It was another big season for the West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville wrestling team after going 25-5 and narrowly falling in the section championship against Class A’s second place Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale-Parkers Prairie (29-8).
The Knights’ season highlights included beating top-ranked Long Prairie-Grey Eagle-Browerville (26-2) 28-27 on Feb. 25.
Senior Nathaniel Kisgen was one of the leaders on a deep roster, and Kisgen, who wrestled predominantly at 182 pounds, was named the Knights’ MVP on April 25. Kisgen had the most pins on the team with 21 to wrap up a standout career that included 128 wins and 79 pins.
Kisgen was one of eight WCA-A-B-E wrestlers who qualified for the individual state tournament this winter as he took third place at 182 pounds. Adam Lohse (120), Solomon Wales (126), Reubens Swanson (145, sixth place), Jordan Lohse (152, fifth place), Anthony Sykora (160, fifth place), Colton Lindquist (220, sixth place), and Justin Blascyk (285) also qualified for state. Lindquist had a team-high in escapes this year with 29.
Jordan Lohse, another senior, earned the Knights’ Hardest Worker Award. Lohse wrapped up a standout career with 178 wins and 81 pins.
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Sophomore Beau Robinson won the Knights’ Most Improved Award, and 8th-grader Jeremy Blascyk was the Spirit Award winner. Seventh-grader Ezekiel Sieckert won the Rookie of the Year Award to round out varsity wrestlers who took home team awards.
Anthony Sykora, a sophomore wrestling at 160 pounds, joined Swanson, Jordan Lohse, Kisgen and Lindquist as All-Park Region Conference wrestlers. Sykora was the team-leader in wins (35), takedowns (63), technical falls (5), reversals (11) and nearfall points (125). For his career, he is at 128 wins and 67 pins.
The Knights were equally as impressive off the mat with an average team GPA of 3.538. That earned WCA-A-B-E the Minnesota Wrestling Coaches Association Gold Award.
SPOTLIGHT ON SCHOLARSHIP AWARD (GPA of 3.0 or higher): Carter Lohse, Adam Lohse, Ashton Danner, Reubens Swanson, Anthony Sykora, Jordan Lohse, Kade Olson, Nathaniel Kisgen, Beau Robinson, Colton Lindquist, Justin Blascyk, Brody Brunkow, Logon Long, Ezekiel Sieckert, Gavin Flint, Jeremy Blascyk, Hunter Gruchow, Will Rustan, Logan Haburn, Dierk Goeden, Blake Flint, Colin Anderson, Austin Mattson, Kjersten Nibbe, Lucea Wales, Annika Brunkow, Jaime Johnson, Terina Blascyk, Deklin Goeden
WCA-A-B-E PERFECT ATTENDANCE AWARDS: Jordan Lohse, Nathaniel Kisgen, Colton Lindquist, Justin Blascyk, Anthony Sykora, Solomon Wales, Will Rustan, Carter Lohse, Adam Lohse, Hunter Gruchow, Jeremy Blascyk, Ezekiel Sieckert, Kade Olson
CAREER 25-PIN PATCH: Solomon Wales - 25; Ashton Danner - 29; Kade Olson - 33; Austin Mattson - 25; Colton Lindquist - 45; Adam Lohse - 38
JV AWARD WINNERS - Most Valuable - Will Rustan; Most Improved - Jacob Schaffran; Hardest Worker - Brody Brunkow; Most Valuable Manager - Kjersten Nibbe; Most Dedicated Fan - Joyce Hanson
