By TROY THOMPSON
Sportswriter
After a recent stretch of trophy success in dual meets, the NRHEG wrestlers had to settle for a sixth-place finish in Forest Lake against some tough competition on Saturday, Jan. 24.
The Panthers defeated Stillwater 37-18 during the meet, but suffered two hard-fought defeats, getting bested 32-25 by Elk River and 35-28 against Plainview-Elgin-Millville.
Even though the Panthers took sixth, NRHEG coach Shawn Larson still deemed the outing a success.
“This tournament is exactly what our wrestlers needed,” said Larson. “Of course we would like to have a better finish on the day, though it was a great experience to compete with teams of this caliber. We wrestled well three times even though we lost two of those three. When facing the teams like these, it is easier for the guys to think they are beaten and give up, and we did just the opposite. Our guys gave the best effort we could give and are proud of our results even if it was sixth place.”
Cordell Peterson, Trey Hoppe, Nick Bartness, Keith Maxon, Jon Weller, and Todd Erickson were unbeaten on the day for the Panthers.NRHEG faces a full slate of action this week, with a home meet vs. Maple River on Thursday, Jan. 29, followed by duals at Lakeville North on Friday and bouts with United South Central and Hayfield on Saturday in New Richland.
The Panthers tuned up for the weekend tournament with solid outings on Thursday, Jan. 22. During that meet, the Panthers defeated Madelia-Truman 54-0 and outlasted WEM/JWP 31-28.
Individual results below:
Saturday, Jan. 24:
PEM 36 - NRHEG 28
1. (106 lbs.) Nick Miller of PEM pinned Brett Kubiatowicz of NRHEG in 1 minute and 30 seconds.
2. (113 lbs.) Reed DeFrang of PEM beat Cole Lenort of NRHEG 10-6 (Decision).
3. (120 lbs.) Dillon Kubiatowicz of NRHEG beat Joe Stucky of PEM 16-1 (Technical Fall).
4. (126 lbs.) Cordell Peterson of NRHEG beat Carter Marx of PEM 11-4 (Decision).
5. (132 lbs.) Cole Staloch of NRHEG beat Jimmy Elit of PEM 6-4 (Decision).
6. (138 lbs.) Joe Miller of PEM pinned Alex Merritt of NRHEG in 3 minutes and 39 seconds.
7. (145 lbs.) Ryan Kottschade of PEM pinned Bryce Okland of NRHEG in 3 minutes and 57 seconds.
8. (152 lbs.) Frank Wingert of PEM beat Jet Wayne of NRHEG 9-0 (Major Decision).
9. (160 lbs.) Brady Norton of PEM pinned Karter Sletten of NRHEG in 5 minutes and 25 seconds.
10.(170 lbs.) Trey Hoppe of NRHEG beat Jacob Clark of PEM 9-1 (Major Decision).
11. (182 lbs.) Nick Bartness of NRHEG beat Logan Graves of PEM 12-4 (Major Decision).
12. (195 lbs.) Keith Maxon of NRHEG beat Bradley Schultz of PEM 11-4 (Decision).
13. (220 lbs.) Todd Erickson of NRHEG pinned Logan Lammers of PEM in 2 minutes and 41 seconds.
14. (285 lbs.) Isaac Breuer of PEM pinned Zeke Erickson of NRHEG in 4 minutes and 27 seconds.
NRHEG 37, Stillwater 18
1. (106 lbs.) Jeffrey Robinson of Stillwater beat Brett Kubiatowicz of NRHEG 4-2 (Decision).
2. (113 lbs.) Cole Lenort of NRHEG beat Trey Kruse of Stillwater 8-0 (Major Decision).
3. (120 lbs.) Dillon Kubiatowicz of NRHEG beat Josh Piechowski of Stillwater 18-4 (Major Decision).
4. (126 lbs.) Cordell Peterson of NRHEG beat Peter Hagel of Stillwater 16-1 (Technical Fall).
5. (132 lbs.) Cole Staloch of NRHEG beat Parker Estenson of Stillwater 3-0 (Decision).
6. (138 lbs.) Will Harter of Stillwater pinned Alex Merritt of NRHEG in 3 minutes and 17 seconds.
7. (145 lbs.) Ben Sweet of Stillwater beat Forfeit of NRHEG by forfeit.
8. (152 lbs.) John Huntley of Stillwater beat Jet Wayne of NRHEG 6-5 (Decision).
9. (160 lbs.) Trey Hoppe of NRHEG beat Gavin Keogh of Stillwater 9-4 (Decision).
10. (182 lbs.) Nick Bartness of NRHEG beat Conner Weiss of Stillwater 7-4 (Decision).
11. (182 lbs.) Keith Maxon of NRHEG beat James Huntley of Stillwater 3-1 (Decision).
12. (195 lbs.) Jon Weller of NRHEG beat Vinny DeRosa of Stillwater 13-0 (Major Decision).
13. (220 lbs.) Zeke Erickson of NRHEG beat Kjell Sandstrom of Stillwater 11-0 (Major Decision).
