BLINDING QUICKNESS ­— Martin County Red Bulls wrestler Torrey Paplow (right) takes down Le Sueur-Henderson opponent Nick Larson and jars his head gear loose during the 133-pound match of their nonconference wrestling dual meet at Cardinal Gym in Fairmont on Thursday night. Paplow went on to post a 21-7 major decision over Larson. (Photo by Greg Abel)

FAIRMONT — The Martin County Red Bulls lost a down-to-the-wire, one-point dual meet before falling to a state-ranked wrestling opponent and nearly losing one of their top grapplers due to a disqualifying slam on Thursday night in Fairmont.

D.J. Miller notched a pivotal pin at 215 pounds to transform a 30-29 team deficit into a 35-30 lead for the Red Bulls, but George Doherty countered with a fall at heavyweight to cap the Le Sueur-Henderson Giants’ 36-35 triumph at Cardinal Gym.

Unfortunately for Maddex Faber, who earned a fall for the Red Bulls during 145-pound action against the Giants, the Martin County freshman standout doubled his wins during the triangular, but not by a standard scoring method against the Class A No. 11-ranked Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Area Knights.

After battling the Knights’ Zach Palmer to a scoreless first period at 145, Palmer slammed Faber on his shoulder and neck to temporarily knock out his Red Bull rival. Palmer was disqualified from the dual meet, but the Knights still managed to post a 47-21 team decision over Martin County.

“It looked like a nerve in his neck and shoulder got pinched and caused him to get knocked out when he got slammed,” Red Bulls assistant coach Dusty Faber said in reference to the flagrant infraction on his son. “It doesn’t appear like anything is broken, so hopefully — keep your fingers crossed — he (Maddex) will be OK.”

Maddex Faber triggered a string of four consecutive winning decisions to help the Red Bulls stampede into the lead against Le Sueur-Henderson during the host team’s first dual meet.

After giving away forfeits to the Giants at 107 and 114 pounds, Class AA No. 9-ranked 121-pounder Pierce Rohman put on a textbook catch-and-release clinic to coast to a 21-7 major decision over Waylon Thieke to reduce the Red Bulls’ deficit to 12-4.

Class A No. 7-ranked 121-pounder Colton Wilson then moved to 127 to post a fall in 1:43 over Ethan Siebring to swing an 18-4 lead to LSH.

Class AA No. 4-ranked 133-pounder Torrey Paplow countered for the Red Bulls by earning the slap of the canvas in 3:31 over Nick Larson before LSH’s Dalton Wilson answered with a fall in 2:28 over Seth Siebring at 139. Dalton Wilson holds the No. 3 spot at 133 in Class A.

Faber then pressed Isaac Holloway’s shoulders to the mat in 2:42 during 145-pound action to pare the Red Bulls’ deficit to 24-16 and create a domino effect in the scoring column.

Berent Kosbab amassed a 17-5 major decision over Mason Johnson at 152 before Red Bulls teammate Ty Kolbe earned the slap of the canvas over Sam Wagner in 2:56 during 160-pound action.

Taylor Austin capped Martin County’s winning ways by collecting a 7-3 winning decision over Wyatt Genelin during 172-pound action to widen the team lead to 29-24.

Ty Boisjolie transformed an early reversal into a fall in 1:26 over Hank Olson during 189-pound action to grab a 30-29 lead for the Giants.

Miller planted Carter Nelson to the mat in 5:04 during 215-pound action to flip-flop a five-point edge to the Red Bulls before the Giants’ Doherty answered with a fall in 2:21 over Colby Schwichtenberg at heavyweight.

After back-to-back forfeits again, Rohman got the Red Bulls in the scoring column as the No. 11-ranked Knights in their second dual meet of the night.

Rohman delivered the 121-pound match’s only takedown of the opening period, tallied a takedown and a three-point near-fall in the middle segment and added a third-period takedown to pace a 9-0 major decision over LCWM’s Ryder Antony.

LCWM’s Class A No. 9-ranked 121-pounder Griffin Gimenez then earned the 75th victory of his prep wrestling career by meriting a fall in 3:57 over Ethan Siebring at 127 pounds.

Paplow then recorded his second win of the triangular by rolling to a 12-2 major decision over Carson Othoudt during 133-pound action.

Two matches later, Faber was awarded the 145-pound victory via the slam by Zach Palmer before Kosbab collected his second win of the double dual meet. Kosbab earned a hard-fought 8-5 decision over Talan Osborne at 152 to inch Martin County within 24-16 on the team ledger.

Class A No. 5-ranked 160-pounder Ryan Palmer, however, posted a 19-2 technical fall win over Kolbe before Austin countered for the Red Bulls with a 17-2 technical fall over LCWM’s Nathan Sickler at 172.

No. 4-ranked 189-pounder Nick Slater netted a fall in 39 seconds, Mason Adams followed suit in 25 seconds at 215 before Diestrich Rosin notched a pin in 2:12 at heavyweight to close out LCWM’s final three wins and 26-point margin of victory over Martin County.

The Red Bulls square off against Worthington and host Fulda/Murray County Central starting at 5 p.m. today in Fulda.

Varsity Results

Le Sueur-Henderson 36,

Martin Co. Red Bulls 35

107 pounds: William Osborne (LSH) won by forfeit.

114: Robert Rienmann (LSH) won by forfeit.

121: Pierce Rohman (MC) major dec. Waylon Thieke, 21-7.

127: Colton Wilson (LSH) pinned Ethan Siebring, 1:43.

133: Torrey Paplow (MC) pinned Nick Larson, 3:31.

139: Dalton Wilson (LSH) pinned Seth Siebring, 2:28.

145: Maddex Faber (MC) pinned Isaac Holloway, 2:42.

152: Berent Kosbab (MC) major dec. Mason Johnson, 17-5.

160: Ty Kolbe (MC) pinned Sam Wagner, 2:56.

172: Taylor Austin (MC) dec. Wyatt Genelin, 7-3.

189: Ty Boisjolie (LSH) pinned Hank Olson, 1:26.

215: D.J. Miller (MC) pinned Carter Nelson, 5:04.

285: George Doherty (LSH) pinned Colby Schwichtenberg, 2:21.

LCWM Area 47,

Martin County 21

107: Brody Herbst (LCWM) won by forfeit.

114: Connor Othoudt (LCWM) won by forfeit.

121: Pierce Rohman (MC) major dec. Ryder Antony, 9-0.

127: Griffin Gimenez (LCWM) pinned Ethan Siebring, 3:57.

133: Torrey Paplow (MC) major dec. Carson Othoudt, 12-2.

139: Parker Kamm (LCWM) pinned Seth Siebring, 2:37.

145: Maddex Faber (MC) won via disqualification of Zach Palmer (slam).

152: Berent Kosbab (MC) dec. Talan Osborne, 8-5.

160: Ryan Palmer (LCWM) tech. fall Ty Kolbe, 19-2.

172: Taylor Austin (MC) tech. fall Nathan Sickler, 17-2.

189: Nick Slater (LCWM) pinned Hank Olson, 0:39.

215: Mason Adams (LCWM) pinned D.J. Miller, 0:25.

285: Diestrich Rosin (LCWM) pinned Colby Schwichtenberg, 2:12.