Prairie du Chien Wrestling continues hot start with tough non-conference wins over perennial wrestling powers Holmen and Caledonia/Houston, Minn

By Derick Kelly

Coming off a crazy finish to the championship match of the Duals in the Dells Tournament against Iowa-Grant/Highland, the Prairie du Chien wrestling team were looking for a much more low key week with just two dual meets scheduled. However, things would not go so quietly.

First for the Hawks was a trip to Holmen on Thursday, Dec. 14, to take on the host Vikings in what has become a growing rivalry as of late. Holmen saw their season end last year with a loss in the Division One sectional final match to eventual state runner-up Marshfield and are hungry to get back to the state meet.

The first match of the meet saw Preston Kratochvill (a very familiar last name to Prairie natives) defeat Jackson Perkins at 150 pounds by a score of 17-2 to give Holmen an early 5-0 lead.

A 12-3 major decision by Prairie’s Drew Hird over Holmen’s AJ Alesch at the 157 pound weight class kicked off an lengthy early run of victories for the Hawks as they ended up picking up wins in six of the first eight matches of the match. Also earning wins for the Hawks during this stretch were Bryce Lenzendorf (6-3 over Jonathon Lamprich at 165 pounds), Jeremiah Avery (pinfall in 6:00 over Emerson Lau-Melby at 175 pounds), Blake Thiry (pinfall over Mason Helgerson  in 1:52 at 215 pounds), Jack Simmons (6-3 decision over Tristen Brennan at 285 pounds), and Hunter Reid (fall over Kaytlynn Lambries in 1:39 at106 pounds).

With the score standing at 28-11 in favor of Prairie with six matches remaining, the Hawks were now the team trying to hold onto a lead with a furious late match rally by their opponent. Holmen picked up victories in each of the next four matches to make the score 28-27 in favor of Prairie with two matches to go.

The Hawks were looking to stop Holmen’s momentum going into the 138 pound match where Prairie senior Drake Ingham was to meet Holmen’s Camden Thiele and Ingham showed his senior leadership by pinning Thiele in 3:46 to give the Hawks a 34-27 lead going into the final match of the meet. Holmen earned a pinfall by Dom Ammerman in the match at 144 pounds but the Hawks left with the 34-33 victory.    

Next up for the Hawks the following evening was the home opener against Caledonia/Houston. Like the Hawks, the Warriors finished the 2022-23 season as state runner-ups as they finished in second place in Minneasota’s Class A. The Warriors also had nine state qualifiers last season with four of those qualifiers returning this year (also like the Hawks).

The first match of the meet saw some history made in Prairie du Chien. The Minnesota State High School League allows junior high inclusion, which gives seventh and eighth grade students the potential opportunity to compete on varsity teams while in those grades. Combined with the fact that any Minnesota high school making the journey down to Prairie du Chien for varsity competition during the school year is very rare (the last occurrence being by Caledonia girls basketball in February 1995), to be the best of my knowledge, there had never been a seventh or eighth grade student to ever compete in varsity competition in Prairie du Chien though I can’t totally rule out that the 1994-95 Caledonia girls basketball team, the 1975-76 La Crescent boys basketball team, or the 1973, 1975, 1978, and 1980 La Crescent football teams having any seventh or eighth grade athletes on their varsity team when they each  played in Prairie (though I strongly doubt it). Regardless, that changed with the 106-pound match on Friday, Dec. 15 when Prairie’s Hunter Reid faced off against Caledonia-Houston seventh grader Walker Kohlmeyer. Reid earned a 5-3 victory in an impressive match by both competitors.

Aiden Burns gave the Warriors a 4-3 lead in the match with a 8-0 major decision over Prairie’s Brylee Brewer at 112 pounds before Prairie sophomore Porter Kossman pinned Caledonia-Houston seventh grader Aaren Kulas in 3:27 to retake the match lead for the Hawks at 9-4, a lead which Prairie never relinquished the rest of the dual though the Warriors did keep it close at 24-15 with 5 matches remaining before the Hawks pulled away for good.

Also picking up wins for Prairie on the night were Brady Baumgartner via forfeit at 120 pounds, Drake Ingham via forfeit at 138 pounds, Perkins 1-0 over Tanner Ginther in a squeaker at 150 pounds, Lenzendorf over Will Allen 13-5 at 165 pounds, Avery with a 12-3 major decision over eighth grader Cooper Allen (which is not a bad showing for an eighth grader against a senior that placed fifth at state the previous season), Thiry with a pin of Logan Kinstler in 0:51 at 215 pounds, and Simmons with a forfeit victory at 285 pounds to cement the 44-19 victory for Prairie Wrestling.

In a change to the schedule, the Hawks will now travel to Onalaska High School this Thursday, Dec. 21 (instead of Tomah) to face Onalaska/Onalaska Luther and Sparta in a pair of duals to wrap up competition before Christmas before returning to the mat with the annual Bi-State Classic on Friday, Dec. 29 and Saturday, Dec. 30 at the La Crosse Center.