The Eagles had nine total pins in the dual and only lost a single match.

“We had confidence, and just our mentality on our feet,” NUA head coach Kevin Briggs said. “We dominated the neutral position, we were physical, we were fast, we were chain wrestling, nice head transitions. We really took it to them in the first period, and that set the tone for the rest of the matches.”

The Eagles started the match with two pins, with NUA’s Regan Johnson winning by fall at 107 pounds in 55 seconds over Evan Kish and NUA’s Brayden Miller pinning Jacob Lopez in 3:25 at 114 to go up 12-0.

Alex Portner matched up against Matthew Voehl at 121 next. Portner earned three takedowns in the first period, followed by three Voehl escapes to go up 9-3. In the second period, Portner earned another two takedowns with a Voehl escape to go up 15-4. Finally, Portner had an escape after starting down to get the 19-4 technical fall.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey New Ulm Area’s Candon Briggs grapples with Windom/Mountain Lake Area’s Damien Davidson at 152 during Section 3AA wresting tournament match Thursday at New Ulm High School.

Kane Johnson earned NUA’s third pin of the dual over Hyatt Hansen in 3:05 at 127. NUA’s Tegan Kral matched up against Dagen Hansen at 133, and after getting several takedowns, Kral threw Hansen down one more time and went for the pin, getting it in 2:51.

Elijah Rieser wrestled against Elliot Zayavong at 139 in the next matchup. Rieser earned three quick takedowns early in the first picture, then three more takedowns for a 18-5 lead after one. Rieser cleaned it up in the third with a 4-point near fall for a 22-5 technical fall and a 34-0.

Kameron Koemer earned W/MLA’s only win of the match with a 8-4 decision over Braxton Kiecker at 145, followed by a 12-5 decision by NUA’s Candon Briggs over Damien Davidson at 152. Dirk Haynes got NUA back into the pins with a 1:00 win by fall over Waylon Winters at 160.

NUA finished the match out strong with four straight pins, with Wyatt Pollard winning in 2:43 over Damian Aguirre at 172, Lane Ruch winning in 2:24 over Sam Hernandez at 189, Jamisen Frederickson winning in 30 seconds over Malakkai Tarkong at 215, and Emerson Johnson winning in 1:40 over Graycen Hansen.

Johnson’s match was particularly impressive, as he got the pin despite starting with an error that led to a takedown by Graycen Hansen.

“I tried to take it back and roll him over me, but I failed that,” Emerson Johnson said. “Bailed on that, and I got an arm, and I rolled him. He rolled nicely. I had to readjust a few times, but [I got the pin].”

NUA now advances to a semifinal matchup against Dawson-Boyd/Lac qui Parle/Montevideo United in Marshall on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

“Show up and wrestle,” coach Briggs said. “Have no regrets. If we wrestle well, I like our chances. But we need all 13 to be wrestling well and we need to figure it out one match at a time. Get some momentum, and the flip will be important. We’re going to have a good practice tomorrow and we’re going to go out and prove something.”