Spartans Wrestle 5 Duals in 2 Days
The Spartan wrestling team traveled to Mound Westonka last Thursday and Totino-Grace Friday to close out their dual meet competitions for the regular season. Opening up Thursday against Mound Westonka, Mason Pankonin (106) started the Spartan effort early with 10-7 decision. Losing 14-6 in the next match at 113, Blake Ament reversed and pinned Jacob Maas in the third period and Eli McKown accepted a forfeit at 120 to put the team score at 15-0. Orono gave up a pin at 126 but won the next 3 starting with Henry Beck (132) 17-8, Gustavo Cano-Garnica (138) 6-4, and followed by Jacob Schmid (145) 7-4. Orono won 3 of the last 4 weight classes to hold onto the dual meet win 40-28. John McCuskey (170) and Danny Striggow (220) both pinned and Shea Albrecht won by a 3-2 decision.
In the 2nd dual against Glencoe-Lester Prairie (GLP), Mason Pankonin (106) earned an early 2nd period fall followed with a gutsy 10-4 decision by Blake Ament (113) to get the Spartan scoring started early. The next 3 weight classes were a bit tougher for Orono which allowed Glencoe to take the team lead 10-15. Henry Beck (138) earned a pin and Jacob Schmid (145) then won 2-1. Other Spartan wrestlers winning included Nick Simafranca (160) with a 6-3 decision, Johnny Harstad (182) with a 1st period fall, and David Wilfert (195) accepting a forfeit to seal the Orono team victory 33-27. State High School rules limit the number of matches a wrestler can wrestle during the regular season to 45. Since GLP did not have wrestlers at 220 or 285, Orono left those two weight classes open as well.
On Friday evening, The Spartans picked up where they left off the night before. All of Orono’s matches against opening opponent Buffalo were won by fall with the exception of Mason Pankonin (106) who accepted a forfeit. Spartan grapplers picking up pins enroute to the Spartan team victory were Blake Ament (113), Henry Beck (138), Nick Yockey (152), Nick Simafranca (160), David Wilfert (195), and Danny Striggow (285). The final score was 42-28.
In the 2nd dual of the evening against Irondale, all but two Spartan wins were won by pin or forfeit. Senior Nick Simafranca (160) earned a milestone victory of 100 career wins when he pinned Jacob McLellen in 32 seconds. Orono cruised to a 52-28 win.
In the final dual against Section rival Totino-Grace, Orono struggled in the 1st 6 weights before Jacob Schmid earned an 8-2 decision. Though Nick Simafranca (160) and David Wilfert (195) accepted forfeits, Danny Striggow (220) was the only other Spartan to notch a win with a 1st period fall. The Totino 21-56 victory was somewhat muted as both teams were not at full strength in all weights. They may meet again in 2 weeks at the Team Sectional tournament to determine who will represent 5AA at the State Tournament a week later.
Orono finishes their regular season wrestling schedule with a visit to the Mound-Westonka Tournament on Friday. The Junior Varsity will then travel to Dassel-Cokato for a Tournament on Saturday.
