18 January 2013

Wrestling: Shorthanded Tigers fall at Northfield

Taylor Venz (23-1) is ranked No. 2 in Class 3A (photo by Jim Lindquist)
Plagued by injury and illness, the Tigers fell twice at Thursday night's Missota Conference triangular at Northfield, 45-28 to the host Raiders and 60-17 to New Prague.

"It has been a rough week," Tiger coach Chad Olson said. "We have had only half of our lineup on the mat practicing this week, mostly due to illness."

Three Tigers won both of their matches at Northfield, including Jamin LeDuuc (106-pounds), Taylor Venz (109), Matt Rustad (126) and Joe Hoeve (160).

Freshman Venz, currently ranked second among Class 3A 106-pounders in Minnesota, scored a fall and an 18-0 technical fall to run his season record to 23-1 while LeDuc had a pin and a 6-0 decision to move to 19-1. Venz's victory aginst New Prague was the 60th of his young career.

Rustad continued his winning ways with a pin and a hard-fought 7-6 win over New Prague's James Berg who was has posted 20 wins this season. Rustad owns a 14-9 season mark.

Hoeve registered two six-point falls in the 160-pound weight class to improve his season record to 16-9.

The other Tiger win came from Brayden Chapman who recorded an 11-0 major decision over Northfield's Tommy Matheson in the 132-pound bout.

The Tigers don't have much time to get back to full strength. They're back on the mat Saturday at the Eastview Invitational in Apple Valley.