Benzing and Grangaard wrestle in Iowa-Minnesota “Border Battle”

Waukon wrestling 145-pound senior Adam Benzing (who wrestled to a 36-13 season record and a sixth-place finish in this year’s Class 2A 145-pound State Tournament bracket) tries to turn Brady Keefe (who compiled a 26-10 season record and also earned State Tournament qualification this year) of Stewartville, MN to his back in their match as part of the Iowa-Minnesota Border Battle Friday, March 6 hosted by the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame at Crestwood High School in Cresco. Benzing scored first on a takedown but allowed Keefe to escape to hold a 2-1 lead after one period, and then allowed Keefe a reversal in the second period to trail by a 3-2 count heading into the third period before he suffered a fall with 34 seconds remaining in that third period. The Iowa-Minnesota Border Battle featured the top senior wrestlers from northeast Iowa against their counterparts from southeast Minnesota, with the Iowa wrestlers winning just three of the 17 team scored matches to fall by a 64-9 final team score result.

Waukon wrestling 152-pound senior Gunnar Grangaard (who wrestled to a 30-5 record this season) works his way around for a reversal near the end of the second period in his Iowa-Minnesota Border Battle match with Drew Stemper (who sported a 31-9 record this season) of Caledonia, MN Friday, March 6, an event hosted by the Iowa Wrestling Hall of Fame at Crestwood High School in Cresco. After scoring the first takedown and being reversed for a 2-2 scoreboard knot after one period, Grangaard scored this reversal to take a 4-2 lead at the end of the second frame. Another Stemper reversal knotted the score at 4-4 early in the third frame before Stemper secured the 6-4 win over Grangaard with two late nearfall points in the closing seconds of the third period. Ironically, the two wrestled to the same exact result, a 6-4 win for Stemper, when Waukon hosted Caledonia December 9, 2014 early on during this recently completed season. The Iowa-Minnesota Border Battle featured the top senior wrestlers from northeast Iowa against their counterparts from southeast Minnesota, with the Iowa wrestlers winning just three of the 17 team scored matches to fall by a 64-9 final team score result.