Getting a quick start right out of the gate, the No. 11-ranked Eagles collected six wins by fall on the way to a 46-14 win in a prep wrestling dual at New Ulm High School.

NUA head coach Kevin Briggs said setting the tone early on was key in the win.

“I think this was a really dominant score it ended up being against a quality team,” Briggs said. “But it came down to getting a fast start down below. Chase Wilson getting us started at 107 and then we got the bonus points tonight. We seemed to pick up our ‘want’ too tonight a little bit. Nice crowd and proud of them.”

The gym was extra packed with it being Rolling Thunder Wrestling Night also, with the area’s youth wrestlers getting in on the wrestling action before the varsity dual started.

Staff photos by Travis Rosenau Above: From left to right, New Ulm Area’s Lane Ruch ties up with Mason Bungarden of Scott West during a prep wrestling dual at New Ulm High School on Thursday night. Ruch finished the 215-pound match with a 4-3 comeback decision win.

NUA was so dominant that it didn’t need to make many comebacks, but it got one big one late in the dual from 215-pounder Lane Ruch in his match with Mason Bungarden. Bungarden got a takedown in the first period and was able to keep that lead in a scoreless second period.

After Bungarden allowed an escape to Ruch to start the third period, Ruch lulled Bungarden in and took the back for a takedown with 1:20 left in the match. Ruch then kept his top position to pull off a dramatic win.

“My focus was just staying in good position because I knew I tired him out in that second period, and just making sure I stayed in my good position,” Ruch said.

Chase Wilson got the first win for NUA at 107 pounds over Carsen Herrmann after a takedown and pin in 1:34. Chael Johnson kept the wins coming for NUA at 114 with a 16-13 decision over Brayden Bresnahan to give the Eagles a 9-0 lead.

Ranked sixth and eighth, respectively, at 114 points in Class AA, NUA’s Regan Johnson and Scott West’s Jacob Lehman met in a 121-pound matchup to continue the action. After a scoreless first period, Lehman got an escape in the second period and a 3-point near fall in the third before hanging on for a 4-0 decision to get the Panthers on the board.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm Area’s Brayden Miller keeps Scott West’s Aaron Harding down to secure a pin in a 127-pound matchup on Thursday during a nonconference wrestling dual at New Ulm High School. Miller was one of six Eagles to earn victories by fall on the night.

Brayden Miller got the Eagles back in the win column quickly with two early takedowns and a pin over Aaron Harding at 127. At 133, Alex Portner got a takedown and rolled Carter Kess onto his shoulders for a pin in 53 seconds to keep the Eagles flying and ahead 21-3.

Kane Johnson, ranked fourth at 139 pounds, earned a dominant 10-2 major decision over Cam Tousignant to put NUA up 25-3. Kane Johnson had two takedowns, a reversal and 2 points from stalling penalties in the win.

In a 145-pound match, NUA’s Elijah Rieser, ranked sixth at 145, took on Mason Breeggemann, ranked eighth at 152. After a scoreless first, Breeggemann earned a reversal in the second before Rieser got a point back late with an escape. After a reset in the middle with 10 seconds left, Rieser tried to roll to his feet or gain a reversal, but Breeggemann held on for a 2-1 decision to have the Panthers down 25-6.

Tegan Kral had two big first-period takedowns against Vinncent Shaal at 152 pounds before picking up a pin in 1:46 to have NUA ahead 31-6. Braxton Kiecker kept NUA rolling with a takedown into a cradle pin in 1:40 to beat Parker Judge at 160.

At 172, NUA’s Candon Briggs had the tall task of taking on Isaac Williams, Class AA’s No. 2-ranked 172-pounder. Williams earned a pair of near falls in the first before finishing with an 18-0 tech fall to have the Panthers down 37-11.

Bennet Balk have the Panthers their final win of the night when he defeated Dirk Haynes at 189 pounds by a 5-1 decision.

Next came Ruch’s exciting comeback win before NUA ended the night with an exclamation points after Emerson Johnson took down Thomas Olson and pinned him in 26 seconds at heavyweight.

“There’s a lot of season left, there’s a lot of good teams that we still face,” coach Briggs said. “They’re not satisfied with where we’re at yet.”

Ruch said while early in the season, his big win and the team’s big win gives them extra confidence going forward.

“I think for my confidence, I’m more confident in our team just being able to hang with those really good teams like Scott West,” Ruch said. “And for the team, everybody just has higher morale, just being able to be excited, have that energy throughout the whole match.”

Staff photos by Travis Rosenau Before Thursday’s prep wrestling dual between New Ulm Area and Scott West at New Ulm High School, local Rolling Thunder youth wrestlers took to the mats to show off their skills ahead of their home Saturday tournament.

NUA travels to Redwood Falls next for tournament action beginning Dec. 19.

Staff photos by Travis Rosenau Before Thursday’s prep wrestling dual between New Ulm Area and Scott West at New Ulm High School, local Rolling Thunder youth wrestlers took to the mats to show off their skills ahead of their home Saturday tournament.