Pierz Pioneers vs Blackduck/Cass Lake-Bena Bears Section 7A Championship

The Pioneers captured their 7th consecutive Section Championship but the 31-22 win over the Bears on Saturday in Walker may have been one of the most dramatic of all of them! After building a 19-6 lead midway through the match, the unranked Bears put together 3 straight wins to suddenly force a 19-19 tie after the 170 lb match. Brett Kapsner delivered a huge win by Fall to make it 25-19, then Matt Kummet came through with a tight 4-3 win and it was 28-19 with 2 matches left. And the Bears would be heavily favored in both those matches with the #9 ranked wrestler at 220 and the #5 ranked heavyweight. It was certainly conceivable that BCLB could win both matches by Fall and stun the #1 ranked team in Class A. However, it was Sophomore Carson Huls that did the stunning with a thrilling 9-6 win over Hunter Wilcowski. Wilcowski had beaten Huls 5-2 earlier in the year. That huge win by Huls was the clincher, making it 31-19. 5th ranked heavyweight Chase Johnson then beat Austin Dickmann 9-6 to make the final score 31-22 and send the Pioneers back to the Excel Energy Center in St. Paul!