This wasn’t unexpected, yet, in a way, it was.
Long Prairie-Grey Eagle/Browerville knew its Class 1A championship match against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City (ACGC) would be tighter than their first meeting. But Wolves coach Jacob Lorentz said the early hole they found themselves in was worrisome.
ACGC led 12-0 after three weights. “Of course we were concerned,” Lorentz said. “This is a game of momentum.”
The Wolves, seeking their second consecutive title, brushed off the tough start and set to work on closing the gap and winning another title. And when senior Levi Line pinned ACGC’s Logan Sherwood at 220 pounds, the title once again belonged to the Wolves, who won 30-27.
“That was probably the best match of my life,” Line said. “To close out the championship match for my team feels awesome.”
For Line, it was the fitting cap on a special year. He’s attends Browerville High School – just 8 miles up Highway 71 from Long Prairie – and also played on the football team that made it to the Class 1A semifinals. “It’s been a big year for me,” he said.
Lorentz said the team victory was tougher than it was a year ago but more fulfilling. “We had a target on our backs all season,” he said.
Lorentz said he knew that ACGC would be perhaps the biggest test the Wolves had faced all season, despite a lopsided victory in the previous meeting,
“We’ve been following that team all year and we knew how good they were,” he said. “They weren’t going to give us anything.”
Having repelled nearly all comers this season, winning the title the way his team did showed the character of his team, Lorentz said.
“Nobody told us how to do it,” he said. “We worked hard and we never quit.”
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