December 12, 2019 at 1:10 p.m.
Norwig breaks out at CR; Logan 9-0
Norwig breaks out at CR; Logan 9-0
Monticello Triangular
The Vikings went 1-1 in duals on opening night at the Monticello Triangular last Thursday, December 5. They beat the Monticello Magic 40-30 and lost to the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets 60-15.
Trailing 18-0 through 126, the Vikings won six straight matches. Josh Logan (132) and Brandt Bombard (138) won their matches by pin. Ashton LaBelle major-decisioned his opponent and Michael Thao won by forfeit. Brothers Austin Sonnek (170) and Sam Sonnek (182) each won their matches by pin in exactly the Sam amount of time: 3:12. The Vikings now led 34-18 Monticello won the next two matches, and Viking Alex Weber (285) won by forfeit to make the final score 40-30. In the loss to Cambridge-Isanti, four Vikings won their matches. Brandt Bombard (138) won by pin, and the other three won by decision: Josh Logan (132), Ashton LaBelle (145) and Sam Sonnek (182).
Big Lake Invitational
Viking wrestler Josh Logan (132) claimed the championship at the Big Lake Invitational last Friday, December 6. He decisioned Luke Ruter of New London-Spicer 8-6 in the quarterfinal match. In the semifinal match, the fourth-seeded Logan pinned top-seeded Easton McCrory of Minnewaska Area at 3:38. The championship match was against Rocco Visci of Big Lake, ranked fifth in the state at 126.
In the first period, Logan got a takedown 20 seconds in. But he got too high and Visci reversed him and got Logan on his back for quick two-count and a near fall to put Logan down 4-2. Logan escaped with 20 seconds left in the period to cut the lead to 4-3. Visci chose down in the second period. He escaped, but Logan later took him down to tie it up at 6-6 after two periods. Logan chose down in the third period. He reversed Visci almost right away to take an 8-6 lead. Logan rode Visci for the next 1:45 and took the championship at 8-6. Viking assistant coach Kyle Kahl said “Josh rode him tough and wore him out. To do that well against a really good wrestler is a great way to start the year.”
At 160, Austin Sonnek claimed second place after won his first two matches by pin before being pinned by Max Reichmann of Minnewaska Area at 1:11 in the championship match. As a team, the Vikings sent seven wrestlers and finished tenth out of ten teams.
Brandt Bombard won his first two matches but got a cut on his chin in the third match that required seven stitches. So, he lost that match and the next two by medical forfeit. He was also held out of the Coon Rapids Duals on Saturday because of the stitches but should be back in the lineup soon.
Coon Rapids Dual Tournament
The Vikings went 1-2-1 in the Coon Rapids duals on Saturday, December 7. It was a coming out party for Caleb Norwig, who got his first varsity win and went 3-1 on the day. Norwig wrestled some highly ranked kids and other tough wrestlers on Thursday and Friday, including sixth-ranked Jesse Midas of Monticello, so he didn’t have a win until Saturday. Viking assistant coach Kyle Kahl said “That was awesome to see for Caleb, who looks like Rocky Balboa. When he got some blood in his eye during one of the matches, he looked more like Rambo. We ended up beating Washington Tech because of his match and tied with Roseville because he really stepped up big for us. And against Mounds View, he went wire-to-wire for all six minutes and wrestled smart, which is not always the case with an inexperienced wrestler and got that first win.
In the opening dual, the Vikings lost 46-19 to Mounds View, with Josh Logan (132), Ashton LaBelle (145), Sam Sonnek (182) and Norwig winning their matches for the Vikings. IN the 62-3 loss to Coon Rapids, Logan won his match 8-5 over Nick Lattery to enable the Vikings to avoid a team shutout. Against St. Paul Washington Technology Magnet School, the Vikings ended up forfeiting at four wights. But a pin by Gage Krech (126), a technical fall by Logan (132), and pins by LaBelle (145), Austin Sonnek (160) and Sam Sonnek (182) gave the Vikings a 29-24 lead going into the 220-pound match. Norwig took care of business at 220 by pinning Eh Ku Ku at 4:32 to give the Vikings and insurmountable 35-24 lead. Viking Alex Webster was pinned by Shawkat Zakhil at 285 to make the final score 35-30 in favor of the Vikings. And in the final match of the day, the Vikings tied Roseville 30-30. They trailed 30-18 going into the 220-pound match, and Norwig again came through, this time by pinning Louis Ebi-Ndie in the middle of the second period to cut the lead to 30-24. Webster (285) won by forfeit to tie the match. The teams were tied through the tiebreakers all the way down to forfeits. Since the Vikings had more forfeits than Roseville, Roseville was technically the winner. But Kahl isn’t even sure if they actually declared Roseville the winner. He said, “Since this dual doesn’t matter for section seeding or advancement in a tournament, it’s not that important whether or not they declare a winner.”
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