Wrestling

       The Aitkin Gobbler wrestlers were in South St. Paul Saturday for a tournament and brough home some nice results. The girls finished 2nd in the tourney while the boys were 4th. Let's take a look at the results. 

Boys Varsity

1st-Rylan Moritz

2nd-Aydan Wendt

2nd-Andrew Hudrlik

3rd-Weston Kyllonen

3rd-Garrett Trotter

4th-Zane Larson

6th-Carson Young

6th-Peyton Gully

DNP-Sam Fairchild

DNP-Quin Crowther

Girls Varsity

1st-Sophie Crain

1st-Sierra Laffin

1st-Ava Peterson

2nd-Carli Crain

4th-Brenynn Huse

4th-Alaina Henline

6th-Anabelle Groce

JV

1st-Drake Thole

1st-Dutch Hasskamp

2nd-Henry Nelson

2nd-Greysen Christensen

2nd-Nikolai Searle

3rd-Josh Thole

3rd-Jeffrey Young

3rd-Lindan Koch

       Gobbler Coach Greg Hills on the day, "The kids wrestled good again today."

      The Aitkin Gobbler "JH" and "JV" wrestlers were at C-I Monday night. Let's see how they did.

Girls

3-0-Brennyn Huse

3-0-Brianna Ecklund

1-0-Ava Johnson-Peterson

2-1-Alaina Henline

2-1-Sydney Obert

1-2-Annabelle Groce

0-3-Natalja Petrenko

Boys

2-0-Tolo May

2-0-Peyton Gully

1-0-Quinn Crowther

2-1-Jeffrey Young

2-1-Henry Nelson

2-1-Josh Thole

1-1-Lindan Koch

1-1-Nikolai Searle

1-2-Drake Thole

1-2-Carson Young

1-2-Greysen Christensen

0-1-Sam Fairchild

0-2-Jaxson Ziwicki

0-3-Wyatt Morris

0-3-Ethan Daniels

       The Aitkin Gobbler wrestlers were in Ashland, Wisconsin for a Saturday tournament and it was a good day for the boys and the girls teams. The ladies took first place in the event and the boys finished third. Let's check the results from the days action.

Girls-Team Champions

1st-Sophie Crain

1st-Sierra Laffin

2nd-Brennyn Huse

2nd-Brianna Ecklund

3rd-Carli Crain

3rd-Ava Peterson-Johnson

3rd-Annabelle Groce

4th-Natalja Petrenko

6th-Alaina Henline

7th-Sydney Obert

8th-Lily Covington

Boys-Team Third Place

1st-Rylan Moritz

1st-Weston Kyllonen

2nd-Sam Fairchild

2nd-Garrett Trotter

2nd-Zane Larson

3rd-Peyton Gully

4th-Josh Thole

4th-Andrew Hudrlik

4th-Carson Crain

4th-Carson Young

4th-Quinn Crowther

6th-Damien Maciel

6th-Lindan Koch

8th-Greysen Christensen

           Coach Greg Hills after the days action, "Our kids had a great day on the mat today. We are really proud of everyone's effort."

       The Aitkin Gobbler wrestlers faced some tough competition at a triangular at Foley Tuesday. The lost to Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale/Parkers Prairie 53-16. Aitkin picked up wins from Aydan Wendt at 107, Rylan Moritz at 114, a 12-0 win over #5 ranked Adam Grabow, Garrett Trotter at 160 and Peyton Gully at 215. They lost to the home team 63-6 with the only Gobbler win coming from Moritz with a fall at 1:30 at 114. Sierra Laffin and Ava Peterson-Johnson won matches on the girls side while Wyatt Morris, Greysen Christensen, Dutch Hasskamp and Jeffrey Young (2) won JV matches.

       The Aitkin Gobbler wrestlers wound up a very busy week Friday with a quadrangular at Ogilvie. Aitkin lost to Pine City-Hinckley/Finlayson, Ogilvie and Sibley East but were very close in two of the three matches. In losing to P.C.-H.F. 38-34 the Gobblers picked up forfeit wins from Aydan Wendt, Josh Thole, Carson Crain and Weston Kyllonen while getting a win by fall from Rylan Moritz and a 14-6 win from Zane Larson. The Gobblers lost to Ogilvie 58-16 while getting forfeit wins from Moritz and Dutch Hasskamp and a win from Andrew Hudrlik on a major decision. Sibley East edged the Gobblers 38-36. The Gobblers got three forfeit wins from Thole, Wendt and Moritz while getting wins by fall from Kyllonen, Hudrlik and Garrett Trotter. The Gobblers got JV wins from Ethan Daniels, Carson Crain, Greysen Christensen, Jeffrey Young and Wyatt Morris.

