'Cats win county rivalry match in last weight

North Branch vs Chisago Lakes Wrestling

The North Branch High School gym was packed for last Thursday’s dual meet between the Vikings and the Chisago Lakes Wildcats and, as usual, the teams gave the fans their money’s worth. The Vikings erased an early Wildcat lead and trailed 36-33 going into the 285-pound match, the last match of the evening. Wildcat Jonah Westbury pinned Viking Seamus Hunter 30 seconds into the second period to pick up six points and seal a 42-33 win for the Wildcats.

In the 106 pound match, Wildcat Aaron Sistrunk led Viking Kody Strohmayer 2-0 at the end of the first period. Sistrunk started on the bottom in the second period. He executed a reversal 12 seconds into the period to increase his lead to 4-0. Strohmayer escaped eight seconds later to make the score 4-1, but Sistrunk took him down and pinned him just five second later, at the 2:25 mark of the match, to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead.

In the 113 pound match, Viking James Weigel was resilient in the first period after being taken down early. Wildcat Kyle Schoenecker scored a takedown 17 seconds into the period, but couldn’t turn Wiegel till near the end of the period. Schoenecker was awarded two points for a near fall at the end of the period and led 4-0. Schoenecker started on the bottom in the second period and scored an immediate reversal to lead 6-0. At the 2:48 mark, Schoenecker let Wiegel escape but didn’t let go of him and scored another takedown. 15 seconds later, Schoenecker pinned Wiegel with a nice move and the Wildcats led 12-0.

The 120 pound contest matched up Viking Thomas Steele against Wildcat A.J. Harrington, who was wrestling his first match of the season after recovering from a broken collarbone. There was a flurry of activity halfway through the first period. At 0:55, Harrington scored a takedown to go up 2-0. Steele escaped just a few seconds later. Ten seconds after that, Harrington tried to execute another takedown move, but Steele reversed it on him for a takedown of his own and a 3-2 lead. Harrington executed a reversal with 20 seconds left in the period and was awarded a two point near fall at the end of the period to take a 6-3 lead. Harrington started down in the second period and Steele rode him for most of the period. Harrington managed a reversal with ten seconds left to push his lead to 8-3. Steele started down in the third period. Harrington couldn’t do much with him, but Steele wasn’t able to do anything offensively. Harrington finally turned Steele very late in the period and was awarded a three point near fall with three seconds remaining, giving him an 11-3 major decision. The Wildcats now led 16-0.

Wildcat Dylan Connell picked up a forfeit win at 126 and the Wildcat led 22-0.

At 132 pounds, Wildcat Mike Bliskowski matched up against Viking Reid Johnson. A takedown gave Johnson a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period. Johnson started on the bottom in the second period and escaped at 2:10. He took down Bliskowski at 2:40 and had Bliskowski in a compromising position. Johnson finished off the pin at 2:56 to pick up six points for the Vikings, who now trailed 22-6.

At 138 pounds, Wildcat Quade Zupko took on Cameron Sampson of the Vikings. Zupko dominated the match from beginning to end. The only question was whether he would be able to pin Sampson. Zupko led 2-0 after the first period. An escape and three takedowns, letting Sampson escape twice, gave Zupko a 9-2 lead after two. Sampson started on the bottom in the second. Zupko let him up right away and quickly took him down to build the lead to 11-3. At 4:40, Zupko nearly pinned Sampson, but Sampson proved resilient and Zupko had to settle for a three point near fall and a 14-3 lead. Two more Zupko takedowns and escapes by Sampson made the score 18-5 with just over 20 seconds left. Zupko was awarded a point when Sampson was called for stalling with eight seconds remaining in the match. Zupko was executing a takedown move as the buzzer went off and was awarded a takedown at the end of the match to make the final score 21-6, giving him five points for a technical fall. The Wildcats now led 27-6.

At 145, Viking Jake Pilz dominated Wildcat Kyle Merry throughout the match. He took Merry down ten seconds into the first period, turned him over at 55 seconds and completed the pin at 1:37 to cut the Wildcat lead to 27-12.

Viking Arik Steele won by forfeit at 152 and the Vikings now trailed 27-18.

The 160 pound match pitted Viking Zach John against Wildcat Joe Virga. Virga dominated the match from start to finish. He had three takedowns in the first period to lead 6-2 at the end of one. John started on the bottom in the second period and never got off the mat. Virga scored two near falls in the period – a two pointer and a three pointer – to go up 11-2 after two. He built the lead to 15-3 in the third period before pinning John at 4:19 to put the Wildcats up 33-18.

