A packed house of boxing fans witnessed the first Wadena Golden Gloves boxing card of the season on Saturday at the Wadena Armory. Eleven bouts were held with boxers from Brainerd, Fergus Falls, Detroit Lakes and St. Cloud joining the host Wadena in an exciting night of boxing.
Unfortunately for the local fans, the Wadena team showed a bit of rust in the ring as nine boxers saw action but only three scored victories.
The main event saw Wadena's Dewayne Steward facing Cory Thompson of Detroit Lakes at 178 pounds. Steward forced the action but the sharp Thompson landed hard, fast combinations to win the non-stop bout.
Wadena's hard puncher in Trent Petro faced a busy, strong Tyler Hultin of Fergus Falls at 170 pounds. The action was furious all three rounds with Hultin winning the decision.
A super-heavyweight bout between Jesse Ruiz of St. Cloud and Leni Drewelow of Fergus Falls was a close bout with Drewelow winning the decision.
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Cody McManigle of Wadena at 142 pounds showed good boxing skills but tired and lost to a strong Jesse Wannemacher of Fergus Falls. Wadena's Travis Petro finished strong but gave away the first two rounds in losing the decision to Tanner Hultin of Fergus Falls at 160-pounds.
Wadena's rangy TJ Steward faced a strong Levi Bock of Brainerd in a non-stop action bout at 160 pounds. The more experienced Steward won the three-round battle by a decision. Willmar's superior boxer Stanley Ruiz faced a good Dustin Mason of St. Cloud at 132 pounds. Both boxers landed good combinations throughout the bout with the stronger Ruiz winning the decision.
Billy Flecher of Park Rapids, boxing for the Wadena team, kept the pressure on Collin Frye of St. Cloud and won a second round RSC (referee stops contest). Another Park Rapids transfer, Brandon Smith, boxed his first bout for Wadena and showed his determination as he battled back against Ryan Taggert of Brainerd. Smith used a mixture of good combinations as well as solid hand jabs to score a decision over the hard-hitting Taggert.
Wadena's new boxer, Jeremy McDonald of Sebeka, faced a strong Ryan Veralrud of Detroit Lakes. McDonald was boxing his first bout and was quickly caught by wild punches by the stronger Veralrud. He lost in a first-round RSC. Nathan Scott of Brainerd scored a decision over Wadena's Chris Steward in a hard-fought bout at 80 pounds.
Wadena's next home card is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at the Wadena Armory.
