Dragons Go 5-1 at "The Clash"On Thursday and Friday the Adrian Dragon wrestlers ventured to Rochester to compete in the "Clash," a national dual tourney. The tournament consisted of 10 No. 1-ranked teams across the country, along with other highly-ranked squads from their respective states. Glenbard 39, Adrian 14The Dragons ran into a solid, physical Glenbard North team from Illinois in the first round. Glenbard jumped to a huge lead and never looked back as they defeated Adrian by a score of 39-14. Only three Dragons were able to muster victories against the Panthers. Winning for the Dragons were Brandon Bullerman (5-1 decision), Tony Sauer (17-1 technical fall), and Levi Bullerman (by fall in 40 seconds).Adrian 48, Gross Catholic 18Adrian came back strong against Gross Catholic from Nebraska with a winning score of 48-18. The Dragons earned five falls, two forfeits and one decision on their way to the victory over the No. 6-ranked squad.Gross won the first two matches of the dual and jumped out to a 9-0 lead. Joey Bullerman earned the first win for the Dragons as he pinned his opponent in 2:40. Gross then won the 125-pound match and forfeited the 130-pound weight class to Zach Reker, making the team score 12-12. Gross also won the 135-pound match by decision, giving them their last lead of the afternoon at 15-12. Brandon Bullerman and Dusty Bullerman followed by pinning their opponents in 3:01 and 1:03 respectively. Tony Sauer and Kyle Mixan (No. 1-ranked in Nebraska) squared off at 152 pounds in a matchup of two excellent wrestlers. Sauer nearly pinned Mixan before allowing the go-ahead escape with 8 seconds left in the match. Tony shot in but was unable to finish the takedown in time, giving Mixan the 7-6 decision. Nate Engelkes and Cody Reverts both won by fall at 160 and 171 pounds. Levi Bullerman faced Sam Minardi in the 189-pound matchup. Bullerman was able to control Minardi and earn the 3-1 victory over the No. 3-ranked wrestler. Will Lutmer accepted a forfeit at 215 pounds, making the team score 42-18 going into the heavyweight class.In the heavyweight match, Cody Lutmer muscled his way to a 5-1 decision, giving the Dragons the opportunity to wrestle the No. 2-ranked Winner Warriors from South Dakota in the final round.Adrian 50, Winner 24The Winner Warriors (last year’s Class A South Dakota state champs), were able to win only four matches against the Dragons, as Adrian won the dual by a score of 50-24. Stephen Loosbrock got the Dragons off on the right foot as he horsed his opponent over, winning by fall in 4:15. Winner won by fall at 112 pounds, tying the score at 6.Joey Bullerman wasted little time with his opponent as he earned the victory via fall in 1:34. Winner tied the score again, as they won by fall in the 125-pound match. Zach Reker gave the Dragons another lead as he pinned his Warrior opponent in 1:15. Winner again tied the dual (18-18) as they were able to win by fall in the 135-pound match.Brandon Bullerman finished his perfect day (3-0) by winning his match by a score of 17-1, giving the Dragons a 23-18 lead. Dusty Bullerman followed by pinning his opponent in 3:33. Tony Sauer extended the Dragons’ lead to 14 by decisioning his opponent by a score of 10-5. At 160 pounds, the Warriors sent out the No. 1-ranked wrestler in South Dakota against Nate Engelkes. Engelkes wrestled well but was caught and pinned in the second period. Cody Reverts accepted a forfeit at 171 pounds.At 189 pounds, Levi Bullerman finished his perfect day by pinning his Winner opponent in 50 seconds, clinching the victory for the Dragons. Will and Cody Lutmer earned decisions over their Warrior opponents by scores of 6-2 and 8-7 respectively. By winning this dual, Adrian was placed in the fifth-place bracket and would square off against Goodhue, Litchfield, and GMLOK, the other fifth-place teams from Day 1.Adrian 32, Goodhue 19The first dual of Day 2 was against Goodhue. Goodhue jumped out to a 4-0 lead by winning the 103-pound match by major decision. Tony Thier countered by defeating his opponent by a score of 6-0, pulling the Dragons to within one. Goodhue extended its lead by winning the 119-pound match by a score of 5-4. Brandon Croat and Zach Reker gave the Dragons a brief 10-9 lead by winning two close matches by scores of 2-0 and 4-2. Goodhue regained the lead by winning the 135-pound match by a score of 7-4. Brandon Bullerman gave the Dragons the lead for good as he tech falled his Goodhue opponent in 5:40, making the score 14-10, Dragons. Dusty Bullerman and Tony Sauer followed the technical fall by decisioning their Goodhue opponents. Goodhue pulled within one with two victories at 160 and 171 pounds, tightening the Dragon lead to 20-19. Adrian won the last three matches of the dual with a fall at 189 