By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
ST. JAMES – Still unable to fill four weight classes, the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva wrestling squad topped the 100-point mark at the St. James Classic Saturday.
“We are still hoping to get some of our injured and ineligible people back so that we can fill our lineup to become competitive in our upcoming dual meets,” said NRHEG coach Paul Cyr.
Saturday’s meet at St. James was loaded. The three teams that finished ahead of the Panthers are all ranked in the state.
Lake Crystal/Welcome Memorial scored 187 points to win the tournament, edging Minneota by three points.
St. James was ahead of NRHEG with 176 points.
Le Sueur-Henderson and Minnehaha Academy finished behind the Panthers.NRHEG also finished fourth among six teams a year ago, scoring 134.5 points.
“We wrestled quite a bit better at St. James than we did at Faribault,” said Cyr. “The level of competition was excellent and we responded a lot better than we did last week.”
Dillon Parpart (170 lbs.) and Keith Maxon (195 lbs.) were the top Panther finishers for the day. Parpart and Maxon both won two of three matches, losing in the championship match.
Todd Erickson (285 lbs.) also took two of three matches to finish third. His only loss was to the eventual champ.
Nick Bartness (160 lbs.), Tyler Logan (145 lbs.), Matt Webster (152 lbs.) and Dillon Kubiatowicz (113 lbs.) all placed third for NRHEG. Bartness and Logan were 2-1 for the day, Webster split two matches and Kubiatowicz went 1-2.
“Parpart, Maxon and Erickson all had good days,” said Cyr.
Dustin Burshem won one of three matches to place fourth at 138-pounds.
Cole Lenort (106 lbs.) and Jet Wayne (132 lbs.) were winless during the day.
“We continue to work with our young and inexperienced guys to get a consistent effort match after match,” said Cyr. “We have not seen as much of that as we had hoped at this point.”
NRHEG opens Gopher conference action at Medford tonight. The Panthers journey to the Redwood Riots in Redwood Valley Friday and Saturday.
St. James Classic
Team scores: 1)-LCWM 187, 2)-Minneota 184, 3)-St. James 176, 4)-NRHEG 102, 5)-Le Sueur-Henderson 88.5, 6)-Minnehaha Academy 46.
NRHEG Results
106-Lenort (0-2 _
113-Kubiatowicz (1-2) 3rd
120-No entry _
126-No entry _
132-Wayne (0-2) _
138-Burshem (1-2) 4th
145-Logan (2-1) 3rd
152-Webster (1-1) 3rd
160-Bartness (2-1) 3rd
170-Parpart (2-1) 2nd
182-No entry _
195-Maxon (2-1) 2nd
220-No entry _
285-Erickson (2-1) 3rd
TOTALS (13-14) 4th
NEXT: Thursday – NRHEG at Medford, 7 p.m.