Wadenas 165-pound veteran Dewayne Steward faced off against Brainerd veteran Ricky Avlie for the Region IV championship in front of a full house at the Wadena National Armory on Saturday.
In the first round, Steward landed a solid left hook to the body of Avlie and scored a first-round RSC (referee stops contest) for the title.
Using his experience and solid combinations, Wadenas Cody McManigle scored an RSC over a game Kelly Vanburen of Willmar for the 141-pound championship.
Bruce Butler was the unopposed champion at 125 pounds, giving the Wadena Golden Gloves team three champions and a berth in the Upper Midwest Tournament in Hinckley.
In the rest of the Region IV championship bouts, Blake Herron of Brainerd was the unopposed champion at 119 pounds, while Jesse Ruiz of St. Cloud claimed the title unopposed in the super heavyweight class. Wadenas Kody Thompson faced off against Ryan Dew of Fergus Falls for the 132-pound title. The action was nonstop with both boxers scoring in the four-round bout. Thompson seemed to land more punches to the body but lost the split decision to Dew for the title.
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T.J. Steward, Wadenas 152-pound veteran, faced an old rival in a strong Tyler Hultin of Fergus Falls. The better-conditioned Hultin won the four-round battle over Steward.
The 178-pound championship saw Wadenas Trent Petro facing Detroit Lakes veteran Cory Burton. It was a non-stop four-round battle with the more experienced Burton coming on strong at the end to win the decision.
It was a war between heavyweights Lenny Drewelow of Fergus Falls and Matt Jarrott of St. Cloud. The stronger Drewelow kept up the pressure to win the four-round decision.
The Region IV champions will now head to the Upper Midwest Tournament at 7:30 p.m. April 14 and 15 at the Grand Casino in Hinckley.
In the under card bouts, Ry Denzel of Fergus Falls won a decision over Casey Holt of Detroit Lakes. Wadenas Brent Steward out-boxed and won a decision over Michael Lucero of Detroit Lakes. Travis Petro of Wadena gave up lots of experience but not heart in losing a close hard-fought decision to Stanley Ruiz of Willmar. Wadenas Billy Richards boxed a good three-round bout but still lost a close decision to Lee Smykowski of Fergus Falls. Wadenas Frank Orsello scored well when he forced the action but didnt keep up the pressure and lost the decision to the more experienced Sam Kolle of Fergus Falls.
Trophies were awarded at the end of the evening with Hultin receiving the Best Boxer trophy. T. J. Steward won the Fightest Fighter trophy and Trent Petro received the Sportsman award.
