Two Panthers advance as 11 place at section
By JIM LUTGENS
Publisher
The regular season has long been in the mirror for the NRHEG High School wrestling team.
But the season continues under bright lights in a big arena for two Panthers.
Seniors Tyler Jacobson and Quinten Arndt finished second in the Section 2A individual tournament at Blue Earth last weekend, qualifying for state Friday and Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
The performance of Jacobson and Arndt punctuated a very strong tournament for the Panthers, who nearly qualified a third wrestler for state while finishing with 11 placewinners.
“After this tournament, I could not be any prouder of this team,” said NRHEG coach Shawn Larson. “We wrestled as good as we could have and showed the best side of NRHEG wrestling. Throughout this tournament we were winning matches that we had lost earlier in the season, and we were winning matches that we would have lost in the past.”
NRHEG freshman Ralph Roesler finished third in the section at 160 pounds, missing state by one place.
Taking fourth for the Panthers was Agro Gushwa at 152.
Annabelle Petsinger (106), Nikolas Petsinger (113), Clay Stenzel (120, Andrew Reich (132) and Thor Routh (145) finished fifth. Taking sixth were Conner Okland (182) and Makota Misgen (220).
Last year was a rare one at NRHEG in that the Panthers failed to quality a wrestler for state. Jacobson and Arndt were good bets to make sure that wouldn’t happen again, and they came through.
Jacobson, wrestling at 170, won by major decision and by fall at section. Arndt, 285, scored a pair of falls while dropping a 3-1 decision.
“I couldn't be happier for our seniors Tyler and Quinten,” said Larson. “These two deserve to have the opportunity to compete at the state tournament. Both of these guys work very hard for what they have, and they have earned this opportunity. I am looking forward to see what these two guys can do with the opportunity they have.”
Both will wrestle Friday in the third session of the state tournament, which starts at 9 a.m.
Roesler won 12-0 and 2-1 at section before running into trouble and dropping a pair of falls.
Gushwa, a junior, was 2-2 for the weekend, winning by 14-12 decision and by fall.
Seventh-grader Annabelle Petsinger, who earlier this season became the first NRHEG girl to win a varsity wrestling match, lost a pair of falls before winning by fall and technical fall and finishing with a pin. Freshman Nikolas Petsinger fell 8-6, won 10-5 and was pinned before ending with a fall. Stenzel, a freshman, was pinned but bounced back to win by fall and 16-12 decision. Reich, a junior, won 11-2, lost 8-7, was pinned and was edged 6-5. Routh, a sophomore, lost 16-1 and 21-3 while winning a pair of matches by fall.
Okland is also just a sophomore, Misgen an eighth-grader.
“For a team that only has two seniors, we demonstrated an older level of composure,” said Coach Larson. “It was really fun to see what we were able to do this weekend.”