The Bulldogs defeated Hibbing (51-10) and Coon Rapids (51-14) in the preliminary rounds, and edged the host Falcons 36-33 in the final.
Foley built a 21-3 lead in the final, but the Bulldogs rallied in the heavier weight classes with four pins and a forfeit. Jeremy Sogge used six takedowns to win a 12-5 decision at 119 for the Bulldogs' only points in the lower weights.
Trailing, junior David Kerzman got the Bulldogs rolling with a 9-1 major decision at 135, and Chris Welle followed that with a pin at 140. Foley forfeited at 145, but got six points back at 152 with a pin, leading the Bulldogs at that point 27-18.
The Bulldogs won the next three matches--Chris Sogge at 160, Shaun Fleischhacker at 171, and Josh Bork at 189--by fall to seal the match, taking a 36-27 lead into the heavyweight match. The final score was 36-33.
Earlier in the day, the Bulldogs defeated two large schools in the round-robin portion of the tournament. Against Hibbing, the Bulldogs lost two matches in the light weights, trailing 10-9 at one point, before winning the last nine matches on their way to a 51-10 victory. The Bulldogs got pins from Joe Hiltner (145), Chris Sogge (160), Shaun Fleischhacker (189), and Matt Brauchler at heavyweight. Chris Welle added a technical fall at 140, and Pat Noonan won by forfeit at 112.
The Bulldogs won ten matches in beating Coon Rapids 57-14. Nine were pins, by Jeremy Sogge (119), Kerzman (130), Welle (140), Hiltner (145), Josh Schreifels (152), Chris Sogge (160), Scott Braun (171), Fleischhacker (189), and Bork at heavyweight.
For all three matches, Paynesville had seven undefeated wrestlers: Kerzman, Welle, Hiltner, Chris Sogge, Braun, Fleischhacker, and Bork. Both Welle and Kerzman earned their 100th career win in the Coon Rapids match.
"I was real pleased with the amount of pins we got," said coach Virg Vagle. He praised the aggressive efforts by the team, but felt the Bulldogs yielded too many points, especially against Foley. "Not many times will a team win when they give up 30 points," he said. The junior varsity wrestlers had an individual tournament at Foley. Placing first for Paynesville were Matt Kerzman, Josh Kerzman, and Jason Leyendecker. Finishing second were Justin Reeck, Nick Fuchs, Ryan Glenz, Pat Noonan, and Justin Spanier.
The team will wrestle at Sauk Centre on Friday night, with the junior varsity starting at 6:30 p.m. They also will wrestle in a quadrangular at Becker on Tuesday, Dec. 14, starting at 5 p.m.
Paynesville 36, Foley 33
Paynesville 57, Coon Rapids 14
Paynesville 51, Hibbing 10
103: Ryan Holthaus pinned Adam Christian (P) 3:59;
112: Chad Posterick maj. dec. Nate Glenz (P) 22-12;
119: Jeremy Sogge dec. Lance Muyres 12-5;
125: Matt Achmann tech. fall Bryan Kotten (P) 21-4;
130: Chris Stumvall pinned Brad Schultz (P) 2:47;
135: David Kerzman (P) dec. Mike Swendra 9-1;
140: Chris Welle (P) pinned Matt Barthelemy 4:46;
145: Joe Hiltner (P) won by forfeit;
152: Chris Wojciechowski pinned Josh Schreifels (P) 3:43;
160: Chris Sogge (P) pinned Josh Fitzpatrick 2:53;
171: Shaun Fleischhacker (P) pinned Chris Jurk 1:33;
189: Josh Bork (P) Dave Botzek 0:58;
Hwt: Jake Helmlin pinned Matt Brauchler (P) 2:54.
103: Dustin Chester tech. fall. Adam Christian (P) 23-6;
112: Scott Chester dec. Nate Glenz (P) 8-6;
119: Jeremy Sogge pinned Joe Bueno 1:13;
125: Bryan Kotten (P) dec. Andy Mark 14-9;
130: David Kerzman (P) pinned Corey Bass 0:36;
135: Matt Wagner pinned Max Meagher (P) 3:32;
140: Chris Welle (P) pinned Eric Dusbubek 0:44;
145: Joe Hiltner (P) pinned Noah Glenz 0:22;
152: Josh Schreifels (P) pinned Jack Nelson 5:26;
160: Chris Sogge (P) pinned Cory Martin 2:56;
171: Scott Braun (P) pinned Whitney Hall 3:30;
189: Shaun Fleischhacker (P) pinned Joe Cullen 2:44;
Hwt: Josh Bork (P) pinned Tony Devora 3:20.
103: Adam Christian (P) dec. Bradon Nemic 13-11 (OT);
112: Pat Noonan (P) won by forfeit;
119: Mike Rutherford pinned Bryan Kotten (P) 0:55;
125: Kyle Carlson maj. dec. Jeremy Sogge (P) 11-0;
130: David Kerzman (P) maj. dec. Ben Lamphere 12-0;
135: Max Meagher (P) dec. Noah Scmelzer 10-5;
140: Chris Welle (P) tech. fall Matt Seline 19-3;
145: Joe Hiltner (P) pinned Douglas Downs 1:47;
152: Josh Schreifels (P) dec. Ethan Osterhoult 7-4;
160: Chris Sogge (P) pinned Travis Tapei 1:03;
171: Scott Braun (P) dec. Craig Walli 6-3;
189: Shaun Fleischhacker (P) pinned Joe Fuenffinger 1:16;
Hwt: Matt Brauchler (P) pinned Philip Bodle 0:33.