Mixed bag of results at individual state tourney

North Branch Individuals
All four Viking participants in last weekend’s state tournament, held at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, lost their first round matches. Only Eric Bergstrom, whose opponent won in the second round, got a match in the wrestlebacks, and Bergstrom lost that match to end his first state tournament appearance.

Senior Zack Sundly, the Section 7AA champion at 195, faced Kory Brown of Fairmont/Martin County West in the opening round. Sundly led 4-0 after the first period and continued to dominate Brown through the second period, building his lead to 8-2. But 12 seconds into the third period, Brown exploded for a reversal and turned it into a quick pin to abruptly end Sundly’s first state tournament appearance.

At 126, Reid Johnson faced Zach Siegle of Scott West. Siegle broke a scoreless tie with a three point near fall at 3:19 and went on to win 7-1.

Sam Peltier (160) wrestled well against Garth Ochsendorf of Dawson-Boyd/Lac Qui Parle, but wasn’t able to complete anything offensively and lost 2-1.

Bergstrom (220) went up against top-ranked Joe Schiller of Totino Grace in the first round. The score was tied 1-1 at the end of the first period, but Schiller used a reversal and a two point near fall to go up 4-1 after two. Schiller continued to pull away in the third period and ended up with an 11-4 win.

In his next match, Bergstrom was pinned by Jake Filk of Hutchinson at 2:30, and the North Branch presence at the state tournament was over.

Chisago Lakes Individuals Sophomore
Dylan Connell (120), competing in his second state tournament, was the only Wildcat wrestler to place at last weekend’s state tournament at the Xcel Center, finishing sixth. In fact, Connell was only one of three wrestlers from Section 7AA to place. Only one other Wildcat wrestler, Kyle Schoenecker, made it past the first round. The other five Wildcats lost in their first round match and, since each of their opponents lost his next match, none of the Wildcats participated in the wrestlebacks.

Connell faced Luke Nolden of Spectrum in the first round and scored two points late in each period to win 6-0. In the quarterfinals, Connell wrestled Zach Spychalla of Simley, who he had beaten 10-0 the previous day in the team competition. Spychalla put up more of a fight this time, but a first period takedown and a second period escape put Connell up 3-0 going into the third period. Connell held off Spychalla through the third period and won 3-1 – for career win number 100 – and advanced to the semifinals.

The fifth-ranked Connell faced third-ranked Tyler Funk of Foley in the semifinals. Funk escaped midway through the second period to go up 1-0 and took Connell down with two seconds left in the period to go up 3-0. Funk held on and came away with a 3-1 win. Connell lost 2-1 in triple overtime to Logan Stiller of Monticello in the consolation semifinals and was pinned by Tyler Giza of Fergus Falls in the fifth place match to finish sixth.

Freshman Schoenecker (113), wrestling in the state tournament for the third time, dominated his first round opponent, Tanner Vassar of Annandale/Maple Lake and won 12-8. Unfortunately, Schoenecker ran into eventual champion Jarred Oftedahl of Benilde-St. Margaret’s in the quarterfinals. Oftedahl, ranked number one in the state, pinned Schoenecker in the second period. Schoenecker beat Chris Pettis of St. Peter in the wrestlebacks, but lost to Stephen Holocek of Thief River Falls/Goodridge 5-0 in the consolation semifinals, ending his run in this years’ tournament.

Senior Quade Zupko (138), who placed sixth last year, lost 7-3 to Zach Baker of Detroit Lakes for a quick end to his fourth state tournament appearance.

Junior Mark Sontag (152) lost 3-2 in triple overtime to Joe Weber of Fairmont/Martin County West. Sontag appeared to have winning takedowns at the end of the third period and the first overtime, but they were waved off in both cases. Wildcat head coach Shawn Frederixon said “At the end of the first overtime, the referee originally threw up two fingers to indicate a takedown and win for Mark. But the other kid moved a little and the referee changed his mind. He’s allowed to do that, but it’s extra frustrating for the kid. I’m proud of Mark for letting it all go in that match. He took some chances and it nearly paid off. To come back after mid season knee surgery and make it to the state tournament is pretty amazing."

Sophomore Joe Virga (160) tried to give it a go with the knee he had dislocated the day before, but struggled and bowed out to an injury default late in the first period.

Senior Eric Brown (195) kept it close against Chris Bauman of Simley, trailing 1-0 after two. But Baumann’s three point near fall midway through the period gave him a 4-0 lead and the win.

Senior Jonah Westbury took down Colton Pollock of Big Lake midway through the first period and dragged him all over the mat. Westbury escaped early in the second period and continued to dominate. But Pollock surprised Westbury with a quick takedown and pin at 3:02, abruptly ending Westbury’s tournament.

Frederixon said “Dylan lost a couple of really close matches. He had an excellent tournament. Quade lost his first one to the kid who ended up placing. Joe just couldn’t move the knee well enough to get himself in good position. Eric had a tough draw and Jonah made one mistake and paid for it. It’s an interesting thing that one day was all highs one day, at the team tournament and next day we were wondering what just happened. But the boys had done it all year against a lot of these same people and they did a great job.”