Wildcat Eric Brown and Viking Tristan LaBelle had quite a battle at 170. Brown nearly scored a takedown at 30 seconds, but the attempt was ruled out of bounds and the wrestlers were on their feet for the rest of the period. Brown started down in the second period. He stood up and nearly scored an escape right away, but LaBelle grabbed Brown’s leg and threw him back to the ground. Brown managed a reversal at 2:43 and led 2-0. Brown started aggressively working for a pin and was award a two point near fall at 2:58 to increase his lead to 4-0. LaBelle escaped with 29 seconds left in the period and Brown led 2-0 after two. LaBelle started down in the third period and escaped within five seconds to cut the lead to 4-2. He nearly had a takedown midway through the period, but Brown wiggled out of it to keep his two point lead. Brown held on to win the match 4-2 and put the Wildcats up 36-18.

Viking Levi Eastwood and Wildcat Mike Sampson tangled at 182 and, as you’ll see, points were at a premium in this one. The first period was scoreless, and Eastwood started on the bottom in the second period and escaped almost right away for a 1-0 lead. Midway through the period a flurry of activity nearly led to takedowns for both wrestlers. It looked like Eastwood was going to finish off a takedown late in the period, but Sampson held him off and a stalemate was called at 3:47. In the third period, Sampson started on the bottom. Eastwood tried but failed to turn Sampson and ended up riding him out for the rest of the period to claim a 1-0 decision for North Branch. The Vikings now trailed 36-21.

At 195, Viking Zack Sundly made quick work of Wildcat Bill Mechelke. Sundly took Mechelke down at 0:12, was awarded a two point near fall at 0:30 and pinned Mechelke at 0:35 to earn six points and cut the Wildcat lead to 36-27.

The 220 pound match was over even more quickly. Viking Eric Bergstrom took down Wildcat Kevin Schmidt five seconds into the match and finished off the pin at 0:21. The Wildcats now led just 36-33 heading into the 285 pound match.

Westbury and Hunter were more active than most heavyweights in the first round, with each of them nearly completing takedowns before sliding out of bounds. In the second period, Westbury started on the bottom. He escaped at 2:13. At 3:20, Westbury took down Hunter with a nice move, putting Hunter on his back right away and finishing the pin at 3:28 and making the final score Chisago Lakes 42, North Branch 33.

Wildcat head coach Shawn Frederixon said “It was easy to believe that Jonah was going to come through for us considering all the things he’s done for us this year. We just have faith that he’s going to find a way to get it done. And we knew that with some guys out of the lineup we needed to have other guys step up and they did. Against a good team like North Branch, it was good to see the guys come out and wrestle like they did knowing that we didn’t have any room for error.” Frederixon talked about a couple of wrestlers who haven’t made the headlines this year but played key roles against North Branch. He said “Mike Sampson, at 182, understands his role on the team. He went out there and kept the score close and saved us some points. He’s really been a great addition to the varsity this year. He goes out knowing what he is capable of and give is all he’s got. He’s big for us moving forward. And A.J. Harrington, who came here from Mahtomedi, has been injured most of the season. He’s been practicing the last two weeks. Against North Branch, he finally got an opportunity to wrestle and made the most of it.

Individual Results
106 Aaron Sistrunk (CL) pinned Kody Strohmayer (NB) 2:25 6-0
113 Kyle Schoenecker (CL) pinned James Weigel (NB) 3:03 12-0
120 AJ Harrington (CL) major decision over Thomas Steele (NB) 11-3 16-0
126 Dylan Connell (CL) won by forfeit 22-0
132 Reid Johnson (NB) pinned Mike Bliskowski (CL) 2:56 22-6
138 Quade Zupko (CL) tech fall over Cameron Sampson (NB) 0:00 21-6 27-6
145 Jake Pilz (NB) pinned Kyle Merry (CL) 1:37 27-12
152 Arik Steele (NB) won by forfeit 27-18
160 Joe Virga (CL) pinned Zach John (NB) 4:19 33-18
170 Eric Brown (CL) won by decision over Tristan LaBelle (NB) 4-2 36-18
182 Levi Eastwood (NB) won by decision over Mike Sampson (CL) 1-0 36-21
195 Zack Sundly (NB) pinned Bill Mechelke (CL) 0:35 36-27
220 Eric Bergstrom (NB) pinned Kevin Schmidt (CL) 0:21 36-33
285 Jonah Westbury (CL) pinned Seamus Hunter (NB) 2:30 42-33

Team Section Preview: Early Rounds Section 7AA team sections take place next week on Tuesday, February 12 and Friday, February 15. The first round and quarterfinals for the southern half of the section, which includes the Vikings and the Wildcats, will take place on Tuesday at North Branch. Section seeding will take place this coming weekend and be announced on Sunday or Monday. The Wildcats are likely to get one of the top two seeds in the six-team south, so they will get a bye in the opening round. The Vikings will be close to one of the top two seeds as well, but they will more likely wrestle an opening round match and, assuming they win that match, face the Wildcats or Milaca in the quarterfinals. Three important Wildcat wrestlers – Mark Sontag, Sean Hoyt and Carson Velaski – have been sidelined by injuries. At least two of them are likely to come back for team sections, bolstering the Wildcat lineup. “We’re looking forward to sections,” said Frederixon. “We’re getting healthier at the right time and I think we’re ready to make a good run at the section title.”