Staff Photo by Caleb Brinton. Martin County West/Fairmont Red Bull Maddex Faber ties up Brayden Ramo in the Section 3AA tournament in Sherburn Thursday night.

SHERBURN – The Martin County Red Bulls were unable to catch the Worthington Trojans in the Section 3AA wrestling quarterfinals on Thursday as the Trojans held on 37-35.

“It was a great battle from the get-go,” said Red Bulls head coach Adam Williamson. “We knew they would come with a full lineup. The first two times we faced them, they had a lot of open weights and guys out of the lineup. Tonight, they filled it out and they really brought it tonight. We gave great effort. We just needed one more thing to go our way, one more match anywhere. We come out on top, but it just wasn’t in our favor tonight.”

The 107-pound match-up between Red Bull’s Jace Wiemers and Dominic Larson opened the night of wrestling. Larson struck first taking Wiemers down in the first period before catching Weiemers in a cradle and securing the pin putting the Trojans on the board first 6-0.

114-pound Hector Pablo Gomez of the Red Bulls took on Sam Dagel, and Dagle scored first in the opening period taking down Gomez and locked in the 3 points. Gomez was able to escape but after a near fall, the buzzer signaled the end of the first round. Down 6-1 as they reset, Dagle continued to maintain back control but every time he would try to go for the pin Gomez would manage to keep his shoulders off of the mat. Ultimately, Dagle took the 14-1 victory via technical fall 4:41 into the match.

Adam Denson of Martin County faced off against Kain Ling in the 121-pound match. The takedown defense of Ling proved to be the defining factor of the bout with a solid sprawl thwarting an attempted takedown of Denson and setting up a single-leg takedown. As the two continued to battle for control they reached the third period with Denson down 13-0, it was at the 5:20 mark that Ling got Denson to the ground securing the pinfall victory.

In the 133-pound matchup between Red BullCooper Kolander and Miguel Moreno, the Red Bulls added their first points to the scoreboard. Despite being taken down three times, Kolander remained calm, looking for his opening before shooting the single-leg takedown. Moreno returned the favor taking Kolander down and worked him onto his back pinning Kolander at the 3:37 mark bringing the score to 29-0.

Red Bull’s Pierce Rohman took on Christian Dailey in the 139-pound match. Rohman came out strong almost immediately, getting his arms around Dailey’s waist and slammed him to the mat for his first three points of the match. Rohman maintained control claiming two 4-point near falls and went up 11-0. Rohman was looking for the pinfall but after scoring on an escape a technical fall was imminent and after another takedown, the victory was secured bringing the Red Bulls closer to the Trojans’ lead 29-5.

“I needed a pin,” said Rohman. “Which would have helped the team a lot, which could have changed the outcome of the duel. He took top and then he cut me and that gave me a point, so I only needed a takedown for a tech and that kind of screwed us. Because other than that, I would have gotten a pin if he didn’t do that and I knew that.”

The 145-pound match between Martin County’s Torrey Paplow and Preston Kumi was an explosive affair. Paplow took Kumi to the mat quickly but was stripped a point for a technical violation. Paplow went back to work and was able to take Kumi down two more times before the end of the round up 14-3. The second was more of Paplow’s strong takedown ability who caught Kumi in a half nelson taking him to the mat and securing the pinfall at the 3:21 mark, bringing the score to 29-11.

At 152 pounds, Kaedin Lange of the Red Bulls took on Dalton Larson. This match was a battle between take-down defenses. Larson would score first taking Lange down and trying to catch him in a cradle going up 7-0. The second round was a stalemate with no points being scored. Headed into the third when Lange drove his opponent into the mat but after two escapes by Larson the stalemate resumed with the final 2 points coming from stalling calls, Lange lost the decision 9-4 bringing the score to 32-11.

“There was a great match at 152 with Kaedin Lang and Dalton Larson,” said Williamson. “That was kind of the one that decided it. They’ve gone back and forth this year where Dalton beat him early in the year. Kaedin beat him kind of in the middle of the year and now Dalton got this one. You can’t pinpoint it on one match or one moment but that was kind of one of those marquee matchups of the duel that went the distance. It was a close decision and just didn’t go our way.”

Ty Kolbe of Martin County made short work of Kaden Finke in the 160-pound match. Kolbe opened things with a couple of single-leg takedowns. Kolbe got his opponent to the mat and pinned him at the 1:15 point in the match.

Maddex Faber from the Red Bulls took the victory over Brayden Raymo in the 172-pound bout. Faber came out quickly taking his opponent down fast and pinning him in 1:32.

Aaron Becker of the Red Bulls secured the win over Carlos Martinez. Becker was quick to take down Martinez and maintained control over his opponent for the duration of round one. The second round was a hunt for the pin by Becker, but Martinez was able to hold Becker off. It was the third round when Becker got ahold of Martinez’s neck and rolled him into the pin bringing the score to 32-29.

Red Bull Ivan Martin stepped onto the mat for the 215-pound match against Chase Byrne. The first round was an explosive one. Martin was able to avoid one takedown, but Byrne was able to get him to the ground and trap Martin in a cradle for a 4-point near fall. The intensity continued in the second round where Byrne managed to get Martin to the mat and score another 4 points triggering the technical fall win at the 3:18 mark extending the Trojans’ lead to 37-29.

A forfeit brought the score to 37-35, locking in the Trojan victory.

“Another bright spot, even in a loss, Ivan Martin,” said Williamson. “Great effort at 215. Almost got a couple of takedowns. Almost got burned to his back there and could have been a difference maker too. Unfortunately, they just won a couple more matches than they did the last time we saw them and kind of turned the tables on us score-wise.”

The Red Bulls’ season may have come to a close as a team, but the team now turns its attention to the Section 3AA individual tournament in Dawson on Feb. 22.