Luverne places two wrestlers at Jackson Invite Dec. 10

The Luverne wrestling team participated in the Jackson County Central Pizza Ranch Invite Saturday, Dec. 10, in Jackson.
Luverne was one of 17 teams wrestling in the tournament and placed 10th overall as a team.
Individually, two Luverne wrestlers climbed their way into the championship rounds.
“This tournament is always tough — usually there are a lot of state-ranked kids,” coach Jordan Kopp said.
“The fact we had two wrestlers out of nine make the championship is pretty awesome.”
Senior DJ Rock, 160-pound class, and junior Sam Rock, 170-pound class, took second place in their brackets.
DJ Rock took a 3-0 record into the championship round.
He wrestled Walker Jones of Aitkin, beating him by a 16-11 decision in Round 1 before pinning Ty Kolbe of Fairmont-Martin County West in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, DJ pinned Isaiah Rodriguez of Jackson County Central, but in the championship match, DJ fell to Carver Rohman of Fairmont-Martin County West 18-7 in a major decision.
Sam Rock in the 170-pound class, also took a 3-0 record into the championships.
He pinned Carter Ellis of Waseca in the quarterfinals and beat Gage Cyphers of Fairmont-Martin County West in the semifinals in a 3-1 decision before falling to JCC’s Dylan Withers in the championship.
Luverne eighth-grader Matthew Gangestad, wrestling at 120, went 2-2 for the day, losing in the quarterfinals.
He pinned Tyler Hawkins of Wabasha-Kellogg in Round 1 before losing to Isaiah Nelson, New London-Spicer, by technical fall 18-1.
In the first consolation round Gangestad received a bye to advance to consolation Round 2 where he fell to Teague Meyer Murray County Central by a 5-1 decision.  
Following is a breakdown of Luverne’s other outcomes in each bracket.
106 — Brody Kopp was pinned at 1:49 by JCC’s Kyler Thier in Round 1.
He won by decision 11-7 over Worthington’s Saul Galvez in the consolation before losing to Pierce Rohman (Fairmont-Martin County West) by technical fall 19-2 at 5:17 in the consolation Round 2.
126 — Rayden Boyenga lost by technical fall (16-0 5:31) to Kameron Koerner (Windom-Mountain Lake).
In the first consolation round, Boyenga lost in by fall (3:36) to Holton Hanson (New London-Spicer).
126 — Leif Ingebretsen lost by fall (3:14) in Round 1 to John Pelarski (Aitkin).
In the first consolation round, Ingebretsen lost by major decision (12-4) to Oscar Galvez (Worthington)
132 — Josh Stroh fell to Caleb Nelson (New London-Spicer) in 2:22 in Round 1.
In the round 1 consolation, Stroh lost by fall (0:59) to Jared Hunter (Windom-Mountain Lake).
138 — Hudson Hough lost by major decision (14-2) to Carlos Ulloa-Castillo (Adrian Area).
In the Round 1 consolation, Hough was pinned by Talan Osborne (Lake Crystal Welcome Memorial Area) in 0:50.
182 — Jacob Madison pinned Lucas Selthun (Waseca) in Round 1 at 5:49.
In the quarterfinals, Madison lost to Brady Andersen (Hutchinson) by fall (4:26).
In the Round 2 consolation, Carson McCain (New London-Spicer) pinned Madison (1:46)
Despite the stiff competition, Kopp said he was pleased by the outcomes of the JCC tournament.
“The best part is these wrestlers want more. They aren’t satisfied,” he said. “This team is special. They are going to do some great things this year.”
The Cardinal wrestlers competed in the Redwood Valley Triangular on Dec. 6. (See the related story.)
They are to host a tournament in Luverne on Saturday, Dec. 17.