RIDING TIME — Martin County Red Bull wrestler Cooper Steuber (top) attempts to turn Blue Earth Area opponent Carson Sturtz during 132-pound action in a Big South Conference dual meet Tuesday night in Blue Earth. Steuber went on to post a 7-1 win. (Photo by Charlie Sorrells)

BLUE EARTH — The Class AA No. 9-ranked Martin County Red Bulls recorded four of their five total falls to help build a 41-0 lead to engineer an eventual 47-18 Big South dual-meet wrestling victory over the Blue Earth Area Bucs on Tuesday night.

“It was good to see a pair of young first-year varsity wrestlers get us off to a fast start with nine points in the dual’s first two matches,” said Red Bulls head coach Adam Williamson. “It’s not too often you have a seventh-grader step out on the mat and get a fall right away.”

Maddex Faber did just that for Williamson’s lineup by needing only 1:08 to pin Buc eighth-grader Timmy Nagel during 106-pound action to stake the Red Bulls to a quick 6-0 edge.

Freshman Berent Kosbab then outdueled Blue Earth Area opponent Kyren Sunken in a hard-fought, back-and-forth, edge-of-the-bleachers battle at 113.

Kosbab and Sunken matched each other point-for-point en route to a 5-all score after one period. Trailing 10-5 in the middle 2-minute frame, Sunken rallied for a reversal and two-point near-fall in the waning seconds to inch within one.

After Sunken knotted the score at 10 via an illegal hold call on Kosbab, the Red Bull freshman escaped from the down position during the final three seconds of the third period to claim an 11-10 win.

Rylan Cutler and Class AA No. 9-ranked 132-pounder Jesse Potts then reeled off back-to-back falls for Martin County at 120 and 126, respectively, to widen the lead to 21-0. Cutler earned the slap of the canvas in 1:33 over Cooper Peterson, while Potts broke the 1-minute barrier with a 52-second fall over Angel Martinez.

The Red Bulls’ Cooper Steuber and the Bucs’ Carson Sturtz then battled to a 2-1 score after one complete period before Steuber extended his narrow lead with the second frame’s only escape and takedown. Steuber iced his 7-1 win with two near-fall points from the up position.

Martin County’s Taylor Austin and BEA’s Caleb Langager also produced a nip-and-tuck clash at 138, with Austin holding leads of 2-1 and 6-3 after the first two periods, respectively. Austin, however, netted the only three points of the third to exit the mat with a 9-3 victory over Langager.

Ahead 27-0 on the team ledger, No. 10-ranked 145-pounder Kain Sanders delivered six more points for the Red Bulls. Sanders built a 7-3 first-period lead over Blair Lunz before earning the fall in 3:31.

Aden Welcome and No. 9-ranked 160-pounder Carver Rohman then delivered back-to-back major decisions at 152 and 160, respectively, to extend the Red Bulls’ margin to 41-0 through nine weight brackets. Welcome shut out Kade Gaydon by a 10-0 score before Rohman outdueled Parker Meyers on a 14-4 count.

Kean Hicks, however, jumpstarted the hometown Bucs’ late surge of reeling off wins in four of the dual meet’s final five weight classes. Hicks grabbed a narrow 2-0 first-period lead over Gage Cyphers in 170-pound action before netting a second-period reversal to cling to a 4-1 margin. Cyphers rallied with a third-period escape and takedown to knot the score at 4-all, but Hicks notched an escape to pull off the 5-4 victory.

Adam Schavey then produced one of BEA’s two falls on the night by building a 5-0 first-period lead over Wyatt Williamson before earning the slap of the canvas in 2:25 at 182.

No. 6-ranked 220-pounder Max Olson, however, halted the Bucs’ late momentum by producing the fifth and final fall for the Red Bulls. Olson led 4-1 over Kale Frank after one frame before exiting the mat via a pin in 2:47.

Nick Lawrence capped the competition for BEA by pinning Alec Thompson in 3:11 during the heavyweight clash. Lawrence recorded the only takedown of the opening period.

The Martin County Red Bulls (7-0) play host to St. Peter in a 7 p.m. conference dual meet Thursday night at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont.

Blue Earth Area competes along with the Red Bulls in the Plum Creek Quadrangular at 4 p.m. Friday in Tracy.

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Varsity Results

Martin County 47,

Blue Earth Area 18

106: Maddex Faber (MC) pinned Timmy Nagel, 1:08.

113: Berent Kosbab (MC) dec. Kyren Sunken, 11-10.

120: Rylan Cutler (MC) pinned Cooper Peterson, 1:33.

126: Jesse Potts (MC) pinned Angel Martinez, 0:52.

132: Cooper Steuber (MC) dec. Carson Sturtz, 7-1.

138: Taylor Austin (MC) dec. Caleb Langager, 9-3.

145: Kain Sanders (MC) pinned Blair Lunz, 3:31.

152: Aden Welcome (MC) major dec. Kade Gaydon, 10-0.

160: Carver Rohman (MC) major dec. Parker Meyers, 14-4.

170: Kean Hicks (BEA) dec. Gage Cyphers, 5-4.

182: Adam Schavey (BEA) pinned Wyatt Williamson, 2:25.

195: Cory Kitchel (BEA) dec. Riley Allen, 8-2.

220: Max Olson (MC) pinned Kale Frank, 2:47.

285: Nick Lawrence (BEA) pinned Alec Thompson, 3:11.