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The Viking and the Wildcat wrestlers battled each other at North Branch High School Thursday, January 25. The Vikings held a slight lead, 19-17, after the first seven matches, but the Wildcats won six of the last seven matches to win 42-25.

Jacob Kostik's pin at 103 and Tom Mork's win at 112 gave the Vikings an early 9-0 lead. But the tide started to turn for the Wildcats when Mike Michaelson (119) beat Erik Kostik, who had beaten Michaelson twice last year, to get the Wildcats on the board.

Wildcat Mitch Anderson (125) and Viking Boyd Suparat (130) traded pins, keeping the Vikings lead at six points, 15-9. Wildcat John Hogie's technical fall at 135 and Viking Matt Newham's major decision at 140 made the score 19-14 Vikings.

The Wildcats then won the next four matches. Clay Olson's win at 145, Mike Welle's major decision at 152, Derek Silbernagel's pin at 160 and Cameron Gilliam's win at 171 gave the Wildcats a 30-19 lead. The Vikings pulled back into it with John Wickoren's pin at 189 to cut the Wildcat lead to 30-25. But pins by Troy Montague (215) and Tony Gall (275) made the final score Chisago Lakes 42, North Branch 25.

Coaches' Comments:

Chisago Lakes Wildcats head coach Shawn Frederixon:

"I told our guys this was going to be a back and forth dual, and we needed to be prepared to stick in it 'til the end. Mike Michaelson's victory over Erik Kostik helped to swing the momentum in our favor. Luckily, our experience took over in the higher weights. We were glad to get the victory - we especially want to beat our nearest rival. North Branch wrestled us tough. And they're still building - they don't have any seniors."

North Branch Vikings head coach Tony Aho:

"Chisago Lakes is a great rivalry for us. They always have several good wrestlers and a group that works very hard on the mat. Our guys fought hard, but we are probably a year from being able to beat them. The close matches went their way mainly because of experience. Boyd, Tom and Matt gave us a nice effort and continue to show improvement."

Individual Summary: 

103     Jacob Kostik NB fall over Tim Welle 3:17 0-6

112     Tom Mork NB 5-1 over Travis Kammerer 0-9

119     Mike Michaelson CL 11-4 over Erik Kostik 3-9

125     Mitch Anderson CL fall over Daub Bartylla 1:40 9-9

130     Boyd Suparat NB fall over Jonathan Barwin 3:37 9-15

135     John Hogie CL tech fall over Joe Blom 18-2 14-15

140     Matt Newham NB 17-4 over Shane Hultman 14-19

145     Clay Olson CL 4-0 over Zach Smith 17-19

152     Mike Welle CL 10-1 over Chad Anderson 21-19

160     Derek Silbernagel CL fall over David Kowarsch 5:13 27-19

171     Cameron Gilliam CL 4-0 over Greg Arnt 30-19

189     John Wickoren NB fall over Jason Schumann 3:49 30-25

215     Troy Montague CL fall over Justin Bergerson 0:32 36-25

275     Tony Gall CL fall over John Morrison 1:13 42-25

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