The strength at the top of the Bulldogs' lineup proved decisive as Paynesville beat Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 41-24.
After losing the first match of the night, the Bulldogs ran off a string of eight straight victories, including five pins, to take an insurmountable 41-4 lead. Adam Christian started the string with a 4-1 decision at 112, and Pat Noonan got the first pin at 119. Noonan would have had a technical fall had the third-period pin escaped him.
Other pins were recorded for Paynesville by Nathan Glenz (125), Jeremy Fuchs (140), Joe Hiltner (145), and Max Meagher (152). Jeremy Sogge won by technical fall at 130.
The most competitive match occurred at 135 between the Bulldogs' David Kerzman and the Falcons' Jason Litzau, a state entrant a year ago. Kerzman took an 8-2 lead early in the second period and looked to be in control, but Litzau wouldn't be turned for back points. In fact, he scored the only back points of the match, and Kerzman needed a third-period takedown to seal the 12-9 decision.
ACGC is strong in the upper weights and won the last four matches, scoring 20 points to make the final score 41-24.
The Bulldogs were given the top seed in Section 6A last week. They hosted Ogilvie, the #8 seed, on Tuesday night in the first round of section competition.
Barring a major upset, the Bulldogs will wrestle on Friday for a return trip to state. The section team semifinals and finals will be held in Royalton on Friday night.
The Bulldogs would wrestle either Royalton or BBE in the semifinals at 6 p.m. In the finals at 8 p.m., the most likely opponent would be either #2 seed Pierz or #3 seed Braham.
Paynesville 41, ACGC 24 103-Jason Losing (ACGC) maj. dec. Sean Glenz, 16-5; 112-Adam Christian (P) dec. Devin Blom, 4-1; 119-Pat Noonan (P) pinned Mike Fierstad, 5:17; 125-Nathan Glenz (P) pinned Spencer Lund, 0:58; 130-Jeremy Sogge (P) tech. falled. Isaac Fordyce, 18-3; 135-David Kerzman (P) dec. Jason Litzau, 12-9; 140-Jeremy Fuchs (P) pinned Dan Evenson, 2:23; 145-Joe Hiltner (P) pinned Matt Fordyce, 4:32; 152-Max Meagher (P) pinned Jason Bjorge, 4:53; 160-Dave Blom (ACGC) tech. falled. Ryan Glenz, 15-0; 171-Dain Kalkbrenner (ACGC) dec. Josh Kerzman, 8-3; 189-Dan Hammer (ACGC) pinned Ryan Knisley, 2:31; HWT-Chris Adams (ACGC) pinned Brad Person, 1:20.