EGF wrestlers beat Crookston for first time in 25 years
Steve Guststeve@page1publications.com
Its been nearly a quarter of a century since an East Grand Forks team has defeated Crookston in high school wrestling action.
That streak was snapped last Thursday evening in front of a good crowd at the EGF Central Middle School. The second year co-op between Senior High and Sacred Heart received some great individual efforts in a 36-35 win over the Pirates.
After a slow start, EGF won the last six individual matches to claim the victory over the Pirates for the first time since 1982.
“It’s by far the biggest team win the program has had,” EGF co-head coach Jack Knopp said. “The kids really worked hard. They earned it.”
With a forfeit looming at heavyweight, EGF knew it needed two pins in the final two weight classes to earn the team win. Casey Pagnac (189-lbs.) and Pat Thompson (215-lbs.) both delivered pins.
Pagnac and Thompson both had a great week of wrestling. In addition to their two big wins against Crookston, the two also won individual titles at Friday’s Wolfpack Tournament in Walker.
Pagnac won the 189-lb. title while Thompson won the 215-lb. championship.
Pagnac was especially impressive last week. He went 3-0 in Walker to claim his first-ever individual title.
“Casey wrestled as well as he has in his career,” EGF co-head coach Charlie Makovsky said. “In the championship match, he dominated Cooper Wilson, a wrestler who beat Casey earlier this year. Casey beat him in overtime last month, so obviously Casey has improved.”
He is 20-11 on the year.
Thompson improved to 21-7 on the year with a 2-0 record in Walker.
“Pat wrestled his usual punishing self,” Makovsky said. “He out-physicals most opponents, and Friday was no different.”
Against Crookston, Eric Hagen earned a crucial 5-3 win at 171-lbs. The junior, who leads the team in wins, is another individual who is wrestling well for EGF.
“That was a huge match,” Knopp said.
Brent Hagen, Christian Pagnac and Jordan Yanish started the late rally with three pins in the middle weights.
Dylan Lane earned the only win for EGF in the light weights.
“We knew we would be stronger at the top weights,” Knopp said. “They tried moving guys around and rolled the dice a bit.”
In the Walker Tourney, EGF placed sixth in the 8-team tourney.
Yanish and Casey Gajeski added third place finishes, while Noah Garcia finished fourth.