      The Aitkin Gobbler wrestlers were in action in a quadrangular at Pillager Thursday and won one of three meets. They opened with a 45-26 loss to Wadena-Deer Creek. Picking up wins for the Gobblers were Aydan Wendt by fall, Rylan Moritz by tech fall, Weston Kyllonen by fall, Andrew Hudrlik by fall and Zane Larson by decision. Carson Crain lost by fall, Sam Fairchild lost by fall, Carson Young lost by fall, Quin Crowther lost by fall, Garrett Trotter lost by fall, Tolo May lost by fall and Peyton Gully lost by fall.

     The Gobblers beat Pillager 37-33. Wendt won by fall, Moritz won by fall, Kyllonen won by tech fall, Hudrlik won by decision, Young won by fall, Trotter won by fall, Larson won by tech fall, Crain lost by decision, Fairchild lost by fall and Gully lost by fall.

     The Gobblers lost a close one to Otter Tail Central 37-32. Wendt won by fall, Moritz won by fall, Kyllonen won by fall, Trotter won by forfeit, Larson won by decision, May won by tech fall. Hudrlik lost by decision, Crain lost by tech fall, Fairchild lost by tech fall, Young lost by fall, Crowther lost by fall, and Gully lost by fall. 

      Winners in the girl's division included Carli Crain twice, Sophie Crain and Sierra Laffin. JV records showed Drake Thole at 3-0, Josh Thole at 3-0, Dutch Hasskamp at 2-0, Wyatt Morris at 2-0, Greysen Christensen at 2-0, Jeffrey Young at 2-2, Ethan Daniels at 0-2 and Nikolai Searle at 0-2.

      Coach Greg Hills on the days activities, "It was a big Section win over Pillager. The kids are coming together as a team. It's been fun to see the growth in the wrestlers since the beginning of the season."

      The Gobblers are back in action at Ogilvie Friday.

      The Aitkin Gobbler wrestlers were in Cloquet Tuesday for a triangular and they split their two matches, losing to the host team 42-30 and beating Mora 42-17. Here's a look at the results.

Cloquet-42 Aitkin-30

107-Aydan Wendt won by fall

114-Rylan Moritz won by forfeit

121 Weston Kyllonen lost by fall

127-Carson Crain won by forfeit

133-Andrew Hudrlik lost by fall

139-Sam Fairchild won by forfeit

145-Aitkin forfeited

152-Quin Crowther lost by fall

160-Garrett Trotter won by fall

172-Zane Larson lost by fall

189-Tolo May lost by fall

215-Peyton Gully lost by fall

285-Aitkin forfeited

Girls Exhibitions

Sophie Crain won by fall

Carli Crain won by fall

Brianna Ecklund won by fall

Annabelle Groce lost by fall

Aitkin-42 Mora-17

107-Aydan Wendt won by fall

114-Dutch Hasskamp won by forfeit

121-Rylan Moritz wins by Tech. Fall

127-Weston Kyllonen wins by fall

133-Andrew Hudrlik wins by Tech. Fall

139-Carson Young lost by Tech. Fall

145-Sam Fairchild lost by fall

152-Quin Crowther lost by fall

160-Garrett Trotter won by major decision

172-Zane Larson won by major decision

189-Tolo May won by forfeit

215-Peyton Gully lost by decision

285-Aitkin forfeited

Girls Exhibitions

Sophie Crain lost by fall

Brenynn Huse lost by fall

Natalija Petrenko lost by fall

Sierra Laffin won by fall

Alaina Henline lost by fall

Lily Covington won by fall

Carli Crain lost by fall

Sydney Obert lost by fall

Brianna Ecklund lost by fall

Ava Peterson won by fall

Annabelle Groce lost by fall

        The Aitkin Gobbler wrestlers were all in Mora Saturday for tournament action. Here's a look at the results.

