UNBEATEN – NRHEG's Todd Erickson works his opponent to the mat during action at the St. James Classic Sat., Dec. 6. BELOW: Dillon Kubiatowicz with his Outstanding Wrestler award. Star Eagle photos by Nikki Erickson
By MARK DOMEIER
Contributing Writer
The NRHEG wrestling team headed to St. James on Dec. 6 to compete in the St. James Area Classic. The Panthers finished third out of seven teams, behind two ranked teams in Class A. Mineota won the competition with 214.5 points, followed by LCWM at 190.5 and NRHEG at 157.
As a team, the Panthers placed at all 14 weight classes. “We performed much better this weekend than we did last weekend,” commented coach Shawn Larson. “I saw guys scrambling through tough positions, fighting for points, and being more aggressive from the bottom of our lineup to the top.”
Leading the way for the Panthers, Todd Erickson (220) and Dillon Kubiatowicz (120) each won their weight class. NRHEG also had two runner-ups and six 3rd place finishers. Kubiatowicz beat two state entrants from last year on his way to his first place finish. In the finals, he defeated Brock Buysse of Minneota 3-1 in OT; last year Buysse was the runner-up at 106 in the state tournament.
“I saw great things today from many of our wrestlers…Dillon Kubiatowicz with his Outstanding Wrestler performance, Todd Erickson remaining unbeaten, and Palmer Peterson, who really wrestled better than he had prior to today,” said Larson. “We still have work to do in the practice room, though if we continue to improve, good things are going to happen.”
Next up, the Panthers open their Gopher Conference schedule with a trip to Medford on Dec. 11 and travel to Jackson on Dec. 13 for the Pizza Ranch Invitational.