---

Mark this past week in your calendar- Viking wrestling fans already have.

After defeating Princeton last Thursday and placing first at the 2005 Clash of the Titans Tournament last Saturday, North Branch has officially become a force to be reckoned with.

Just ask the Tigers. Against Princeton, North Branch jumped on the Tigers right away by winning five of the first six matches. Three of those wins were by fall as Erik Kostik, Cory Crowell, and Nick Grandt picked up pins. After that it was easy sailing as the Vikings grabbed five more wins on four pins.

“That was a nice team win with starters Chris Newham and Ryan Decorsey having to sit out due to illness,” remarked Tony Aho, North Branch head wrestling coach. “Erik and Cory got us off to an aggressive start with quick pins, while Boyd Suparat wrestled a very solid match to defeat a good Princeton 119-pounder. Nick Grandt continues to improve rapidly. As a first year wrestler, he earned a pin in the 130-pound match.”

North Branch lost just four matches against Princeton while picking up seven pins.

103- Kostik won by fall

112- Crowell won by fall

119- Suparat won by dec.

125- Dunn lost by fall

130- Grandt won by fall

135- Holmgren won by forfeit

140- Zaffke lost by fall

145- Arnt lost by fall

152- Gallmeier won by fall

160- Lofboom won by fall

171- Haley lost by dec.

189- Backus won by fall

215- Bergerson won by forfeit

Hwt- Oehlers won by fall

Vikings place first at Tartan

Their win over Princeton was just the tip of the iceberg. Last Saturday at the Clash of the Titans Tournament at Tartan, the Vikings took their game to a whole new level, finishing first overall with a score of 209.5. That put them 19 points ahead of second place Rosemount and a full 21 points ahead of Tartan who placed third.

Individually, three Vikings wrestled their way to a title. At 145 pounds, Ryan Decorsey returned to action by winning the championship. In addition, Cody Gallmeier and Joe Lofboom also picked up first place finishes at 153 and 160 pounds respectively. As for the rest, the Vikings finished the tourney by placing every wrestler in the tournament- everyone finished sixth or better in their weight class. If that’s not impressive enough, North Branch did that without two of their best wrestlers in Jeremy Bergerson and Jeff Holmgren.

“In a tourney like that, you need contributions from everyone and we got it. It is very difficult to name any one individual who stood out because all of them have maximum effort all day long.”

Along with three first place finishes, Cory Crowell and Cory Haley finished second in their weight class and Bill Oehlers, Zack Backus, Greg Arnt, and Boyd Suparat all finished third.

103- Kostik 5th

112- Crowell 2nd

119- Suparat 3rd

125- Dunn 5th

130- Grandt 4th

135- Kowarsch 6th

140- Arnt 3rd

145- Decorsey 1st

152- Gallmeier 1st

160- Lofboom 1st

171- Haley 2nd

189- Backus 3rd

215- Radi 6th

Hwt- Oehlers 3rd

---