The Otter Tail Central Bulldogs took to the mat on both Tuesday and Thursday nights and wrestled a total of five duals.  

On Tuesday, the Bulldogs traveled to Sebeka to face two very good teams in the United North Central Warriors and Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie, both of whom are ranked in the top 11 in the state. 

“The outcomes of these two duals are not what we wanted. We had some key wrestlers out of our lineup on Tuesday, and I am not saying that we would have necessarily won these duals, but I think we would have been a little bit more competitive,” said head coach Jason Rogers.  

The Bulldogs lost to UNC 66-10 and lost to BHV/PP 70-3.  

“One bright spot on the night was that Brien Poser was able to go 2-0 on the night and beat some very good competition. He defeated Dylan Rasmussen of UNC by a major decision 11-2 and then defeated Deagan Captain of BHV/PP by a decision of 3-2.  Also, Tommy Ehlert was able to get his first varsity pin,” said Rogers.  

On Thursday night the Bulldogs headed to Wadena for a quadrangular with Pelican Rapids, Wadena-Deer Creek and West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville.  The night started out very well for the Bulldogs as they came away with victories over both Pelican Rapids and WDC.  The final score versus Pelican Rapids ended up being 60-24 and the final versus WDC was 48-30.  

“Our boys came out with a different mindset tonight.  We had a good talk during practice this week about being better prepared when you step out on the mat.  I think they heard that message as I saw a slightly different attitude tonight compared to Tuesday,” said Rogers.  

It was a good night for many Bulldogs as quite a few of them got their first varsity wins.  That list included: Mason Christainson, Tayden Soma, Collin Tierney, Anthony Rousu, Steven Mills, and Xavier Reineke.  Other highlights were Conner Nelson getting two pins against these opponents and Brien Poser also getting two pins.

The night ended with West Central Area-ABE and the Bulldogs came up on the short end of the stick on this one, losing 75-6.  

The lone win for the Bulldogs came from Jaxon Rich as he got a pin at 160 pounds.  He finished his night with 3 wins, all by pin.