pounds and decisions at 215 and 275. Levi Bullerman wasted little time at 189 by earning the fall in 1:31, while Will and Cody Lutmer handled their opponents by scores of 4-2 and 11-8, giving the Dragons the 32-19 victory. Adrian 40, Litchfield 21In the second dual of the day, the Adrian Dragons matched up against the No. 6-ranked Litchfield Dragons. Adrian was too much for Litchfield; Adrian was able to win 9 of the 14 matches on the way to a 40-21 victory. Litchfield jumped out to an early lead by earning a fall at 103. Tony Thier knotted the score by pinning his Dragon opponent in 3:04. Joey Bullerman wasted little time in his match by gluing his opponent as well in 1:27, giving Adrian the 12-6 advantage. Brandon Croat extended the Dragon lead by defeating Paul Shephard 11-4. Litchfield took the lead from Adrian by winning the following three weights, giving them an 18-15 lead. Dusty Bullerman handled his opponent, earning a major decision and regaining the lead for Adrian going into the 152-pound match. Tony Sauer earned an 11-5 win over Jon Malepsy, pushing the lead to four at 22-18. The state-ranked AJ Werner had his hands full with Nate Engelkes at 160 pounds but was able to earn a 12-6 decision, shrinking the lead to one point again. Cody Reverts won a crucial match against an excellent wrestler at 171 pounds, giving the Dragons a four-point lead with three matches to wrestle. At 189 pounds, the No. 1-ranked Levi Bullerman pinned Frank Koch in 3:21, making the team score 31-21. Litchfield moved up their No. 4-ranked 189-pound wrestler to 215 to take on Will Lutmer. Lutmer used his size and strength to upset the Dragon by a score of 5-4, sealing the victory for Adrian going into the heavyweight match. Cody Lutmer ended the dual 1:38 seconds later when he pinned his opponent giving Adrian the 40-21 win.Adrian 46, Grand Meadow 19The last dual for the Dragons came against a very physical and high-flying Grand Meadow-Leroy-Ostrander-Kingsland (GMLOK) squad. GMLOK came into the dual ranked No. 2 in Class A in Minnesota and had eight ranked wrestlers on the squad compared to Adrian’s four. The Dragons laid evidence to the fact that rankings mean very little when two tough squads square off, as they were able to earn seven falls and a 46-19 victory. Stephen Loosbrock lit the fire under the Dragons. Even though he couldn’t quite pull off the upset, he hustled and left everything he had on the mat against his opponent. Tony Thier got the Dragons on the board with his exciting pin against his senior opponent at 112 pounds. Joey Bullerman kept the Dragons rolling by earning a fall with 3 seconds left in the first period to give Adrian the 12-3 lead. GMLOK was able to win the following four weights but could only muster one extra bonus point and a 16-12 lead going into the 145 pound match. Dusty Bullerman lifted his opponent high in the air and planted him in 24 seconds to regain the lead for the Dragons. At 152 pounds, Tony Sauer was able to earn a major decision by using great technique on the feet and earning numerous takedowns and a 17-7 win. Nate Engelkes extended the Dragon lead to 28-16 as he pinned his Bull Dog opponent in 55 seconds. At 171 pounds, Cody Reverts squared off against Joe Bunne from GMLOK, a nationally ranked wrestler and returning state champion. Reverts wrestled well and controlled Bunne from the top position but was unable to score a last-second takedown against the state champ, losing the match by a score of 3-2. GMLOK would not win another match as the Dragons put the hammer down at the top of the lineup again as they won the last three matches by fall. At 189 pounds, Levi Bullerman took on the No. 3-ranked Lance Peters. Bullerman dominated the match, earning takedown after takedown. Levi eventually took Peters down to his back and earned the fall in 3:45, making the team score 34-19. Will Lutmer jacked up his opponent and threw him to his back, earning the fall in 1:00. In the final match of the afternoon, Cody Lutmer finished up in style by squeezing the life out of his opponent and earning a fall in 2:44. The 46-19 victory gave the Dragons the Division 5 championship in one of the toughest dual tournaments in the country. Winning performancesTony Thier, Dusty Bullerman, Tony Sauer, Levi Bullerman, Will Lutmer, and Cody Lutmer were winners of all three of their matches on the second day of the dual tourney. Levi Bullerman was named the Outstanding Wrestler for the tournament and he compiled an individual record of 6-0 with five of the victories coming by fall. The Dragons compiled a team record of 5-1 and an overall individual record of 49-36 at the tournament. Adrian now is 12-1 on the year and ranked No. 2 in the state in Class AA.This information was submitted by Coach Randy Schettler.