Photo by Sam Thiel Marshall’s Noah Blomme tries to pin TMB/WWG’s Sawyer Otto during their match on Saturday.

MARSHALL — With a bitter taste still left in their mouthguards from a tough Big South Championship loss to Martin County, the No. 6 ranked Marshall wrestling team had hopes of hitting the reset button Saturday. Facing a pair of challenging ranked opponents, the Tigers put together another strong effort, ultimately earning a split by defeating No. 5 Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove 50-16 before falling to No. 1 Brandon Valley (S.D.) 47-20.

Marshall coach Justin Bouwman said he was pleased with the effort his team had throughout the day and felt they competed hard against some tough teams.

“Overall, the kids wrestled really hard. I think we came out fresh and kind of revived after Thursday and we put it all out there,” Bouwman said. “The TMB/WWG match, that’s kind of a big rivalry for us and it’s kind of one of those things that’s developed over time and we were able to get going, got everything rolling and kept rolling.”

Marshall 50,

TMB/WWG 16

Opening their triangular against the Panthers, the Tigers jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead with a pin from Brett Regnier over TMB/WWG’s Devin Carter at 106 pounds before Dylan Louwagie won by major decision (15-2) over TMB/WWG’s Alexander Schuh at 113 pounds. Marshall then quickly pushed its advantage to 31-4 by claiming five of the next six bouts, getting a major decision by Hsa Law Eh (126) over TMB/WWG’s Jayden Torgeson, a pair of decisions from Tate Condezo (132) and Noah Jensen (152) over TMB/WWG’s Levi Ellingson and Caden Johnson, respectively, a technical fall by Noah Blomme (138) over TMB/WWG’s Sawyer Otto and a pin from Connor Roth (145) over TMB/WWG’s Blaine Petersen. The Panthers’ Ayden Horner (120) picked up the lone victory during that stretch for TMB/WWG, defeating Hsa Khee Lar via major decision.

Bouwman said the start of the lineup has been a sparkplug to their success this season and if they’re able to begin strong, they’ll have a good chance of emerging victorious.

“Our little guys in the beginning are kind of our sparkplug, they get us going and as they go, we go,” Bouwman said. “The more they push and the more they have success, the better the top wrestles. It kind of gets everybody excited and everybody keeps going.”

TMB/WWG gained some momentum in the middle weight classes with two pins from Gabe Krick (160) over Tucker Fien and Trevor Eisfeld (182) over Kaiden Otto, but Marshall finished strong by winning four of the final six bouts. Grant Louwagie (170) earned a hard-fought decision over TMB/WWG’s Sawyer Schwartz to make it 34-10 before pins by Spencer Wambeke (195) over TMB/WWG’s Eathan Martinez and Jackson Vierstraete (285) over TMB/WWG’s Nick Willhitte and a major decision victory from Cole Felcyn over TMB/WWG’s Travis Willhitte to bring it to the 50-16 final.

Brandon Valley (S.D.) 47, Marshall 20

The Tigers then squared off against Brandon Valley, who entered as a top-ranked team in South Dakota. Just like it did against TMB/WWG, Marshall raced out to a solid start, as Dylan Louwagie, Hsa Khee Lar and Condezo won by decision, Hsa Law Eh won by forfeit and Roth won by technical fall to give the Tigers a 20-6 lead.

But Brandon Valley wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, and quickly turned the tide by taking the final eight bouts. The Lynx earned six pins and two decisions to come out on top, but were given an unsportsmanlike conduct and deducted a point to bring it to the 47-20 final.

Bouwman said their biggest adjustment in the Brandon Valley match was just trying to match the Lynx’s physicality.

“We were just trying to be more in a physical position and try to match their physicality and just go,” Bouwman said. “They’re No. 1 for a reason, they’re good, and it’s good to see those teams.”

Honoring the seniors

Before its matches, Marshall honored its seven seniors. They are Jensen, Hsa Khee Lar, Hsa Law Eh, Connor Roth, Jaiden Bahr, Vierstraete and Ethan Van Hauwaert. Bouwman said whether they had been in the program for only a couple of years or a long time, each one of them brought a lot to the table throughout their time on the mat at Marshall.

“Those seniors, some of them have been with us for a long time, some of them have only been with us for a couple of years but they all contribute every day. They’re vital and important and mean a lot and are guys that you know you can look to,” Bouwman said. “From Noah Jensen to the twins in Hsa Law and Hsa Khee, those guys have been wrestling for a long time. Jaiden Bahr has probably been wrestling as long as he’s been alive and doing a great job. Ethan came out a few years back, Jackson’s only been out for two years, and those guys want to contribute and want to be there and support each other. It’s awesome, and it’s hard to see them go but it’s just one of those things.”

Honoring the past

The Tigers also held their ‘Alumni Night’ on Saturday. With a number of former wrestlers, coaches, statisticians, cheerleaders and managers in attendance, Bouwman said it’s great to be able to honor those who helped pave the way in their program as well as having them interact with their current team.

“It’s exciting to see all of these people come back and watch us and keep building that pride in this program. Now they get to see and hear success stories on things that they built a long time ago and it’s coming full circle,” Bouwman said. “It’s fun to see their excitement; we get the newer alumni back and watching them come into practice and see how things are going and that’s what those young kids need to hear.”

Up next

Marshall (15-2) will compete in the Section 3AA team tournament at home on Thursday, facing the winner of the Redwood Valley/New London-Spicer match at 7:15 p.m. As they prepare for the postseason, Bouwman said their biggest takeaway will be continuing to stay confident as a group and improve on things every single day.

“I think from the end of the regular season we can take that when we want to and when we’re confident in ourselves, we’re pretty good,” Bouwman said. “And just those things like getting them to go and be excited about it and of course, you’re going to have to fix a couple of things, there’s always those little things that you need to tweak.”