Pipestone 45, YME 21
Yellow Medicine East knew exactly what they needed to do Thursday night to advance in the Section 3A Tournament.
After losing to Pipestone in their final home dual of the season 36-29, they figured that they only had to turn around one or two close matches to mildly upset the fourth-seeded Arrows.
But as with all things, it was easier said than done and YME’s season skidded to a stop in front of a raucous crowd in Pipestone with a 45-21 loss.
Even though the two teams, on paper, were as evenly matched as a fourth and fifth seed should be—the Sting just simply failed to match the Arrows energy and intensity. And after a 13-7 decision by Justin Tongen at 145 pounds to tie the match at 21-21, YME would lose their final six matches.
The first of those six loses and ultimately the turning point of the match would come at 152, where YME senior Logan Johnson would lose a hard fought 4-3 decision to Pipestone’s Dustin Hachmann after two manic overtimes.
“It was a good hard fought match,” said YME head coach David Wingert. “Both guys fought hard last time (in Granite Falls) and (Logan) won it by only one. When you’ve got guys that even you know it’s going to be close.”
From 152 on up the Pipestone crowd became more roused as YME’s bench became more despondent with each successive Pipestone victory.
With the quarterfinal loss YME was forced to act as mere spectators as Espeland Gymnasium played host to the Section 3A semi-finals and finals. Minneota would eventually win the tournament, breezing through the bracket to earn a redemption match against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg. After losing to the Saints in the finals of last year’s Section Tournament, Minneota would win a State Tournament birth with a 44-17 victory.
Attentions, for YME, now turn towards the Section 3A individual competition held this Fri. and Sat. at Redwood Falls High School.
Said Wingert, “Now each guy has to focus in on themselves individually. The team goals are over now and it’s all about those individual goals. That’s the nice thing about wrestling even though the team is done they’ve got a chance individually. We’ve got a lot of guys who have a chance to do some damage in Sections. So they just have to focus on what they can do now for themselves and what they can do as teammates to make sure their teammates are prepared.”
