Photo courtesy of Marshall Area Wrestling Association The Marshall wrestling team poses with the Big South trophy after winning the conference tournament in Jackson on Friday night.

The Marshall Tiger wrestling team took first place at the Big South Conference individual wrestling tournament on Friday with a complete team performance. The Tigers came out on top of the 13-team tournament finishing with 236.5 points, 78.5 ahead of second-place New Ulm.

The Tigers entered the tournament with 12 wrestlers, as they were open at 114 pounds. Marshall had 10 wrestlers earn All-Conference honors by placing in the top three. The other two wrestlers placed fourth.

Six wrestlers won their weight classes and were crowned conference champions. Lincoln Christenson, Landon Marthaler, Dylan Louwagie, Brayden Chandler, Tate Condezo and Tucker Fiene were all Conference Champions at their respective weights. Aidan Mattison and Gavin Schaefer both were runners-up as they fell in their finals matches.

Tyson Louwagie and AJ Haas earned all-conference honors with their third-place finishes. Dawson DeCamp and Collin Klenken placed fourth for the Tigers.

At 107 pounds, Lincoln Christenson came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed and wrestled to his seed. After receiving a bye in the quarterfinals, Christenson pinned Saint Peter’s Elijah Mercado in the first period to win his semifinals match and earn a spot in the finals. In his finals match against Jackson County Central’s No.5A Kyler Their, Christenson scored a quick first takedown to make the score 2-0. After a tough ride out to close out the first period the two wrestlers would trade escapes in the second and third periods and Christenson took home the Championship with a 3-1 victory.

Landon Marthaler, wrestling at 121 pounds, was Marshall’s second champion on the day. Marthaler began his day with a 12-2 major decision over Isaih Hesse from St. Peter. In the semifinals, Marthaler defeated JCC’s No. 9A Isaac Rodriguez by a 6-2 decision. Marthaler then knocked off another state-ranked wrestler in the finals to win his third conference championship as he defeated No. 8AA Pierce Rohman from Martin County, 7-0.

After a scoreless first period, Marthaler chose down to start the second period and quickly got on the board with a 2-point reversal. After riding out Rohman to finish off the period, Rohman chose neutral to start the third period. In the third Marthaler increased his lead with a takedown and 3-point near fall to pick up the 7-0 decision.

“I felt confident throughout the day,” Marthaler said. “I knew we have worked hard enough as a team for me and the team to win the conference.”

At 127 pounds, Dawson DeCamp finished fourth in the tournament. DeCamp, who entered the tournament as the number five seed, picked up the first upset win for Marshall with a technical fall victory over Redwood Casen Myers. After falling to Pipestone’s No. 6A Brayden Burmeister in the semifinals, DeCamp bounced back with a 4-2 win over Worthington’s Alex Galvez. In his final match of the day, DeCamp lost a hard-fought match against New Ulm’s Elijah Rieser by a score of 8-6.

Dylan Louwagie was Marshall’s third conference champion on the day as he won the title at 133 pounds. After receiving a bye into the semifinals, No. 1AA Louwagie pinned Worthington’s Dalton Larson. In the finals, Louwagie utilized two first-period takedowns to defeat No.6AA Torrey Paplow from Martin County by a 6-1 decision.

At 139 pounds, Tyson Louwagie also earned all-conference honors by winning three close matches and earning a third-place finish. To begin his day of wrestling, Louwagie took down two-time state entrant Kollin Anderson from Saint James, currently ranked No. 10A with a 5-3 decision in the quarterfinals.

After a loss to three-time state champion Nolan Ambrose from JCC, Louwagie rebounded with a 4-3 decision over Tucker Renquist from Windom/Mountain Lake. In his third-place match, Louwagie defeated Ryan Moelter from Saint Peter by a 6-5 decision.

At 145 pounds, Collin Klenken placed fourth on the day. Klenken began his day by taking down the No. 2-seeded Maddox Faber from Martin County.

Following the victory over Faber Klenken would lose an overtime match to Deontre Torres from Saint Peter in the semifinals. After a win by fall in his first consolation match, Klenken would finish the day with a 5-3 loss to Pipestone’s Haden Mulvihill to finish fourth.

Freshman Brayden Chandler entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed at 152 pounds but would defeat two higher-seeded wrestlers to win his first Big South Championship title.

After an 8-3 decision in the quarterfinals, Chandler took down the top-seeded Levi Meist from St. James in the semifinals with a 10-6 decision. In the finals, Chandler proved to be too much for the second-seeded Berent Kosbab from Martin County West.

After giving up the first takedown, Chandler recomposed himself, got a quick escape and answered with a takedown of his own. In the second period, Chandler added another takedown to increase his lead to 5-2 going into the third period.

In the final period, Chandler increased his lead even further with an escape and two takedowns to take home the title.

“I know have the experience and the training to compete with anybody,” Chandler said. “I wrestle with Tucker [Fiene] every day and he pushes me to be my best.”

At 160 pounds, No. 5AA Tate Condezo gave the Tigers another champion with a dominant day which included two pins in less than a minute. After making quick work of his first opponent, Condezo defeated Wyatt Pollard from New Ulm by major decision in the semifinals. In the finals, Condezo matched up with Nakiye Mercado from Saint Peter. The two wrestlers squared off earlier in the year with Condezo winning by decision. This time the Tiger wrestler got the quick pin as Condezo picked up the fall in 0:36 seconds.

At 170 pounds, Tucker Fiene gave Marshall back-to-back-to-back champions as he defeated Martin County’s Taylor Austin 3-1.

After a pin in the quarterfinals, Fiene defeated Kade Gaydon from Blue Earth Area for the second consecutive day in the semifinals. In the finals, Fiene and Austin had their second close match of the year as Fiene also defeated Austin in a dual earlier in the season. After a scoreless first period, Fiene got on the board first with an escape to start the second. In the third period, an Austin escape tied the match, but Fiene kept on applying pressure and scored the decisive takedown to take the title.

Aidan Mattison earned all-conference honors with a runner-up finish at 189 pounds. In his semifinals match, Mattison jumped out to a 3-0 lead over JCC’s Ryan Haley before Haley put Mattison on his back with a five-point move. An unfazed Mattison was able to not only fight off his back but get himself back on top for the 2-point reversal and then put his opponent on his back for a 3-point near fall to get himself back in the lead.

In the third period, Mattison would add another takedown to earn the 10-5 decision and a spot in the finals. In the finals, Mattison fell to Pipestone’s Jackson Melcher.

At 215 pounds, Gavin Schaefer earned all-conference honors with a second-place finish. On his path to the finals, Schaefer began his day with a pin of Ethan Lieb from New Ulm and a 16-6 major decision over Julio Esqueda from Saint James. In the finals, Schaefer met up with Waseca’s Matthew Veroeven for the second consecutive day and third time this season. Like in their previous matchups, Schaefer would fall in a close match this time by a score of 4-0.

At Heavyweight AJ Haas earned all-conference honors with a third-place finish. After losing to Saint James Willie Curry in his opening match Haas defeated Saint Peter’s Haadi Ahmed 8-1 in his consolation semifinal match. In his third period, Haas made quick work of his opponent as he picked up the first-period pin.