Logan, Parpart, Erickson reach finals as 12 of 13 Panthers place in tourney
By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
LINDSTROM – Coach Paul Cyr’s New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva wrestling squad is starting to show signs of life. However, the lack of consistency still concerns Cyr.
“Our overall success and effort was better,” said Cyr. “We are still lacking the consistency from match to match and wrestler to wrestler that we hope for, especially by this point in the season.”
NRHEG competed in an eight team tourney at Lindstrom Friday. Hutchinson racked up 234.5 points to win the Chisago Lakes Tourney. NRHEG scored 133 to finish fourth.
The Panthers did not have any individual winners, but 12 of 13 NRHEG wrestlers managed to place. The Panthers were a combined 16-18 for the day. NRHEG was able to enter two wrestlers at 106 and 220 pounds.
Tyler Logan (145), Dillon Parpart (170) and Todd Erickson (220) all advanced to the championship match before losing.Logan had a first-period fall and a third-period pin to reach the finals. Eric Madson of Hutchinson pinned Logan in the second period.
Parpart opened with a first-period fall and then edged Eric Brown of Chisago Lakes 3-1. Orono’s Jackson Striggow controlled Parpart by a 10-3 margin in the title match.
Todd Erickson started with a 32-second pin, followed by a 3:07 fall to reach the championship. Jake Filk of Hutchinson pinned Erickson in 2:56 to win the weight class.
Zeke Erickson was one of three Panther third-place finishers. He got pinned by Filk in the semifinals, but rebounded with a pair of pins in 57 seconds and 1:39 for third place at 220.
Dillon Kubiatowicz earned third at 113. After receiving a first-round bye, Kubiatowicz was nipped by Big Lake’s Derek Helgoe 2-1. Kubiatowicz escaped with a 3-1 victory over Hutchinson’s Logan Wadsworth in the third-place match.
Cordell Peterson placed third at 106. He got a fall in his first match before dropping a 14-8 verdict to eventual champ Dylan Pundsack of Hutchinson in the semifinals. Peterson beat Aaron Sistrunk of Chisago Lakes in the third-place match.
Allen Zimmerman at 138 and Keith Maxon at 195 both took fourth place, going 1-2 for the day.
Zimmerman started with a pin, but then was pinned in 15 seconds by champion Quade Zupko of Chisago Lakes and blanked 12-0 by Mahtomedi’s Jordan Helmer in the third-place match.
Maxon also got off to a good start with a second-period fall. However, he was pinned in his next two matches to place fourth.
Wyatt Fitterer won two of three matches at 285 and Jet Wayne went 1-1 at 126 to place fifth.
Fitterer lost his opening match 3-1, but bounced back with a couple of pins. Wayne lost his first match 8-3, but managed a 4:14 pin in the fifth-place match.
Dustin Burshem (132) and Cole Lenort (106) both won one of three matches to place sixth. Burshem and Lenort recorded pins.
“Kubiatowicz, Logan, Parpart, Todd and Zeke Erickson all wrestled well at times,” said Cyr. “But, there were lapses that ultimately led to finishing a place or two lower than they may had had they performed at a high level all evening.”
NRHEG’s match against USC was postponed until Saturday, Feb. 9 at noon.
The Panthers wrestle three consecutive days this week. Tonight, they have a conference dual meet at Blooming Prairie. NRHEG travels to Lakeville North for a tournament Friday. The Panthers are at Wabasha for a quadrangular Saturday.
Chisago Lakes Tourney
Team scores: 1)-Hutchinson 234.5, 2)-Big Lake 194, 3)-Chisago Lakes 170, 4)-NRHEG 133, 5)-Mahtomedi 101, 6)-Orono 95.5, 7)-Zimmerman 73.5, 8)-Spring Lake Park 57.5.
NRHEG Results
106-C. Peterson (2-1) 3rd
106-Lenort (1-2) 6th
113-Kubiatowicz (1-1) 3rd
120-No entry _
126-Wayne (1-1) 5th
132-Burshem (1-2) 6th
138-Zimmerman (1-2) 4th
145-Logan (2-1) 2nd
152-Sletten (0-2) DNP
160-No entry _
170-Parpart (1-1) 2nd
182-No entry _
195-Maxon (1-2) 4th
220-T. Erickson (1-1) 2nd
220-Z Erickson (2-1) 3rd
285-Fitterer (2-1) 5th
TOTALS (16-18) 4TH
NEXT: Tonight – NRHEG at Blooming Prairie, 7 p.m.