Varsity

3rd-Rylan Moritz

3rd-Andrew Hudrlik

4th-Weston Kyllonen

5th-Aydan Wendt

5th-Zane Larson

6th-Sam Fairchild

DNP-Quin Crowther

DNP-Garrett Trotter

Girls

2nd-Sophie Crain

3rd-Sydney Obert

3rd-Sierra Laffin

3rd-Ava Peterson-Johnson

3rd-Carli Crain

4th-Alaina Henline

4th-Annabelle Groce

5th-Brianna Ecklund

6th-Lily Covington

8th-Brenynn Huse

8th-Natalia Petrenko

JV

1st-Peyton Gully

1st-Josh Thole

2nd-Carson Crain

2nd-Dutch Hasskamp

2nd-Drake Thole

2nd-Greysen Christensen

2nd-Nikolai Searle

3rd-Wyatt Morris

3rd-Jeffrey Young

3rd-Lindan Koch

4th-Henry Nelson

4th-Jaxson Ziwicki

           Coach Greg Hills on the day's action, "All in all we did pretty good in the first matches after the break. Now our schedule gets a little crazy. It was good to get a couple kids back from injury and illness."

          The Gobblers have a tri in Cloquet Tuesday, are in Pillager for a quad on Thursday and then another tri at Ogilvie on Friday.

    The Aitkin Gobbler girls wrestling team brought home three titles at the Grand Rapids Tourney on Monday. Sophie Crain, Ava Johnson-Peterson and Briann Ecklund all won championships in the event.

      It was a full day of wrestling for the Aitkin Gobblers Saturday with the varsity finishing up at the Jackhammer in Pequot Lakes, the JH/JV at Pierz and the girls at a tournament in Bemidji. Let’s take a look at how they did.

     The varsity saw three Gobblers place with Rylan Moritz finishing 4th and Garrett Trotter and Andrew Hudrlik both getting 8th place. Quin Crowther and Damien Maciel did come back and each win a match Saturday but did not place. Coach Greg Hills after the tourney, “Overall a good finish in a very tough tournament.”

     The JH/JV grapplers were in Pierz for a tournament, and they saw four wrestlers place. Carson Young and Grayson Christensen both finished runners up, and Drake Thole and Josh Thole were both 5th. Nikolai Searle, Carson Crain, Lindan Koch, Dutch Hasskamp, Peyton Gully, Henry Nelson and Jeffery Young all wrestled but failed to place.

       The girls had a pair of Champions in Bemidji. Sophie Crain at 100 and Carli Crain at 130 both won titles, Sierra Laffin at 118 was 3rd, Brianna Ecklund was 6th at 155 and Ava Johnson-Peterson was 4th at 170. Coach Maddie Strohmayer after the tourney, “I think our girls did a good job, it’s fun to have all-girl tournaments like this.”  

       The Aitkin Gobbler girls wrestling team opened their season with a loss and a tie in the triangular at the Noel Bailey Gym. It was the first official girls wrestling matches for Aitkin High School. In the opener against Mora, it was the Mustangs picking up a 57-14 win. The Gobblers scored on a forfeit for Brenynn Huse, a fall from Sophie Crain and a major decision from Sydney Obert. Between matches Aitkin picked up exhibition wins from Obert, Brianna Ecklund and Alaina Henline. Next up, the Mille Lacs Raiders and the two teams wrestled to a 30-30 tie. The Gobblers got a pin by Sophie Crain in 3:35, another fall from Carlie Crain in :31, a fall at 1:24 by Obert and a pair of forfeits with Eklund and Ava Johnson-Peterson picking up the points. Lance Baumann got some comments from a few of the wrestlers after the matches.

Sydney Obert-"I think this is great, we have a good program at Aitkin."

Sophie Crain-"I really like it, I feel I'm getting better all the time."

Carlie Crain-"I'm learning a lot more moves."

Sierra Laffin-"I really like it; I like close matches when the crowd gets loud."

      Gobbler Coach Greg Hills after the nights action, "This was an amazing experience. The girls belonged on the mat with the other teams. We showed that we are not going to back down from anyone. The life lessons these girls are learning are unmeasurable. Just walking out in front of fans is the hardest part. Our coaching staff couldn't be prouder of these young ladies. Aitkin girls wrestling is on the map!

