After securing a 51-20 win over Osceola, the Ellsworth Panthers wrestling team came up short in a 46-24 loss against Baldwin-Woodville in the latter half of a Middle Border Conference Tri in Ellsworth on Thursday, Jan. 12.

For Ellsworth wrestling head coach Mark Matzek, Thursday night was a chance to take care of business against Osceola and then go toe-to-toe with a Baldwin-Woodville team that has proven to be an elite program in a stacked Middle Border Conference.

Ellsworth got the action going with a 5120 win against Osceola that included four victories via pinfall and one by decision. A lot of the matches went to plan, as Ellsworth’s standout wrestlers took care of business early and often.

Ellsworth freshman J.D. Minder-Broeckaert earned a pinfall victory against Osceola’s Dylan Hornung early in the second period of the 126-pound match and Ellsworth junior William Penn pinned Mason Rud midway through the second period of the 138-pound match.

Sophomore Levi Nelson pinned Osceola’s Tristin Cambel late in the third period of the 145-pound battle and Ellsworth senior Louis Jahnke took care of business against Tanner Viebrock via pinfall just 11 seconds into the second period of the 170-pound bout.

However, for coach Matzek, Ellsworth sophomore Blake Nelson had the match of the dual against Osceola when he defeated Reid Church via a 4-3 decision in the 152-pound match. Matzek spoke about Blake Nelson’s match and the overall result against Osceola.

“Our win versus Osceola went even better than expected,” Matzek said. “It was better than expected because Blake Nelson at 152 was able to pull out a tough match where he was the underdog. Blake is a tireless worker in the wrestling room and the weight room. It was great to see him win that match. Everyone else in that dual did their jobs against a much improved Osceola team.”

After a win against a much-improved Osceola squad, Ellsworth faced off against the Baldwin-Woodville Blackhawks. The latter part of the Ellsworth Tri was much anticipated, as both the Panthers and Blackhawks finished near the top of their divisions at the 37th Annual Northern Badger Wrestling Classic in River Falls, which is one of the biggest tournaments in the state.

Before the matches even started, Ellsworth had a couple of breaks go its way. The weight of the first match was set at 152 pounds, which couldn’t have worked out any better for Ellsworth. Even with a couple of fortunate breaks before the matches began, the Panthers came up short and suffered a 46-24 defeat. Matzek spoke about the disappointing result against what he felt was a beatable team on Thursday night.

“The loss versus B-W was disappointing,” Matzek said. “We had a lot of things that were outside of our control go our way. It couldn’t have started at a better starting weight for the movement that we were planning on doing with our lineup and we won the ‘flip’ so we were able to get some of the matchups that we wanted. We came up short in some pivotal and winnable matches. Our margin of error was very small that night and we let it slip away.”

Even though Ellsworth forfeited the 120, 138 and 145-pound matches due to illness and injury, the Panthers still had a chance to win the dual. The Ellsworth senior captains, Louis Jahnke and Anthony Madsen took care of business in their matches at 170 and 182 pounds respectively.

Jahnke successfully turned the tables on Baldwin-Woodville senior Elliott Anderson when he secured a pinfall victory in the second period. Anderson had previously bested Jahnke, as he pinned Ellsworth’s senior captain in the third-place match of the 160-pound consolation bracket at the Northern Badger Wrestling Classic just a couple of weeks ago.

Madsen secured a victory over Baldwin- Woodville’s Andrew Thompson, who he pinned just over a minute into the first period of the 182-pound match. Coach Matzek spoke about a couple of the matches that stood out to him.

“Our senior captains Louis Jahnke and Anthony Madsen had a great final home dual,” Matzek said. “Kelton Graff had a very important pin at 220 that electrified the crowd. Noah Walker did as well. Even though we lost, it was a very exciting dual for the big crowd on Thursday.”

Even with a couple of big wins, several close losses via decision cost Ellsworth a chance at knocking off Baldwin-Woodville and ultimately led to the 46-24 loss.

For coach Matzek, this is as good as the Middle Border Conference has been in its entirety in more than two decades. Ellsworth remains a perennial power, Baldwin-Woodville and Saint Croix Central have loaded rosters that dominated at the Northern Badger and Amery has won back-to-back state championships.

“I would argue the MBC as a whole is the best it has been in at least 20 years if not 30,” Matzek said. “We have always had strong individuals come out of our conference teams and Ellsworth had won the team sectional a state-record 14 consecutive times so the MBC hasn’t been just full of push-overs by any means. I am merely stating the fact that we haven’t had four solid teams that create exciting and competitive duals in recent memory and with new leadership in Osceola I believe they will be a fifth in the near future as well.”

Ellsworth’s next match is at the Saint Croix Central Quad in Hammond on Thursday, Jan. 19. Those matches are slated to begin at 6 p.m.

Ellsworth senior Anthony Madsen competes during a match earlier this season. Madsen, one of two Ellsworth wrestling captains, won both of his matches at the Ellworth Tri on Thursday evening. Photo by Reagan Hoverman