The Redwood Riot is one of the toughest wrestling tournaments any team can enter, but the NRHEG Panthers keep coming back.
The still-young NRHEG squad finished 27th out of 33 teams in the annual event Dec. 15 and 16 at Redwood Falls.
The Panthers came home with two placewinners, Cole Staloch sixth at 160 pounds and Tyler Jacobson sixth at 170.
“In several of the weight classes, we were underdogs going in and even though they fought hard the competition proved too tough,” said NRHEG coach Shawn Larson. “We had two wrestlers make it through to the second day of the tournament. Watching the matches I feel that we could have had four wrestlers in the second day if we would have wrestled up to our potential. In the end, the two others that I am referring to are young, and made mistakes that young kids make in wrestling. These wrestlers are putting themselves in position to win, and just not executing in the end of their matches. On the bright side, Tyler Jacobson and Cole Staloch continued to wrestle well making it to the podium in a very tough tournament, each placing sixth. This tournament is a good measuring stick for our individuals who have plans for a deep run in the postseason. We found out where we have weaknesses and will get to work on strengthening these areas immediately in practice.”