By JIM LUTGENS
Publisher
The NRHEG wrestling team wrapped up the Gopher Conference schedule with a pair of dual-meet losses last week, falling to Maple River Thursday at New Richland and at Medford Saturday. The Panthers finished 3-2 in the conference.
The Panthers hosted a triangular Thursday and split, defeating Norwood-Young America 49-21 and losing to Maple River 31-27.
Winners against NYA were Parker Bunn, 106 pounds; Nikolas Petsinger, 120; Andrew Reich, 132; Thor Routh, 152; Agro Gushwa, 160; Ralph Roesler, 170; Tyler Jacobson, 182; Makota Misgen, 220; and Quinten Arndt, 285. Winning by fall were Reich, Routh, Gushwa, Jacobson and Arndt.
“I felt like we did things the right way,” said NRHEG coach Shawn Larson. “We earned bonus points in matches we won, and found a way in many matches to not give bonus points in most matches we lost. That is how you win as a team.”
George Roesler, Routh, Ralph Roesler, Misgen and Arndt had wins against Maple River.
“This was a very good dual,” said Larson. “We knew coming in that it was going to be a good match, and we knew that this could be potentially for the conference title. We wrestled hard in all of the matches and it went well in general, but anytime you lose by four in wrestling it feels like you had the ability to win. It is going to sting a little.
The Panthers came close again Saturday but fell short at Medford. Winning were Clay Stenzel, Routh, Ralph Roesler, Jacobson and Arndt.
“Two nights in a row we were very close, and unfortunately we were on the losing end again,” said Larson. “It is a little difficult to take when you know there are so many ways during a match that you could make up five points. When this happens it is harder to move forward as you focus on all of the ways that it could be different. Usually I encourage our guys to put it behind and move forward, though this time there is a very good chance that Medford will be the team we see for the Section 2A Tournament this coming week. We wrestled well in this match. It would be nice to get the win, but we will be ready for the section tournament this week.”