Photo courtesy of Marshall Area Wrestling Association: Marshall’s Gavin Schaefer, top, wrestles New Prague’s Landon Shepard during a prep wrestling match at a quadrangular at New Prague High School on Saturday. Marshall edged past New prague, 31-29, after picking up a 40-22 win over St. Francis and a 54-8 win over St. Peter to improve to a perfect 5-0 on the season.

NEW PRAGUE — The No. 5AA Marshall Tigers wrestling team improved their season record to 5-0 by winning all three of their duals in New Prague on Saturday.  The Tigers defeated St. Francis 40-22 and St. Peter 54-8 before narrowly beating New Prague 31-29 in a dual that came down to the final match. 

The Tigers closed out their day in a thrilling manner by winning 31-29 against New Prague.  With the dual on the line and trailing 29-27, the Tigers sent out senior No. 9AA Gavin Schaefer to square off against Landon Shepard in the heavyweight match to finish the day.  After a scoreless first period, Schaefer got a reversal and 4-point near fall to take a 6-0 lead.  Schaefer continued to build on his lead in the third period to earn a 12-2 major decision to give the Tigers the victory. 

Facing a 21-6 deficit to the Trojans, the Tigers rallied to win the next four matches, three of them by fall.  No. 3AA Landon Marthaler started the run and improved his record to 5-0 with a second-period pin at 145 pounds.

At 152, Tyson Louwagie also improved his season record to 5-0 by grinding out a 4-2 decision.

The Tigers tied the dual at 160 pounds with a first-period pin by Drew Chandler. No. 4AA Brayden Chandler gave the Tigers the lead and improved his record to 5-0 with a pin at 172 pounds.  

The Trojans did not stay down long as Owen Johnson defeated Josh Kraft and Reven Teitz defeated Mattison 4-0 to give the Trojans a 29-27 lead going into the final weight.

After a Marshall forfeit at 107 pounds, the Tigers won the next two matches to tie the dual.  Andrew Yang got the Tigers on the scoreboard with a 10-5 victory.  At 121 pounds, No. 1AA Lincoln Christenson improved his season record to 5-0 with a 7-0 decision over Elijah Lofton.  

Following the wins by Yang and Christenson the Trojans would win the next three matches take their biggest lead of the dual.  After a forfeit at 127 pounds by the Tigers, the Trojans Cody Thompson won by technical fall over freshman Levi Kraft at 133. At 139 pounds Gavin Williams lost to the Trojans Isaac Pumper by major decision.

 Both Kraft and Williams fought to avoid being pinned and, as a result, the duo saved the team three crucial team points.  

The Tigers began their day squaring off against the St. Francis Saints.  The Tigers began the dual with a forfeit at 107 pounds.  Keynan Coequyt put the Tigers on the board with a 9-0 major decision victory at 114 pounds. At 121 pounds, Christenson gave the Tigers a 9-6 lead with a 19-1 technical fall victory. 

At 127 pounds, the Saints reclaimed the lead in the dual as Ashton Charmoli defeated Levi Kraft.  The lead didn’t last long as the Tigers won the next two weights.  At 133 pounds, the Tigers’ Williams picked up a win by forfeit and Marthaler then won by major decision at 139 pounds.  

Following Marthaler’s win the Tigers and Saints went back and forth over the next five weights.

At 145 pounds, the Saints’ Caden Borgan defeated Dawson DeCamp by a major decision.  The Tigers rebounded at 152 pounds with a 7-2 victory for Tyson Louwagie.  The Saints picked up the win at 160 pounds as No. 9AAA Gunner Hostetter won by major decision over Drew Chandler.  

At 172 pounds, Brayden Chandler made quick work of his opponent with a win by fall in 34 seconds.  

The Saints won their final match of the day at 189 pounds with Bronson Markwood defeating Josh Kraft 10-5.

No. 4AA Aidan Mattison and Schaefer picked up wins by forfeit at 215 pounds and heavyweight to close the dual.  

Following their victory over the Saints from St. Francis the Tigers took on the Saints from St. Peter.  The Tigers earned victories in 11 of the 13 weight classes to defeat their conference foe 54-8.  

The Tigers began their second dual the same as the first by forfeiting 107 pounds. Coequyt once again got the Tigers on the board with a victory over No. 7AA Elijah Mercado.  

Christenson and Levi Kraft extended the Tigers’ lead as both pinned their St. Peter opponent.  At 133 pounds the Saints won their last match of the dual as Isaih Hesse narrowly defeated freshman Gavin Williams 6-5 in a hard-fought match.  

At 139 pounds, Marthaler used a combination of takedowns and near-falls to earn a 19-4 technical fall over Brock Guth.  Dawson DeCamp got the Tigers another win by bonus points at 145 pounds by grinding out an 18-10 major decision over Charlie Born.  

Over the next three weights, the Tigers won three consecutive close matches.   At 152 Tyson Louwagie grinded out a 4-1 victory over Evan Walter.  

At 160 pounds Drew Chandler picked up the Tigers’ second win against a ranked opponent in the dual as he defeated No. 6AA Deontre Torres 9-5.  Brayden Chandler continued the winning streak for the Tigers with a 5-4 victory over Ryan Moelter. The Tigers would not take much time to close out the dual as Kraft, Mattison and Schaefer all pinned their Saints opponents in less than one minute.  

Now a perfect 5-0 on the season, the Marshall Tigers will look to keep their strong start to the season going tonight when they compete at a triangular at Redwood Valley, along with Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City and Waseca.