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Chisago Lakes Triangular

Chisago Lakes 39, Monticello 27

The Wildcats conjured up a win in the first dual of the Chisago Lakes Triangular last Thursday, prevailing over the Monticello Magic 39-27.  Four Wildcats won their matches by pin – Braxton Bender-Ehlke (145), Michael Amos (152), Brycen Morley (160), and Logan Bender (285).

Chisago Lakes 44, Zimmerman 28

The Wildcats trailed Zimmerman 28-0 after the first five weight classes but came roaring back to win the last eight matches and beat the Thunder 44-28 on Thursday, January 4 at Chisago Lakes Arena.  When Xavier Bradley-Peel (189) pinned Conner Klinkhammer of Zimmerman at 242, it pulled the Wildcats into a 32-28 lead.  Connor Frederixon’s win by forfeit at 215 sealed the win, and the undefeated Logan Bender provided the icing on the cake at 285 by pinning Bryce Nordlund at 1:15 of their match.

St. Paul Harding Duals

In the Wildcats’ most exciting match of the day, Logan Bender pinned Devionte Evans of St. Paul Harding at 1:22 to give the Wildcats a 42-36 win at the Harding Duals on Saturday, January 6.  The Wildcats lost 60-13 to South St. Paul earlier in the day and finished the day with a 34-27 loss to Minneapolis North.

Against Harding, the Wildcats forfeited their matches at 107 and 114 to spot Harding a 12-0 lead.  Lucas Yang (121) and Franklin Stark (133) pinned their opponents.  Brannick Malchow lost by fall at 127 and, after forfeits at 139 and 145, the Wildcats trailed 30-12.  Brycen Morley (152) and Braxton Bender-Ehlke (160) both pinned their opponents to cut the Harding lead to 30-24.  After the Wildcats forfeited at 172, they trailed 36-24.  Xavier Bradley-Peel (189) pinned Jaunathan Wiliamson at 5:16 to close the gap to 36-30.  Connor Frederixon (215) won by fall over Allan Mann  at 3:50 to tie the dual at 36-36, setting the stage for Bender to put the Wildcats on top.

In the dual against South St. Paul, Bender-Ehlke won by a 16-6 major decision over Johnny Mendez to break the shutout, but the Wildcats still trailed 42-4.  Frederixon won by a 3-2 decision over Andrew Bonk, and Bender dethroned King-General Thompson in a quick 1:07 pin for the final Wildcat points of the dual.

The Wildcats lost 34-27 to Minneapolis North in their third dual of the day.  Bender, ranked fourth in the state in Class AA, lost for the first time this season, succumbing 9-4 to Lamarcus Osborne, who is ranked seventh in Class A ar 285.  Yang a (121), Malchow (127) and Morley (160) pinned their opponent.   Frederixon (215) won by a 3-2 decision over Cashmere Hamilton-Grunau 3-2, and Landon McChesney (107) won by forfeit.

Two Wildcats wrestled on the girls’ side of things at Harding.  Teagan Bender (155) took just 26 seconds to pin Ingrid Lemus Andrade of South St. Paul.  Wildcat Charlotte Rehbein lost twice by fall.  Xitllali Bugarin Brito pinned Rehbein at 2:29 of their match at 130 pounds.  At 136 pounds, Hailey Jackson of South St. Paul pimmed Rehbein in a nearly identical time, 2:25.

Wrestling Whangdoodles

Logan Bender is now 16-1 for the season.  He is ranked fourth at 285 in Class AA and may move up when new rankings come out later this week.  Teammate Connor Frederixon (16-3) has been dominant at 215 most of the season as well and may get into the top ten.

The Wildcats have a busy three days ahead of them.  Tonight, the Wildcats will head to Benilde-St. Margaret’s High School for a 5 p.m. triangular with the hosts and Minneapolis Southwest.  Tomorrow night, they will wrestle across the border in Cheeseland at the eight team St. Croix Central Tournament in Hammond, with the festivities getting underway at 5 pm.  And they will need to recover quickly to wrestle in the 15-team St. Croix Lutheran Tournament, which starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

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