Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Noah Jensen tries to pin Canby’s Parker Viessman during their match on Tuesday. The Tigers defeated the Lancers 49-12.

MARSHALL – The No. 12-ranked Marshall wrestling team wanted to continue its strong momentum it has seen to start the season on Tuesday night when the Tigers squared off against Canby. Marshall kept things rolling and stayed undefeated with a key victory at home, this time a 49-12 win over Canby.

Marshall coach Justin Bouwman said he was pleased with his team’s effort and felt they are in a great spot as a team right now and are looking to make a statement.

“We kind of were ready to go; we wanted to wrestle somebody different again, and we’re kind of getting into that groove and we’re getting ready for the big push here with the Redwood Riots and different things,” Bouwman said. “We really want to show people that we’re here and we kind of want to make ourselves known and showing them that last year wasn’t a fluke thing.”

The Tigers got out to a quick start, winning their first four bouts. Dylan Louwagie picked up a 6-2 decision over Lane Fink before Hsa Khee Lar earned a pin (0:36) against Lincoln Fink and a forfeit victory for Tate Condezo and a major decision win for Hsa La Eh gave Marshall a 19-0 lead.

Canby would get on the board in the 132-weight class, as the Lancers’ Tanner Drietz earned a pin victory (4:46) over Marshall’s Andrew Williams to make it 19-6, but the Tigers responded with a forfeit victory for Lucas Hodges and a trio of decision victories for Noah Jensen (6-1), Jackson Hughes (15-10) and Grant Louwagie (4-0) to push Marshall’s advantage to 34-6.

Bouwman said their key was for their bottom three guys to get going and that helped focus the rest of the team.

“Our bottom three guys are pretty much our sparkplug,” Bouwman said. “When they get going, we’re tough to beat and those three really get us going and it gets everybody in the right mindset and gets everybody in the right direction and everything’s ready.”

After Elijah Sterner picked up a pin victory over Canby’s Noah Steffen (3:27), Zach Stahl earned a 9-2 decision win over Canby’s Evan Stoks to make it 43-6. The Lancers then got a hard-fought 1-0 decision victory at 195-pounds from last year’s individual state champion, Jaden Kindopp and a 5-3 decision victory from Josh Steffen, but Marshall closed out the match with a victory from Cole Felcyn to earn the 49-12 win.

Canby coach Gary Stoks gave Marshall credit for going after what they wanted right away and he wants to see that from his team as the season progresses.

“You’ve got to give Marshall a lot of credit; they came after us and our kids have got to respond to that,” coach Stoks said. “That’s probably the biggest key is that they came after it and wanted it and our guys were kind of sitting back. Some kids wrestled well, and Marshall’s got a lot of nice kids. Overall, we’ve got a lot of injuries this year but that’s never an excuse, you just look at the way Marshall wrestled, they hustled and attacked and did a lot of nice things and I’ve got to figure out how to turn our guys around to do that.”

Tuesday night also marked Senior Night for the Marshall wrestling team. This year’s seniors include Zack Felcyn, Josue Guerro, Huges, Stahl, Sterner, Hodges, Tyler Timm, Williams and Massimo Chamberlain.

Bouwman said this year’s group has put in a ton of effort and work and it’s fun to watch them go out and see the success they’re having on the mat.

“This senior group’s been through a lot. Some of them started a little bit later than others, but some of them have been through the lean times, so now they’re getting to have fun and reaping the benefits of their hard work,” Bouwman said. “It’s fun to see that and to get some of those guys that haven’t been out very long and getting great times and having fun memories, that’s kind of what high school sports is all about.”

Marshall (8-0) will now compete in the Redwood River Riot tournament this weekend, beginning on Friday at 4 p.m. Bouwman said their biggest takeaway is that they’re in shape and ready for the challenges that their opponents are going to present.

“That we’re in shape and ready to go and we’re not afraid to back down at anybody,” Bouwman said. “Jaiden went 1-0 with the returning state champ, so we’re ready and it shows that we’re in the right position and doing things right in the practice room.”

Canby will also compete in the Redwood tournament this weekend. Coach Stoks said their biggest takeaway is working on the little things like footwork and creating opportunities to score.

“We just have to do our thing,” coach Stoks said. “When we wrestled this last weekend, we wrestled and attacked and did a lot of nice things so we’ve got to work a little more with moving our feet and creating shots and angles.”