NRHEG wrestlers top Hayfield, fall to powerhouse JCC in section tourney
By DALE KUGATH
Sportswriter
The Jackson County Central Huskies continued to dominate the Section 2A Wrestling Tournament.
The Huskies, who have won the last three Class A state titles, will try for a fourth as they rolled through the section team tournament over the weekend.
Jackson, which will take a 22-4 record to state, defeated second-seeded Blue Earth in the title match, 44-31.
The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva grapplers won their opening match before falling to Jackson in the semifinals.
Coach Shawn Larson’s Panthers ended their year with an 18-10 record.
HayfieldNEW RICHLAND – NRHEG won seven of the final nine weight classes to overpower fifth-seeded Hayfield 43-21 in the section quarterfinal round at New Richland last Thursday.
The Vikings finished their season 8-11.
“I was concerned with Hayfield as the Vikings have had several good outings this year. And we did not see them during the season,” said Larson. “We had great effort tonight. This is the time of year to be wrestling well and I feel like we did.”
NRHEG jumped out to a 12-0 lead, winning the first three matches.
At 106-pounds, Matt Butler ground out a 7-2 victory over Hayfield’s Jackson Heydt.
Dillon Kubiatowicz added four points to NRHEG’s total with a 9-1 major decision over Morgan Moreno of Hayfield at 113.
Cordell Peterson of the Panthers followed with a 15-0 technical fall over Cole Rasmussen of Hayfield at 120-pounds.
Hayfield quickly tied the match with consecutive pins, both in less than one minute. Cameryn Stadler at 126 and Mason Moreno at 132 made it a 12-12 score.
At 138, Karter Sletten gave the Panthers the lead for good. He put Hayfield’s Lane Canny on his back in 3:13.
Jet Wayne followed with a 10-1 major decision over Chris Johnson of the Vikings at 145.
Tyler Logan stretched the lead to 25-12 by edging Conner Nelson of Hayfield 3-1 at 152.
Trey Hoppe kept the string going at 160, outlasting Hayfield’s Dylan Arndt 10-7.
It became 31-12 when Dillon Parpart captured a 7-4 verdict over Jesus Fernandez of the Vikings at 170-pounds.
Hayfield cut the deficit to 10 points by winning the next two matches.
At 182, Hayfield’s Garrison Mindrup nipped Nick Bartness 3-2.
The Vikings’ Corey Thompson stuck Matt Jensen of the Panthers in 2:35 at 195.
Todd Erickson clinched the NRHEG victory at 220-pounds with a 52-second fall over Tristan Rieken of Hayfield.
Wyatt Fitterer of the Panthers ended the match on a high note, pinning Hayfield’s Trey Chatman in 1:09 of the 285-pound bout.
Jackson
NEW RICHLAND – Jackson, which destroyed Grand Meadow 57-20 in the quarterfinals, had no problem with NRHEG, posting a 49-21 semifinal victory in New Richland Saturday.
The Panthers were able to win just four matches against Jackson. The Huskies built up a 43-6 advantage before NRHEG was able to win three of the final four matches.
Jackson piled up six pins in the match, three more than the Panthers.
JCC jumped to a quick 7-0 lead with a major decision and a 12-7 loss by Kubiatowicz
Cordell Peterson brought NRHEG fans to their feet when he needed just 52 seconds to slap Jackson’s Ryker VanderWoude on his back.
But, the Huskies unleashed their power in the middle of the lineup by winning seven consecutive matches, including five falls.
Alex Merrit dropped a 9-4 verdict at 132-pounds and Jet Wayne suffered an 8-5 setback at 145, the only two Panthers not to get pinned in the seven-bout streak.
The most stunning defeat came at 170 when Dillon Parpart was pinned in just 25 seconds by Jackson’s Keegan Moore.
Nick Bartness earned the second NRHEG win at 182-pounds with an 8-5 decision over Chris Baker
Zeke Erickson and Todd Erickson made the final score more respectable by securing pins for the Panthers in the final two matches.
At 220, Zeke Erickson put Jackson’s Matt Schmit on his back in 1:32.
Todd Erickson followed with a 1:59 fall over Nate Horn of the Huskies.
NRHEG will now focus on the Section 2A Individual Tournament at Blue Earth Friday and Saturday.