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Chisago Lakes 36, Irondale 33

Jonah Westbury (220) gutted out a 1-0 win and Chase Kammerer (285) pinned his opponent with just ten seconds remaining to lead the Wildcat wrestlers to a 36-33 come from behind win in the opening match of the Irondale Triangular Thursday, December 29 at Irondale.

In the first five weights, three Wildcat forfeits and two Irondale forfeits put the Wildcats in an 18-12 hole. At 138, Quade Zupko pinned Andrew Swierczek of Irondale in a lightning-quick 27 seconds to tie the score 18-18. Bobby Sontag (145) won a 6-2 decision over Keith Mosoti and Mark Sontag (152) pinned Cody Vee midway through the third period to give the Wildcats the lead at 27-18. But the Knights won three straight decisions to tie it, and a pin at 195 gave them a 33-27 lead with the big guys yet to hit the mat.

Westbury and Thomas Budd endured a scoreless first period at 220. Budd chose 'down' in the second period, and Westbury rode him out for the entire period to keep the match scoreless. Westbury chose 'down' in the third period, escaped almost immediately for a 1-0 lead and hung on for the win to pull the Wildcats within three points at 30-27. "That was a tight one," said Wildcat head coach Shawn Frederixon.

It was all up to Chase Kammerer at 285. Kammerer built a 3-0 lead over Eriq Smith. But a decision over Smith would have just tied the team match, which would then be decided by tiebreakers. Kammerer worked hard to turn Smith onto his back in the third period. He finally turned Smith with about 30 seconds left in the period. Smith fought hard off his back for about 20 seconds, but Kammerer tightened his hold a little bit more and got the pin at 5:50 to earn six points and give the Wildcats a 36-33 win over Irondale.

"That match was pretty exciting," said Frederixon. "It was a tight dual throughout. All of the matches went about as we expected and then we got the two big wins at the end. Irondale has been getting better every year and really gave us a run this time."



Individual Results vs. Irondale

106: Kyle Schoenecker won by forfeit

113: Dylan Connell won by forfeit

120: Forfeit

126: Forfeit

132: Forfeit

138: Quade Zupko won by fall

145: Bobby Sontag won by dec.

152: Mark Sontag won by fall

160: Joe Virga lost by dec.

170: William Pool lost by dec.

182: David Barwin lost by dec.

195: Kevin Schmidt lost by fall

220: Jonah Westbury won by dec.

285: Chase Kammerer won by fall



NRHEG 49, Chisago Lakes 18

The Wildcats opened the match against New Richland/Heartland/Ellendale/Geneva (NRHEG) with a couple of wins and ended with a win. But, New Richland won almost everything in between, crushing the Wildcats 49-18 in the second match of the Irondale Triangular.

Kyle Schoenecker (106) started things with a 14-1 major decision and Dylan Connell (113) followed it up with a technical fall to give the Wildcats an early 9-0 lead. NRHEG picked up three wins by forfeit and then won seven of the next eight weights. Mark Sontag's 8-1 decision at 152 was the only win in that stretch. Chase Kammerer won by forfeit at 285 as the match ended in defeat for the Wildcats.

Wildcat head coach Shawn Frederixon said, "New Richland is a bunch of farm boys from down south who are strong and are good wrestlers. They had their best kids out there and we had our best kids and they just won more of them than we did."

Tonight, the Wildcats host a conference quadrangular meet, welcoming Totino-Grace, Robbinsdale Cooper and Columbia Heights to Chisago Lakes High School. The fun starts at 5 p.m. Tomorrow, the Wildcats will head north to take part in the Hibbing Bluejacket Duals. Along with the Wildcats and Hibbing, Centennial, Bemidji, Nashwauk-Keewatin and Virginia are scheduled to compete. Matches start at 4 p.m. on Friday and pick up again at 10 a.m. on Saturday.



Individual Results vs. NRHEG

106: Kyle Schoenecker won by maj. dec.

113: Dylan Connell won by tech fall

120: Forfeit

126: Forfeit

132: Forfeit

138: Quade Zupko lost by dec.

145: Bobby Sontag lost by maj. dec.

152: Mark Sontag won by dec.

160: Joe Virga lost by dec.

170: William Pool lost by dec.

182: David Barwin lost by fall

195: Kevin Schmidt lost by fall

220: Jonah Westbury lost by fall

285: Chase Kammerer won by forfeit

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