Albany had previously beaten Sauk Centre a couple weeks before, so Paynesville was looking for a closer match and hopefully a win.
The Bulldogs earned the win, as they beat Albany by over 30 points. They did this by winning nine of the 13 matches. Dave Kerzman, and Chris Welle started the match off with two pins. This gave the Bulldogs a 12-0 lead.
After losing by a pin at the 119 pound match, the Bulldogs rolled to five straight victories: one by pins, two by decisions, one by forfeit and one by a major decision. Bulldogs who wrestled during that stretch were Jeremy Reiter, Ryan Stoneburner, Justin Mueller, Andy Binsfeld and Colby Scheierl.
The Huskies managed to win two of the remaining four matches, but this would not bring them close enough for the win as Paynesville also won two more matches. Zach Welle came up with an exciting win over his opponent as he won by a pin. Bill Stanger also gained a victory by beating his opponent, 9-2. The heavyweight was double forfeited, so the final score was 43-12.
At this time, six Paynesville wrestlers have undefeated records. Those wrestlers include: Dave Kerzman at 103, Jeremy Reiter at 125, Ryan Stoneburner at 130, Tim Roberg at 135, Zach Welle at 160 and Lee Hiltner at heavyweight.
Paynesville's next match is Jan. 4, when the team travels to Farmington for a dual meet tournament It is scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m. with Paynesville wrestling Northfield. The Bulldogs will then wrestle Bloomington Kennedy at 10:30 a.m., and at noon will receive a bye. There will be matches after that, but the afternoon matches are determined by who wins their first matches.
Paynesville 43
Litchfield 12
103--Dave Kerzman (P) pinned Ben Mergen (A) 3:12;
112--Chris Welle (P) pinned Jeff Suchy (A) 1:42;
119--Travis Hoffarth (A) pinned Josh Frenchick (P) 5:51;
125--Jeremy Reiter (P) pinned Sam St Marie (A) 3:23;
130--Ryan Stoneburner (P) major decisioned Andy Boom (A) 8-0;
135--Justin Mueller (P) won by forfeit;
140--Andy Binsfeld (P) decisioned Andy Theis (A) 2-0;
145--Colby Scheierl (P) decisioned Chad Suchy (A) 6-1;
152--Troy Hoffarth (A) decisioned Andy Heinen (P) 4-2;
160--Zach Welle (P) pinned Shaun Girard (A) 4:56;
171--John Schiffler (A) decisioned Karl Sanborn (P) 12-5;
189--Bill Stanger (P) decisioned Ryan Hoffarth (A) 9-2;
HWT--Double forfeit.