The Detroit Lakes Wrestling Boosters hosted the 8th Annual Northwest
Old-Timers Tournament at Detroit Lakes High School on March 10,
2007. All total, 62 wrestlers competed in 11 weight classes
ranging from 140 to 282 pounds. The lightest wrestler tipped the
scales at 131 pounds, and the heaviest weighed 282 pounds. The
participants included one reluctant tournament organizer, Tom
Trowbridge. “My nose still hurt five days later,” noted
Trowbridge. He really hadn’t planned on wrestling this year, but
it became necessary to fill out a weight class. “He’s kind of a
sucker that way,” said tournament co-chair Nate Weber, “he hates having
uneven brackets.” The champions of each weight class won a pair
of sweatpants for their efforts.
The Team trophy went to the aptly named “Has-Beens,” consisting of
Smokey McBride, Matt Lessard, John Fradette, Lee Rharlein and Jud
Turk. They paced the field of five teams with 53 points.
Second Place went to the “Fightin’ Finns” from New York Mills, who
scored 41 points with their roster of Dustin and Cody Geiser, Jeremy
and Peter Mursu, and Devlin Hessig. The remaining teams were the
Rock Stars (32 points), Déjà vu (29 points) and the
Hooters (20 points).
Darin Bertram (formerly of Wheaton and Augsburg) won the 140-pound
title by defeating his younger brother Adam 4 -1 in the finals.
Bertram advanced to the finals of the 4-man bracket with a fall.
Smokey McBride finished in 3rd Place.
The 149-pound championship went to Matt Lessard (Crookston). A
3-time runner-up, Lessard earned his first title in the 4-man bracket
with a 5-0 decision over Peter Mursu (New York Mills). Third
Place went to Pelican Rapids’ Jake Anderson.
John Fradette of Milaca won the 156-pound weight class with a narrow
4-3 decision over Jesse Marohn (Brainerd). Fradette dominated on
his way to the finals with a fall and a major decision. TJ
Severance (Wheaton) finished in 3rd place, and Jeremy Mursu (New York
Mills) took the Consolation Title in the 8-man bracket.
Forty-five year old Tony Sorum of Oslo won the Oldest Wrestler Award
for the 2nd straight year. He shrugged off the achievement,
saying, “I figured that since I didn’t get hurt last year…” He finished
injury free again, so who knows what next year will bring.
Reen Masheen (St. Cloud) claimed his second Northwest Old-Timers title
with a 10-2 major decision over Dustin Schneeberger in the 160-pound
weight class. Dustin Geiser (New York Mills) placed 3rd in the
4-man bracket.
Lee Rahrlein (Graceville) defeated a pair of 4-time tournament
champions (Mahnomen’s John Short and Wadena’s David Snyder) en route to
the 170-pound title. Rahrlein pinned his first opponent, then
defeated Short 7-5 in the semifinals, and Snyder 7-2 in the
finals. Dennis Caron from Litchfield finished in 3rd Place, and
Brandon Lennox (Herman) took the Consolation Title in the 8-man bracket.
Detroit Lakes’ own Ryan Ortiz won his first Old-Timer Championship at
179 pounds with a 3-0 decision over Dan Cox. Cox originally hails
from some place in the Cities, but has since found greener pastures in
Barnesville. Ortiz advanced to the finals on a pair of
decisions. Fester Halonen (Kingston) placed 3rd, and Joel Snyder
(Sebeka) won the Consolation title. Brandon Hokana won the prize
for travelling the longest distance, driving from Ellendale, North
Dakota.
Ben Mergen took home the gold in the 8-man, 190-pound bracket with a
4-2 decision over Cody Geiser (New York Mills). Menahga-Sebeka
coach Kris Koll finished in 3rd place, and Tim Stowe (Faribault) won
the Consolation Championship.
Ross Pape (East Grand Forks) pinned Grant Bentz (Browerville) in the
214-pound finals. Thief River Falls’ Adam Lian finished in 3rd
place of the 4-man bracket.
At 225-pounds, Jeremy Lian (Thief River Falls) advanced to the finals
on an 8-6 decision in overtime. In the title match, he won by
fall over Tyler Slinger of Detroit Lakes. Jason Sampson
(Nashwauk) finished in 3rd place in the 4-man weight class.
Bigg Dave (Dassel) won his 3rd Northwest Old-Timer championship with a
pair of decisions in the 4-man 238-pound weight class. He
prevailed in the finals with a 6-5 decision over Devlin Hessig (New
York Mills). Brainerd’s Mike Maske placed third.
And last but definitely not least, familiar face Andy Lancaster of
Clarissa won his 7th Northwest Old-Timer championship in the 282-pound
weight class. He advanced to the finals with a bye and a 4-1
decision before defeated Mahnomen’s Jon Brunner 3-0. Ben Deuel
(Parkers Prairie) took third, and Chris Brunner took the Consolation
title in the 6-man bracket. Despite having the best dressed
coaches, Fergus Falls’ Jason Price finished in 4th place.
Tournament organizers Weber and Trowbridge thank all the wrestlers who
came (except for the two who defeated Trowbridge). “We especially
want to thank the ones who generously donated their time to make this
happen,” said Weber, “particularly referees Paul Anderson, Hugh
Trowbridge and Chris Wacker.” Trowbridge and Weber want all
potential old-timer competitors to keep an eye out for next year’s
tournament. “We might try to move the tournament back a week, and
possibly even change the location of the tournament to help boost
attendance back into the 80 to 100 range that we used to always get,”
said Trowbridge.