Spartans Host Duals and Compete at East Ridge Ruckus
The Spartan wrestling team hosted Waconia and Minneapolis South Thursday evening in a triangular dual meet. Waconia, currently ranked #7 in the State in Class AA, overpowered the Orono squad as only 2 Spartans were able to earn wins. Junior Captains Jacob Schmid (138) earned a 4-2 decision over Gage Mueller and Danny Striggow (220) pinned Sam McEnelly at the 1:45 mark in the 1st period. The final team score was 9-68.
In the 2nd dual against Section rival Minneapolis South, the Spartans fared a great deal better. Mason Pankonin (106) and Blake Ament (113) both earned pins to get Orono out to an early 12-0 team lead. After losing at 120, Orono’s Gustavo Cano-Garnica (126) accepted a forfeit and Senior Captain Henry Beck (132) notched a major decision 10-2. A string of losses in the middle weights was stopped with a fall by Senior Captain Nick Simafranca (160). After losing at 170, Orono won the remaining 4 weight classes with 3 decisions and a pin. John McCuskey (182), David Wilfert (195), and Shea Albrecht (285) went the full 6 minutes while Danny Striggow (220) earned a 23 second fall to help win the dual 43-30.
On Friday and Saturday, the grapplers traveled to East Ridge for a Varsity/JV Invitational tournament that included many of the top teams and wrestlers in the state. 9 wrestlers competed in the Varsity Division while another 11 boys entered the JV Division. Orono was successful in most of the opening round matches but got tripped up in the quarterfinals. At the end of the first night of Varsity competition, Danny Striggow (220) was the lone Spartan left in the Championship bracket, while 7 others were still alive in the Consolation bracket. On the JV side, Mason Pankonin remained in the Championship bracket and 10 others dropped into the Consolation bracket.
The Spartans continued to battle on day 2 of the tourney. Danny Striggow led the way with a 15-0 technical fall over #7 ranked Jose Reyes of Tri-City United in the semis and a 16-4 major decision in the finals over St. Thomas Academy’s Phil Skeps to win the title. 6 other Varsity Spartans placed. Jacob Schmid (138) and Nick Simafranca (160) placed 5th, David Wilfert picked up 6th place honors, Shea Albrecht (285) earned 7th place, and Henry Beck (132) and Noah Arneson (152) finished in 8th place. St. Michael-Albertville won the team title followed by Waconia and Apple Valley. Orono finished in 9th place out of 18 teams.
On the JV side, Mason Pankonin (100) and Eli McKown (120) both placed 3rd and Oliver Stevenson (126) took home 4th place honors. Blake Ament (113) came home in 7th place and Dominick Kariniemi (94), Brady McPherson (120), and Matt Jandl (138) finished in 8th place.
In a note to the wrestlers on Sunday, Coach McPherson remarked, “We have exactly 4 weeks until Team Sections – amazing how fast this season is going. Last week was a great week of wrestling – a lot of matches for all the boys. I was really proud of each wrestler last week – everyone had things to overcome and all of them fought through them. I want to make sure all of you know that this team is doing great and all the boys are progressing for our year end goals.”
The Spartans will travel to New Prague on Thursday for a dual and will then host an Invitational Tournament on Saturday. The Youth team will compete at home on Sunday in a 6-team dual meet tournament. Wrestling starts at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday.
