Wrestlers are Big Rivers/Dunn-St. Croix Challenge champs

• Kolya Hawksford controls Boyceville’s Danny Hayes

Raider senior Kolya Hawksford controls Boyceville’s Danny Hayes in the championship match at 152 pounds at Saturday’s Big Rivers/Dunn-St. Croix Challenge in River Falls. Hawksford won the 152 pound title with a 9-1 major decision over Hayes. Photo by Bob Burrows
• C.J. Steiner works to keep River Falls’ Zach Radkey-Pechacek on his back

Raider sophomore C.J. Steiner works to keep River Falls’ Zach Radkey-Pechacek on his back in a 126 pound opening round match at the Big Rivers/Dunn-St. Croix Challenge Saturday in River Falls. Steiner defeated Radkey-Pechacek 14-5 and went on to finish seventh in his weight class. Photo by Bob Burrows
• Dima Hawksford wraps up St. Croix Central’s Matt Smith

Hudson junior Dima Hawksford wraps up St. Croix Central’s Matt Smith on his way to winning a 7-3 decision in the 170 pound championship match at the Big Rivers/Dunn-St. Croix Challenge Saturday in River Falls. Hawksford was one of three individual champs for the Raiders, who won the team title for the second straight year. Photo by Bob Burrows

Talk about it

There was plenty of hype surrounding last Saturday’s (Feb. 4) Big Rivers/Dunn-St. Croix Challenge in River Falls. And in the end, Hudson emerged as the champion of what Raider coach Chris Hansen called the toughest tournament in the ten year history of the event.

The Raiders crowned three individual champs on their way to earning their second straight BRC/DSC Challenge title. Hudson finished with a team score of 214 to finish above BRC regular season champion Chippewa Falls’ second place score of 202.5. St. Croix Central was third with 199.

“This was one of our biggest and best tournament championships we have won over the past five to six seasons,” Hansen said. “Obviously, that is very rewarding.”

The tournament featured six teams ranked teams — Hudson and Chippewa Falls in Division 1, St. Croix Central in Division 2, and Spring Valley/Elmwood, Glenwood City and Boyceville in Division 3.

The top seven teams all played a significant role in the outcome with individual champions coming from eight different schools.

“That is amazing,” Hansen said.

Raider senior Kolya Hawksford won his second straight BRC/DSC title, clinching the 152 pound championship with a 9-1 major decision over Boyceville’s Danny Hayes in the final. Hawksford won the 140 pound title in 2011.

Junior Derek Schindler defeated Boyceville’s Brett Blaser, 7-2, in the finals to wrap up a perfect day and win the 182 pound championship, while junior Dima Hawksford defeated three top ten ranked opponents, including Matt Smith of St. Croix Central, 7-3, in the finals, to win the 170 pound title.

“Dima Hawksford had a spectacular tournament,” Hansen said. “One-seventy was the weight class everyone has been talking about since Saturday, and Dima Hawksford is just a junior. He has not even reached his potential.”

Senior Tanner Owens reached the 160 pound finals before losing a close 5-3 decision to St. Croix Central’s Cody Nyhagen to finish second, while junior Austin Koski took second at 138 pounds.

Junior Nick Nelson lost in the 113 pound semifinals before posting a 12-3 major decision over Derek Huebel of Spring Valley/Elmwood in the third place match, while sophomore Eliot Motu finished fourth at 220 pounds.

Sophomore Tim Feia took fifth at 120 and sophomore Mathias Tobin placed fifth at 285. Sophomore Nic Johnson finished sixth at 132 while junior Wilson Yang was seventh at 106 and sophomore C.J. Steiner finished seventh at 126 to round out the Raider scoring.

Next up is the WIAA Division 1 regional tournament in Chippewa Falls this Saturday, Feb. 11 beginning at 11 a.m.

Tags: sports, wrestling, raiders, prep