 to Tucker on Saturday.

“Now we still need to get some guys through the sectional individual tournament starting Tuesday at home (in Blue Earth) and onto state,” said Wirtjes. “Even though the state meet’s not at the Xcel Energy Center (in St. Paul) this year, we’re just grateful to have the opportunity to compete and continue our season.”

Blue Earth Area plays host to Day 1 of the Section 2A Individual Meet starting at 3 p.m. Tuesday in Blue Earth.

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2021 Section 2A Team

Meet Championship

K-W 45, B.E. Area 24

106 pounds: Tate Miller (KW) pinned Cooper Peterson, 3:38. 113: Reed Sommer (KW) pinned Cale Borris, 3:42. 120: Gavin Johnson (KW) pinned Caleb Langager, 1:42. 126: Trent Foss (KW) major dec. Carson Sturtz, 11-3. 132: Kiefer Olson (KW) tech. fall Blair Lunz, 16-0. 138: Ty Peterson (BEA) dec. Alec Johnson, 8-2. 145: Jaedin Johnson (KW) dec. Parker Meyers, 2-1. 152: Bray Olson (KW) pinned Cory Kitchel, 0:55. 160: Max Ehrich (BEA) pinned Owen Craig, 4:30. 170: Tyler Craig (KW) dec. Kean Hicks, 5-3. 182: Nick Frank (BEA) pinned Dillon Bartel, 4:20. 195: Adam Schavey (BEA) pinned Logan Meyers, 3:52. 220: Carter Quam (KW) pinned Logan Johnson, 3:43. 285: Luke Mertens (BEA) dec. Armani Tucker, 5-3.