By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
Everyone but Jackson County Central seems to be wrestling for second place when it comes to Section 2A wrestling.
The three-time defending state champion Huskies cruised to their fourth straight section title by steamrolling three opponents.
Jackson, 21-2, blitzed Blooming Prairie, NRHEG and United South Central to capture another section crown.
NRHEG, the fourth seed in the tournament, beat fifth-seeded Maple River in Thursday’s opening round before falling to top-seeded JCC in Saturday’s semifinal.
USC, which edged second-seeded Blue Earth in the other semifinal, fell to Jackson 49-19 in the championship match.
Gopher Conference champ NRHEG ended its dual meet season with an 11-8 record.Maple River
JACKSON – NRHEG trailed just twice in the match and earned a quarterfinal win with a 43-25 victory over Maple River in Jackson last Thursday. The Eagles ended their season with a 7-6 record.
“We continued our recent surge against Maple River as we put a pretty good beating on a decent Eagle squad,” said NRHEG coach Paul Cyr. “We got off to a great start and came through in the upper weights.”
Cordell Peterson and Dillon Kubiatowicz gave the Panthers a 12-0 lead with pins in the first two matches. Peterson stuck Derek Moore in 1:08 and Kubiatowicz followed with a 1:39 fall.
MR answered with three straight wins to gain a 13-12 lead.
Palmer Peterson was pinned in the second period, Jet Wayne suffered a 13-0 loss and Dustin Burshem dropped a 6-4 decision at 132 pounds.
Allen Zimmerman received a forfeit at 138 to regain the lead for NRHEG, but MR went up 19-18 when Aaron Trio pinned Trey Hoppe in the first minute of their 145-pound match.
Tyler Logan rolled to an 11-0 win and Nick Bartness followed with a first period fall to lift the Panthers into a 28-19 advantage.
Mitch Stoltzman scored all of his points in the final period to defeat Dillon Parpart 6-1 at 170-pounds.
Cody Ripka’s 7-4 victory at 182 left NRHEG holding a 31-22 advantage.
Tyler Olson kept Maple River’s hopes alive with a 4-1 win over Keith Maxon at 195.
But, Todd Erickson and Wyatt Fitterer both pinned their opponents in less than one minute to clinch the Panther win.
Jackson
NEW RICHLAND – Jackson, which defeated NRHEG 56-11 in the semifinals a year ago, won 10 of 14 matches in a 48-18 triumph over the Panthers in Saturday’s semifinal round at New Richland.
“We wrestled with as much intensity and aggressiveness as we have all season,” said Cyr. “It was fun to wrestle in front of a great home crowd that gave us great support.”
The Huskies took an early 12-0 lead by winning the first three weights. Cordell Peterson lost a 10-5 verdict, Kubiatowicz fell 4-0 and Palmer Peterson was pinned in 44 seconds.
Wayne earned the first NRHEG win at 126, capturing a 7-3 win over Dakota Rossow of the Huskies.
Burshem and Zimmerman were pinned in the next two bouts, before Logan picked up a 3:46 pin to cut the deficit to 24-9 at 145. Logan was behind 9-2 when he got his fall.
Jackson put the match on ice with four straight wins to build up a 48-9 lead. Karter Sletten was pinned, Bartness dropped a 14-10 bout, Parpart was edged 5-3 and Ripka was stuck in 49 seconds.
The Panthers ended on a good note when Erickson recorded a second period fall and Fitterer edged Nate Horn 2-0.
“Jackson has too much star power for us to compete with them at this time,” said Cyr. “Hopefully, we can keep developing our young guys as we will only get better in the future.”
NRHEG will wrestle in the Section 2A Individual Tournament this weekend. Action begins at 5 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.
NRHEG 43, Maple River 25
106-C. Peterson (NR) pinned Moore (MR) 1:08; 113-Kubiatowicz (NR) pinned Bade (MR) 1:39; 120-Kuhns (MR) pinned P. Peterson (NR) 3:02; 126-Caldwell (MR) maj. dec. Wayne (NR) 13-0; 132-Walters (MR) dec. Burshem (NR) 6-4; 138-Zimmerman (NR) won by forfeit; 145-A. Trio (MR) pinned Hoppe (NR) :48; 152-Logan (NR) maj. dec. Schoneck (MR) 11-0; 160-Bartness (NR) pinned Beck (NR) 1:29; 170-Stoltzman (MR) dec. Parpart (NR) 6-1; 182-Ripka (NR) dec. L. Trio (MR) 7-4; 195-Olson (MR) dec. Maxon (NR) 4-1; 220-Erickson (NR) pinned Krengel (MR) :51; 285-Fitterer (NR) pinned Garlow (MR) :26.
Jackson 48, NRHEG 18
106-Wagner (J) dec. C. Peterson (NR) 10-5; 113-Edin (J) dec. Kubiatowicz (NR) 4-0; 120-Biehn (J) pinned P. Peterson (NR) :44; 126-Wayne (NR) dec. Rossow (J) 7-3; 132-Henning (J) pinned Burshem (NR) 1:09; 138-Jurries (J) pinned Zimmerman (NR) 1:26; 145-Logan (NR) pinned Riggle (J) 3:46; 152-P. Moore (J) pinned Sletten (NR) 1:28; 160-Norland (J) dec. Bartness (NR) 14-10; 170-K. Moore (J) dec. Parpart (*NR) 5-3; 182-Vancura (J) pinned Ripka (NR) :49; 195-Menke (J) pinned Maxon (NR) 2:54; 220-Erickson (NR) pinned Ziemer (J) 3:15; 285-Fitterer (NR) dec. Horn 2-0.
NEXT: Friday – Sect. 2A Individuals at Blue Earth, 5 p.m.