14. (285 lbs.) Todd Erickson of NRHEG pinned Cris Bradley of Stillwater in 4 minutes and 40 seconds.
Elk River 32, NRHEG 25
1. (106 lbs.) Anthony Meister of Elk River pinned Brett Kubiatowicz of NRHEG in 45 seconds.
2. (113 lbs.) Cole Lenort of NRHEG beat Alex Sanborn of Elk River 6-3 (Decision).
3. (120 lbs.) Garrett Caldon of Elk River beat Dillon Kubiatowicz of NRHEG 5-4 (Decision).
4. (126 lbs.) Cordell Peterson of NRHEG pinned Matt Osberg of Elk River in 1 minute and 36 seconds.
5. (132 lbs.) Ben Gibas of Elk River beat Cole Staloch of NRHEG 7-2 (Decision).
6. (138 lbs.) Kyle Ziemer of Elk River pinned Alex Merritt of NRHEG in 5 minutes and 42 seconds.
7. (145 lbs.) Cole Moening of Elk River pinned Palmer Peterson of NRHEG in 2 minutes and 36 seconds.
8. (152 lbs.) Sam Gibas of Elk River beat Jet Wayne of NRHEG 19-4 (Technical Fall).
9. (160 lbs.) Karter Sletten of NRHEG beat Kyle Nielsen of Elk River 9-5 (Decision).
10. (170 lbs.) Nick Bartness of NRHEG beat Casey Schilz of Elk River 11-3 (Major Decision).
11. (182 lbs.) Keith Maxon of NRHEG beat Colin Murphy of Elk River 8-3 (Decision).
12. (195 lbs.) Jon Weller of NRHEG beat Brendan Simmonds of Elk River 16-14 (Decision).
13. (220 lbs.) Todd Erickson of NRHEG beat Bobby Schmitz of Elk River 5-1 (Decision).
14. (285 lbs.) Stephen McGuire of Elk River beat Zeke Erickson of NRHEG 4-3 (Decision)
Thursday, Jan. 22:
NRHEG 31, WEM/JWP 28
1. (106 lbs.) Adam Rients of WEMJWP beat Brett Kubiatowicz of NRHEG 12-1 (Major Decision).
2. (113 lbs.) Cole Lenort of NRHEG beat Braydon Johnson of WEMJWP 6-1 (Decision).
3. (120 lbs.) Dillon Kubiatowicz of NRHEG pinned Wyatt Storch of WEMJWP in 5 minutes and 13 seconds.
4. (126 lbs.) Cordell Peterson of NRHEG beat Justin Hill of WEMJWP 14-5 (Major Decision).
5. (132 lbs.) Reid Ayers of WEMJWP pinned Trai Wicks of NRHEG in 1 minute and 11 seconds.
6. (138 lbs.) Chris Pettis of WEMJWP pinned Cole Staloch of NRHEG in 5 minutes and 33 seconds.
7. (145 lbs.) Palmer Peterson of NRHEG pinned Luke Borneke of WEMJWP in 1 minute and 12 seconds.
8. (152 lbs.) Brody Boran of WEMJWP beat Jet Wayne of NRHEG 4-3 (Decision).
9. (160 lbs.) Trey Hoppe of NRHEG beat Will Storch of WEMJWP 2-1 (Decision).
10. (170 lbs.) Ben Boran of WEMJWP beat Nick Bartness of NRHEG 9-2 (Decision).
11. (182 lbs.) Keith Maxon of NRHEG beat Gage Eastwood of WEMJWP 3-1 (Decision).
12. (195 lbs.) Taylor Grams of WEMJWP pinned Matt Jensen of NRHEG in 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
13. (220 lbs.) Todd Erickson of NRHEG beat Easton Schuch of WEMJWP 3-2 (Decision).
14. (285 lbs.) Zeke Erickson of NRHEG beat Corey Guenther of WEMJWP 6-5 (Decision).
NRHEG 54, Madelia-Truman 0
1. (106 lbs.) Brett Kubiatowicz of NRHEG pinned Mike Mclaughlin of Madelia-Truman in 1 minute and 15 seconds.
2. (113 lbs.) Cole Lenort of NRHEG won by forfeit against Madelia-Truman.
3. (120 lbs.) Dillon Kubiatowicz of NRHEG pinned William Castro of Madelia-Truman in 17 seconds.
4. (126 lbs.) Cordell Peterson of NRHEG won by forfeit against Madelia-Truman.
5. (132 lbs.) Cole Staloch of NRHEG pinned Grant Koehler of Madelia-Truman in 1 minute and 21 seconds.
6. (138 lbs.) Alex Merritt of NRHEG pinned James Hodge of Madelia-Truman in 3 minutes and 07 seconds.
7. (160 lbs.) Karter Sletten of NRHEG pinned Zack Pettersen of Madelia-Truman in 5 minutes and 21 seconds.
8. (170 lbs.) Trey Hoppe of NRHEG pinned Weston Ricard of Madelia-Truman in 3 minutes and 18 seconds.
9. (285 lbs.) Todd Erickson of NRHEG pinned Derek Firchau of Madelia-Truman in 42 seconds.