Panthers 16th at Redwood Falls
SHOW HIM THE LIGHTS — NRHEG freshman Zeke Erickson has his Medford opponent on his back during the 220-pound match at Medford last Thursday. Erickson eventually lost by fall but the Panthers won their Gopher Conference opener, 48-25. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)
By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva wrestlers got off to a good start in the Gopher Conference.
And after a tough first round, the Panthers had a respectable showing at the tough Redwood River Riot in Redwood Falls.
“We didn’t perform very well in our conference dual with Medford,” said NRHEG coach Paul Cyr. “But, I give our guys a lot of credit. After a tough first round at Redwood we wrestled pretty tough for the remainder of the tournament.”
The Medford victory was the first dual meet of the season for NRHEG.
Medford
MEDFORD – Seven forfeits made things easy for the Panthers in a 48-25 victory over Medford at Medford last Thursday.
The Panthers, one of three teams to tie for the Gopher Conference title last season, defeated Medford 40-22 a year ago.“I was hoping for a better effort from our guys in the first dual meet of the season,” said Cyr. “We will be in for a long year if we don’t perform any better than we did tonight.”
Medford won four of the first five matches to jump to a 19-6 lead.
Dillon Kubiatowicz was major decisioned at 113-pounds. Palmer Peterson fell behind 5-0 in his match at 120-pounds, before battling back to suffer a 7-5 loss to Marcus DeLeon.
Tyler Keller pinned NRHEG’s Jet Wayne at 126 and a forfeit win at 132 gave the Tigers a big 13-point lead.
However, NRHEG won eight of the final nine weight classes to win going away.
At 160-pounds, Nick Bartness escaped with a 10-5 decision over Nick Von Ruden of the Tigers.
Dillon Parpart followed with a tough 7-5 triumph over Trevor Grems of Medford at 170-pounds.
Forfeit winners for NRHEG were Cordell Peterson (106), Dustin Burshem (138), Tyler Logan (145), Trey Hoppe (152), Matt Jensen (182), Keith Maxon (195) and Wyatt Fitterer (285).
The Panthers won nine of 14 matches. Their biggest lead was 42-19.
Redwood Falls
A loaded field saw the Panthers score 69 points in the Redwood River Riot Friday and Saturday. The Panthers tied Mankato West for 16th place among 28 teams.
Last season, NRHEG scored 116 points to finish fifth.
“All but two of our wrestlers won at least one match in the tournament,” said Cyr. “Maxon finished sixth, but had a good tournament.”
Red Rock Central won the tournament with 190 points. Gopher Conference rival United South Central was second with 153 points.
USC and LeSueur-Henderson were the only schools to have more than one individual champ.
Maxon got off to a great start at 192-pounds. He defeated the second seed from Sibley East in the first round and pinned his second round foe. Three losses Saturday left him in sixth place.
Kubiatowicz (113), Logan (145) and Parpart (170) were four-match winners for the Panthers. All three finished fifth with 4-2 records.
Cordell Peterson (106) and Webster (152) split four matches during the weekend, but did not place.
Wayne (126), Bartness (160) and Todd Erickson (285) had one win during the weekend.
The Panther wrestlers finished 21-23 for the tourney.
NRHEG’s final action before Christmas is tonight in Winona. The Panthers will wrestle Winona, Faribault and St. Charles.
NRHEG will then be idle until hosting Blue Earth, St. Clair and Triton Jan. 4.
NRHEG 48, Medford 25
106 – C. Peterson (NR) won by forfeit, 113 – Elwood (M) maj. dec. Kubiatowicz (NR) 12-1, 120 – DeLeon (M) def. P. Peterson (NR) 7-5, 126 – Keller (M) pinned Wayne (NR) 1:33; 132 – Masse (M) won by forfeit, 138 – Burshem (NR) won by forfeit, 145 – Logan (NR) won by forfeit, 152 – Hoppe (NR) won by forfeit, 160 – Bartness (NR) dec. Von Ruden (M) 10-5, 170 – Parpart (NR) dec. Grems (M) 7-5, 182 – Jensen (NR) won by forfeit, 195 – Maxon (NR) won by forfeit, 220 – Elzen (M) pinned Erickson (NR) 1:14, 285 – Fitterer (NR) won by forfeit.
Redwood River Riot
Team scores: 1)-Wabasso Red Rock Central 190, 2)-USC 153, 3)-Maple River 147, 4)-Kerkoven-MS 134.5, 5)-Sibley East 132.5, 6)-St. James 119.5, 7)-Alexandria 112.5, 8)-Marshall 89, 9)-Madelia/Truman & BOLD 87.5, 11)-Fairmont & Sartell 85.5, 13)-TC United 77, 14)-Canby 74, 15)-Worthington 73, 16)-NRHEG & Mankato West 69, 18)-Litchfield 67.5, 19)-Quad County 66, 20)-River Valley 62.5, 21)-Le Sueur-Henderson 59, 22)-Cold Spring Rocori 43, 23)-Fulda 37, 24)-DBLQPV 36, 25)-Mpls. South 34, 26)-Redwood Valley 27, 27)-Tracy 19, 28)-SP Johnson 17.
NRHEG RESULTS
106 C.Peterson (2-2)
113 Kubiatowicz (4-2) 5th
120 No entry
126 Wayne (1-2)
132 No entry
138 Burshem (0-2)
145 Logan (4-2) 5th
152 Webster (2-2)
160 Bartness (2-2)
170 Parpart (4-2) 5th
182 Ripka (0-2)
192 Maxon (2-3) 6th
220 No entry
285 Erickson (1-2)
TOTALS (21-23) 16th
NEXT: Today – NRHEG vs. Winona, Faribault & St. Charles at Winona, 5 p.m.