      It was an exciting first night for the girls and it will only get better as the season continues.

      The Aitkin Gobblers will do something Thursday night that has never been done in Aitkin. They will host the first wrestling triangular wrestling meet for girls only. That’s right, a girls wrestling meet at the Noel Bailey Gym and wouldn’t he be proud. The meet features girls teams from Aitkin, Mora and Mille Lacs and should draw a big crowd. This has been brewing for some time now and it's becoming a reality this week. Coach Greg Hills talked about the process, "Girls wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the nation, and our girls program is blowing up. A big part of this is freshman Carli Crain and her job of recruiting. She was the only female wrestler at the start of last season and now we have 11 girls wrestling. We also have a nice group of girls in the elementary program, so girls wrestling is here to stay. We will be hosting a home match Thursday starting at 5:00. #5 ranked Mora and Mille Lacs are coming to town, Mora currently has four ranked wrestlers and Mille Lacs has two ranked wrestlers. We are excited to be able to fill most of the weights for this match. We have Mali Wasserzieher as a volunteer coach and Maddie Strohmayer is helping out and will coach the girls when we are busy coaching the boys' teams. It will be an awesome atmosphere hosting our first girls' event. The way these girls work in practice we are hoping to have our own ranked girls by the end of the year." Speaking of Maddie, (pictured), she started all this several years ago and competed at State in 2022 finishing 2nd, and in 2023 she was 4th. She has some thoughts on the girls' program as well, "It's been amazing to see the girls wrestling program grow as a sport, not just in Aitkin. Being able to coach and help the girls has been an honor. Even in these few short weeks I see the girls improving. They are hard workers and determined to get better by asking a lot of questions and listening to what's being taught. I'm very excited to see what the future holds for the girls."

       You've heard from the coaches, what about the girls who are ready to make some history Thursday night. Here's a sneak-peek at three of them.

Brianna Ecklund-8th grade, first year of wrestling. “I decided to join wrestling because I knew it wasn’t an easy sport for some people and wanted to see how I would do my first year. I knew it would get me in shape and I would have an amazing experience. It has been a good program run by good coaches. They push us in a good way and if we need help, they are there and will help us through steps.”

Carli Crain-9th grade-2nd. Year wrestler. “I decided to join wrestling because Uncle B.J. wanted me to join, and my coaches and because my first year in high school I was a manager for the wrestling team. I also did it to grow women’s wrestling for Aitkin. I like the sport because I like the excitement and to learn really cool moves. I also like how our wrestling team is like a big family.”

Alaina Henline-8th grade-first year of wrestling. “I decided to join wrestling mostly because both of my younger sisters were in it and I didn’t want to be in basketball anymore. My mom wants me to be in an activity so I’m not sitting at home doing nothing all the time so I decided to try wrestling. I had tried a few camps and started going to Takedown gym in Brainerd with the Crains. I like it a lot better than I did basketball and it was just more fun for me. I really like hanging out with the group of girls. They are all really nice and fun to hang out with. It’s also a pretty competitive sport and really fun to watch.”

        Thursday will be a big day for girls wrestling in Aitkin and as Coach Hills says, Aitkin Gobbler Girls Wrestling has a nice ring to it!"

      The 2025-26 Gobbler wrestling schedule is out. Here's a look.

Friday, December 19--Aitkin vs Pine-River-Backus at Pequot Lakes Tournament

Saturday, December 20--Aitkin vs Pine River-Backus at Pequot Lakes Tournament

Saturday, January 3--Aitkin at Mora Tournament

Tuesday, January 6--Aitkin at Cloquet (multiple schools)

Friday, January 9--Aitkin at Ogilvie (multiple schools)

Tuesday, January 13--Aitkin at Foley (multiple schools)

Thursday, January 15--Aitkin at Onamia (multiple schools)

Saturday, January 17--Aitkin at Ashland Tournament

Thursday, January 22--Walker-Hackensack at Aitkin

Saturday, January 24--Aitkin at South St. Paul Tournament

Friday, January 30--Aitkin at Conference Tournament at Ogilvie