Wrestling: Pirates record 6 pins in 79-0 win over Green Wave

The Pirates finished their regular season road duals with a 79-0 win over East Grand Forks Thursday. Crookston recorded six pins and three technical falls to win handily over the Green Wave.

The Pirates are now 11-2 on the season in duals, while East Grand Forks is now 1-14.

"We're having one of our better years and EGF is having a down year. As a coach you don't want to see a shutout against anybody," said Pirate head coach Chad Hitchen, who didn't want to run up the score but noted that wrestling is different than team sports because you can't let up.

"In wrestling you can't sub in a JV player," he said. "You can't tell your team to let the other team win one match. We had a lot of matches go our way in the course of the night. I can't fault our wrestlers for going out there. It's part of sports."

Hitchen noted he liked his team’s aggressiveness.

"We were aggressive and controlled the tempo of the match," he said. "We didn't let them get their tie ups and we were in control."

Hitchen also talked about the 189 pound spot, which was open for much of the season.

"Justin Altepeter got his first win at 189 pounds and looks like he might be a fixture there for us," he said.

Crookston will compete in the Northwest Tournament Saturday in Fertile. The team will close out its regular season Thursday, Feb. 11 when it hosts Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton and Roseau.