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Fridley Triangular

North Branch 63, Fridley 18

North Branch 68, Spring Lake Park 6

Monticello Duals

Monticello 55, North Branch 15

Annandale 50, North Branch 20

Little Falls 38, North Branch 37

North Branch 53, Bloomington Kennedy 23

The Viking wrestlers, boosted by a perfect 6-0 weekend from 112-pounder Aaron Senne, opened the season with six matches in less than 24 hours. They went to Fridley on Friday night, December 3, for a triangular with Fridley and Spring Lake Park. After throttling those two conference opponents, they got on the bus at 6 a.m. the next morning to head for the Monticello Duals against a little tougher competition. They lost handily to host Monticello and to Annandale. They fell just short of a win in a thriller against Little Falls, before beating Bloomington Kennedy to end the weekend.

The match against Little Falls featured 10 pins - five for the Vikings and five for Little Falls - but it turned on extra points gained for major decisions. Arik Steele was pinned at 103, but Senne came back to pin his opponent in just 26 seconds to tie the match at 6-6. Reid Johnson (119) got a fall against his opponent, but Jake Pilz was pinned at 125 to tie the match at 12-12. The first non-fall of the match came at 130, where Mike Vogel lost a major decision against Connor Scherping of Little Falls, giving Little Falls a 16-12 lead. Jake Kostik came back at 135 to pin his opponent in less than a minute. Jimmy Juntunen (140) took a fall in the next match and Little Falls kept its four point lead. Patrick Mork pinned his opponent at 145, but Dalton Horak lost by major decision at 152 and Little Falls led 26-24 with five individual matches to go. Zack Sundly was pinned at 160, but Andy Freel picked up a major decision at 171 and the Vikings trailed by four at 32-28. Stuart Frink (171) picked up three points in the only regular decision of the match to cut the Little Falls lead to 32-31. Justin Bergerson pinned his opponent at 215 to give the Vikings a 37-32 lead. Heavyweight Austin Niederkorn was pinned halfway through his match and Little Falls came away with a 38-37 win.

Viking head coach Tony Aho said, "This was a busy week for us, like it always is at the start of the season. We have a pretty experienced group and they have been working very hard, so we were a little surprised that we came out as slowly as we did. There were times during the weekend that the guys looked like they were aggressive and sharp; and other times when they looked very flat. With the amount of matches they wrestled, that is fairly understandable, but if we want to meet our goals for the season, we will have to be more consistent," Aho explained.

"I have no doubt in my mind that we will do just that," he continued. "We have outstanding leaders who want the team to be very competitive so I know that they will improve as the season progresses. Individually, Aaron Senne looked great, winning all of his matches. Aaron is only a second-year wrestler but looks like he is making up for it with a lot of off-season work and a very aggressive style. I am excited to see how he will do against some of the tougher competition he will see during the season. Reid Johnson, Pat Mork and Justin Bergerson all lost close matches to state-ranked wrestlers during the weekend. State- ranked Jake Kostik was upset by a tough Annandale wrestler, but came back strong after the loss," the coach concluded.

Individual Records for the Weekend

103 - Arik Steele 2-4

112 - Aaron Senne 6-0

119 - Reid Johnson 5-1

125 - Jake Pilz 4-2

130 - Mike Vogel 3-3

135 - Jake Kostik 5-1

140 - Jimmy Juntunen 3-3

145 - Pat Mork 5-1

152 - Dalton Horak 2-0

152 - Joe Call 0-3

160 - Zack Sundly 1-5

171 - Andy Freel 3-3

189 - Stuart Frink 4-2

215 - Justin Bergerson 5-1

Hwt - Austin Niederkorn 3-3

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