“It’s not really about who you wrestle, it’s about how you wrestle,” NUA head coach Kevin Briggs said after Thursday’s victories. “So even though we lost the other night, you can get better, and sometimes in a win, you don’t necessarily get better. So I thought tonight we were more confident, more sure of ourself, which that should be every match. We’ve got five weeks to prepare for when it matters, and they need to get better every day.”

Starting the tri off was NUA and Windom/MLA.

The Cobras were first on the board as Preston Xayachak took down NUA’s Kane Johnson 8-6 in overtime at 106 pounds. Xayachak was penalized a point twice late in the third that allowed Kane Johnson a shot in overtime. Kane Johnson got the first score of the match on a takedown less than a minute into the first period.

Matt Voehl then defeated Candon Briggs by a narrow 2-0 decision to give Windom/MLA a 6-0 lead in the dual. A 6-3 decision by Alex Portner over Kameron Koerner at 120 put the Eagles on the board before Elijah Rieser took down Aiden Holmberg and pinned him in 4:59 to give NUA the 9-6 lead.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Area’s Evan Thompson, left, ties up with St. James Area’s Willie Curry during a heavyweight prep wrestling match at New Ulm High School on Thursday.

Jared Hunter got a 9-0 major decision over Dirk Haynes at 132 to put the Cobras back in front 10-9 before Logan Lee got a third-period reversal to lift himself to a 4-2 decision over Tucker Renquist at 138 and put NUA ahead 12-10. Winsten Nienhaus’ 18-5 major decision over Noah Holmberg at 145 was follow by a 4-0 decision for Lane Ruch over Eagan Maras to give the Eagles a 19-10 cushion. The cushion got wider from there out as Jamisen Frederickson (160) and Wyatt Pollard (170) both accepted forfeits for NUA. Ty Frederick pinned Graycen Hansen at 182 in 1:49 in the final match of the dual as Ethan Lieb (195), Henry Waloch (220) and Evan Thompson (285) all accepted forfeits. Windom/MLA was penalized a point for a wrestler having a strap down that led to the final 55-9 score.

Windom/MLA then defeated SJA 52-23.

Before NUA took on SJA, NUHS saw history made as the first-ever girls varsity wrestling match to take place at the school occurred when Ellie Dake took on Nevaeh Hanson.

Dake didn’t leave much time for photo ops, however, as she took Hanson down and pinned her in 44 seconds.

“Since Ali [Bernard], she’d be the next girl that’s been kind of making history for us and paving the way, bringing popularity to the sport, hopefully for the sport to grow for us on the girls side,” Briggs said. “And she’s doing a good job. She’s tough, she’s just never out of it because she’s got the ability for a big throw and she puts in the time in the summer, and that’s why she sees the results.”

NUA then moved on to its dominant win over SJA, with Kane Johnson earning a 9-0 major decision over Beck Johnson at 106 to open the dual. Candon Briggs then pinned Zachary Curry in 27 seconds to put NUA up 10-0 before Portner earned a forfeit and Rieser earned his second fall of the night by pinning Rylan Meyer at 126 in 1:14. Talyn Tande pinned Haynes in 1:38 to get SJA on the board before Logan Lee defeated Kollin Anderson by a 3-0 decision at 138.

Nienhaus earned a forfeit at 145 before Frederickson celebrated his birthday with an 11-2 major decision over by Levi Miest.

Noah Engel pinned Vince Brown at 160 in 1:01 to put NUA up 41-6 before Pollard cruised to a 16-0 tech fall over Peyton Wolner. Frederick earned a win by forfeit before Lieb pinned Jarret Durheim in 1:12 at 195. Julio Esqueda defeated Waloch at 220 by an 8-2 decision before Thompson pinned Willie Curry in 4:34 to end the dual with a 64-9 win over the Eagles.

It was also Seniors Night, and the Eagles celebrated lone senior Marqavion Haefner, who saw his season and prep career come to an end recently after a shoulder injury.

“He’s a captain and he’s a leader,” Briggs said of Haefner. “He’s a tough kid, and once you wrestle, wrestling’s in your blood. And for Marqavion, he’s going to hang around and be a part of the program. Tough luck with his shoulder injury, and there’s more to life after wrestling, so we decided to have surgery, but, pretty good career for us.”

Haefner finishes his NUA career with 54 wins.

In addition to NUA celebrating Haefner on Senior Night, it was also Takedown for Cancer Night at NUHS, with several area sponsors helping raise more than $3,000 for the cause.