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North Branch 45

Chisago Lakes 27

Even the Vikings knew what was going on. Before the match, Cory Haley turned to some of the Vikings fans on hand and told them he was wrestling Anderson, as in Luke Anderson, Chisago’s star wrestler who was looking for his 100th win of his career. Quite an accomplishment and everybody knew it. As if the emotions weren’t high already.

Before that match though, both teams made sure the rest of the match was just as exciting. North Branch open things up with 12 quick points before Mitch Anderson broke the streak with a win by decision at 119 pounds, making the score 12-3. Up next was Brian Jones who had 100 wins on his mind as well. With his win earlier that night against Mora, Jones stood at 97 career wins going into the match. A pin over A.J Dunn made it 98. Chisago then jumped in front for the first time at 130 pounds thanks to a John Hogie pin, making the score 15-12 ‘Cats.

But the Vikings heart of their line-up is from the middle on and they showed it. Jeff Holmgren started things off with a 4-0 win over Kelby Kowalenko, pulling the match even 15-15. From there, after Bobby Ferrier pushed the Wildcats back in front with a pin at 140 pounds, Ryan Decorsey, Joe Lofboom, and Cody Gallmeier opened things up with three straight wins, including one by pin. The flurry of points jumped the Vikings back into the lead, 29-21 heading into the Anderson/Haley match at 171 pounds.

Haley came out aggressive, grabbing early points with a takedown. Anderson came right back with a takedown of his own, then in the second period, another one of his takedowns put it in the history books. Luke Anderson’s 100th win came on a pin.

“He’s done such a great job. He’s the first guy I’ve seen go all the way through the program since I’ve been here so I’ve seen 98 of those wins,” replied Shawn Frederixon, Chisago Lakes head wrestling coach. “He’s just such a hard worker. He’s one of the hardest workers to ever go through this program and his hard work has paid off.”

The pin pulled Chisago within two, however, Frederixon knew it wasn’t going to be enough. The Wildcats didn’t have wrestlers to fill the 215 and heavyweight weight classes.

“We knew we needed to have a big lead going into 189 to have a shot,” said Frederixon. “That night it just didn’t happen that way.”

The final three wins went to North Branch. Zack Backus grabbed a win by major decision at 189 pounds before Jeremy Bergerson and Billy Oehlers completed the match with forfeit victories.

“Chisago always puts quality wrestlers on the match. The three forfeits hurt them, but our guys also wrestled well,” said Tony Aho, North Branch head wrestling coach. “Erik Kostik is battling a wrist injury yet he came out and gave us a nice effort and earned a pin. Jeff Holmgren, Ryan Decorsey, Joe Lofboom, and Zach Backus all looked sharp in controlling their opponents for six minutes, while Cody Gallmeier came up with a huge pin for the team.”

“They have a lot of seniors in their line-up and they know how to respond when they need to,” Frederixon. “Our guys are still learning. We’re getting better at doing that but we’re a little more inexperienced.”

North Branch 45

Chisago Lakes 27

103- Kostik def. Bettcher

112- Crowell won by forfeit

119- M. Anderson def. Suparat

125- Jones def. Dunn

130- Hogie def. Newham

135- Holmgren def. Kowalenko

140- Ferrier def. Buck

145- Decorsey def. D. Gemuenden

152- Lofboom def. Welle

160- Gallmeier def. Stenson

171- Anderson def. Haley

189- Backus def. A. Gemuenden

215- Bergerson won by forfeit

Hwt- Oehlers won by forfeit

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