Orono Wrestles in Team Sections
The Orono Spartans outpaced their 5th place seed placement Saturday in the 5AA Sectional Tournament to finish in the top four. The young Orono team made it to the semifinal round before falling to Totino-Grace (TG). According to Head Coach Joe McPherson, “The boys really wrestled well and for the 2nd year in a row we couldn’t get past Totino. I know this will change soon. If the boys continue to work hard we will get them one of these years and make it to State as a Team!! “
Orono vs. MAD
In the opening round, Orono rolled over Minnehaha Academy-DE LaSalle (MAD) 66-12. Frank Beck earned a pin in 1:51 over Matt Benson. The Spartans accepted four consecutive forfeits before Jon Schmid (138) stepped onto the mat to earn a pin at 3:01. Lukas van Dyck (145) and Spencer Schuh (152) pinned as well to make the score 48-0. A fall by Danny Striggow (170) and two more forfeits rounded out the Orono scoring for the match.
Orono vs. Benilde-St. Margaret (BSM)
At the seeding meeting earlier in the week, BSM won a coin toss to be seeded higher than Orono. This provided the Spartans with more than enough motivation to prove they were the better team. Once again Frank Beck (106) came out on fire with a fall in 0:20. After Noah Arneson (113) accepted a forfeit, Marcus Ostvig (120) and Henry Beck (126) recorded pins to put the team score at 24-0. Lukas van Dyck (145) got the Spartan scoring going again with a 6-5 decision. Two additional forfeits were accepted by Spencer Schuh (152) and Blaine Bauman (195). Danny Striggow (170), Jacob Liska (182) and Bobby Striggow (220) all earned falls to push the final score to 57-22.
Orono vs. TG
Orono was outmatched by the eventual Section 5AA champion, Totino-Grace. Only four Spartans were able to record wins in the dual meet. Henry Beck (126) earned a 11-2 major decision. In a lineup change, John McCuskey was called upon to wrestle at 138 and earned a 9-5 decision. Brothers Danny (160) and Bobby Striggow (220) both recorded pins to give Orono their 19 points in the loss. The final match score was 52-19.
Orono hosts the Section 5AA Individual tournament this weekend at the high school. Early round wrestling begins Friday at 5:00 p.m. The Semi-Final round will resume Saturday at 11:00 with the finals to follow right after. The top two place winners in each weight will advance to the State Tournament February 25-27 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
