Jackson County Central won its third straight Big South Conference wresting title Saturday as the West Division champion Huskies were 35-28 winners at East Division winner New Ulm. It’s the fourth title for JCC in the 10 years the conference has been in existence.
Martin County has also won four conference titles. Worthington and Blue Earth Area each have won one.
The Huskies won eight of the 13 matches Saturday.
Class 1A No. 6 Kyler Thier put JCC on top 3-0 with a 10-5 win over New Ulm’s Regan Johnson at 107 pounds. New Ulm led 6-3 after Class 2A No. 10 Kane Johnson won by fall over JCC’s Ever Munoz Mazariegos in 1:50 at 114. The Huskies had a point deducted for unsportsmanlike conduct, making the team score 14-08.
JCC won the next two matches, with Kayden Eller winning by fall in 1:44 over Alex Portner and 121 No. 9 Isaac Rodriguez bumping up to 129 and winning in 1:45 over Tegan Kral.
At 133, the Eagles’ Elijah Rieser pinned Ulises Bouakham in 3:14 to cut the margin to two at 14-12 before the Huskies won four straight matches.
Benjamin Dahlin returned to the lineup at 139 pounds and earned a 10-8 decision over Braxton Kiecker.
Two state-ranked wrestlers met in the 145-pound match as 1A 139 No. 1 Nolan Ambrose of JCC went up a weight and won 9-5 over 2A No. 8 Winsten Nienhaus of New Ulm.
JCC’s Trey Rossow won 4-2 over New Ulm’s Lane Ruch at 152 and then Seth Stai won by fall in 3:19 over Noah Engel of New Ulm at 160 as the Huskies increased their lead to 30-12.
Wyatt Pollard was a 15-5 major decision winner over Carson Kolander at 172 before Ryan Haley sealed the match for the Huskies with a fall in 1:08 over New Ulm’s Jamisen Frederickson that gave the Huskies a 36-16 lead with two matches remaining.
The Eagles won the final two matches, with Ethan Lieb winning by fall in 3:59 over Jack Mix and No. 3 Evan Thompson winning in :58 over Michael Hansen.
JCC is 17-3 in duals while New Ulm is 24-5 as the Eagles set a school record for wins this season.
The Huskies had finished their conference schedule unbeaten with a win Thursday while the Eagles were wrestling their seventh dual in less than 48 hours, wrestling three on both Thursday and Friday.
Jackson County Central is the likely number one seed for the Section 3A tournament and would host a pair of matches on Thursday. The No. 8 and No. 9 seeds will wrestle at 6 p.m. with the winner to face the Huskies following a short break.
The semifinals and finals are Saturday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Tracy.
Championship matches
Scores of Big South Conference wrestling championship matches.
In 2015 and 2016 there was a conference tournament. Since then, the West Division champion has wrestled the East Division champion in a dual.
2015: Jackson County Central 43, Worthington 27
2016: Worthington 32, Blue Earth Area 19
2017: Blue Earth Area 34, Worthington 23
2018: Martin County 45, Marshall 12
2019: Martin County 44, Marshall 17
2020: Martin County 45, Marshall 19
2021: Martin County 31, Jackson County Central 29
2022: Jackson County Central 50, Martin County 13
2023: Jackson County Central 44, St. Peter 10
2024: Jackson County Central 35, New Ulm 28
JACKSON COUNTY CENTRAL WRESTLING SCHEDULE/RESULTS
Sat., Dec. 2: at Glencoe-Silver Lake Invitational, 3rd of 8
Tues., Dec. 5: Redwood Valley at Luverne, W 48-28
Tues., Dec. 5: at Luverne, W 60-10
Sat., Dec. 9: Pizza Ranch Invitational, Jackson, 2nd of 13
Sat., Dec. 16: at Austin Roberts Memorial, Spencer, 1st of 8
Tues., Dec. 19: Marshall, W 37-31
Tues., Dec. 19: Worthington, W 48-9
Fri., Dec. 29: at Rumble on the Red, 16th of 66
Fri., Jan. 5: Liberty, Ariz. at La Crosse, L 36-27
Fri., Jan. 5: Holmen, Wis. at La Crosse, W 45-30
Fri., Jan. 5: Washington, Ill. at La Crosse, L 42-25
Sat., Jan. 6: Apple Valley at La Crosse, W 42-19
Sat., Jan. 6: Glenbard North, Ill. at La Crosse, W 38-24
Sat., Jan. 6: Prairie du Chien, Wis. at La Crosse, W 42-28
Tues., Jan. 9: Tracy-Milroy-Balaton/Westbrook-Walnut Grove, W 47-21
Sat., Jan. 20: at LCWM tournament, 7th of 9
Tues., Jan. 23: Mankato West at New Ulm, W 51-15
Tues., Jan. 23: at New Ulm, W 38-27
Tues., Jan. 23: St. Peter at New Ulm, W 39-28
Thurs., Jan. 25: at Pipestone, W 51-18
Tues., Jan. 30: at Adrian/Ellsworth, W 42-27
Thurs., Feb. 1: Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial Area at Fulda, L 42-23
Thurs., Feb. 1: at Fulda/Murray County Central, W 34-31
Fri., Feb. 2: Big South Conference, Jackson, 4th of 13
Sat., Feb. 3: at Maple River/USC tournament, 12th of 14
Thurs., Feb. 8: Windom/Mountain Lake, W 60-18
Sat., Feb. 10: at New Ulm, W 35-28