Wrestling: Venz hits 100 in win over Faribault

Taylor Venz (w/coaches Chad Olson and Jon Lund) reached 100 career wins (photo by Jim Lindquist)

The Tigers sandwiched a dual meet between Thursday's triangular and a Saturday tournament, making short work of Faribault Friday night at FHS.

Farmington won nine of 12 matches contested on the mat and added 12 more points via forfeit on the way to a 52-15 victory.

The winners built up a commanding 36-0 lead through the first eight bout to take control of the match.

"We are in a tough stretch of three weigh-ins in a row," coach Chad Olson said. "Our guys showed up with good energy and intensity again tonight."

Victor Gliva (106 pounds) started the night with a second period fall and then Skylar Raymond (113) followed with a four-point major decision.

After Jamin LeDuc (120) scored a six-point fall and Brian Caravantes won by forfeit at 126 pounds. Taylor Venz (132), Matt Rustad (138) Brayden Chapman ( 145) won consecutive decisions and Joe Liden (152) tacked on a major decision.

Sophomore Venz's victory was the 100th of his varsity career that includes winning the state Class 3A 106-pound title last season..

Later in the match CJ Wynings earned a major decision at 220 pounds and 285-pounder Godfrey Mpetey won on a first period pin. Joe Hoeve earned six points the easy way with a forfeit in the scheduled 195 pound bout.

The victory boosted Farmington's dual meet season record to 10-7.

The Tigers, ranked 11th in the most recent state Class 3A poll, travel to Apple Valley Saturday for the Eastview Invitational tournament.

Godfrey Mpetey scored a pin in the 285-pound bout

Tiger Scoreboard: January 18, 2014

Boys Basketball
Farmington 60 Holy Angels 59

Wrestling
Farmington 52 Faribault 15

Girls Basketball
Farmington 62 Holy Angels 56

Girls Hockey
Farmington 3 Shakopee 2

Gymnastics
Farmington 137.375 Chaska/Chanhassen 137.225

Girls Hockey: Big second period enough

Ellie Moser two goals vs. Simley (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington did not get the complete game effort coach Jon Holmes was looking for but a four-goal second period was enough to propel the Tigers to a 4-2 non-conference win over Simley Thursday night at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

The victory was the third straight for the Tigers and their sixth in seven starts. Over that stretch they have raised their season record to 9-10-1.

"We played one period last night and that period was similar to the three periods we had against Chaska/Chanhassen on Tuesday," coach Jon Holmes said. "We bombarded them with shots, put the puck in the net, won the races, supported every play and it was just the way we want to define Farmington hockey."

The first period was a sluggish affair that produced just seven combined shots on goal, six of them by the home team.

Things heated up in the second, however, with Farmington putting 19 shots on net, four of which found their mark.

Ellie Moser scored twice and Maddi Oines and Megan Stivers each added power play goals.

Rachael Welzin contributed two assists in the flurry and Shelby Klotz, Scootie Donnelly and Breanna Raske each had one.

Simley scored one of its goals in the second period on a power play opportunity. The Spartans added one in the third frame to close out the night's scoring.

Molly Singewald worked the Farmington nets and finished with 14 saves. Farmington outshot Simley 32-16 for the game, including a 19-6 edge in the pivotal second period.

The Tigers will try to get to the .500 mark tonight (Friday) when they host Shakopee at Schmitz-Maki Arena. The teams played to a scoreless tie when they met last month in Shakopee.

"We need to come ready to put three periods in every night since we plan to compete with our section rivals," Holmes said.

Boys Hockey: Make that eight straight

Austin Martinsen 2 goals vs. Chaska (photo bu J. Lindquist)

This time there was no need for a third period rally to keep the win streak alive.

Farmington dominated from the outset Thursday night in a 6-1 Missota Conference win over Shakopee at Schmitz-Maki Arena.

The victory was the eighth straight for the Tigers who boosted their season mark to 13-3-1 and 6-0-1 after the first swing through the conference schedule.

"Another solid outing for us," Tiger coach Keith Revels said. "We had a strong first period where we outshot them 17-2. The second period was more of the same with us outshooting them 18-5...The game got a bit on the chippy side as it progressed but we did a nice job of staying focused and not getting distracted."

Austin Martinsen (from Justin Novak) and Jack Erickson (from Tanner Grubb and Dallas Tucker) scored goals in the first period for the winners for a 2-0 lead at the first break.

The lead swelled to 4-0 early in the second period on power play goals by Martinsen (from John Siebenaler and Tyler Jette) and Erickson (from Benton Olson and Erik Holmstrom). Before the end of the period the Tiger lead was 5-0 thanks to a late goal by Tucker (from Grubb).

The game went to running time after the home team pushed its lead to six goals on a score by Siebenaler (from Novak and Jake Trippel) early in the final period.

Shakopee broke up Tiger goalie Gage Overby's shutout bid with goal in the final three minutes of regulation.

The Tigers will take their eight-game winning streak to Owatonna Tuesday night to battle the Huskies in their final regular season game against Section 1AA competition. Next Friday they begin the second round of conference play with a home game against Red Wing.

Wrestling: Tigers take two

Brayden Chapman 2-0 at Eagan triangular (photo by Jim Lindquist)

A year before a move to the South Suburban Conference the Tigers got a preview of that league's wrestling Thursday night in a triangular meet at Eagan.

Based on its performance Farmington appears to be up for the change. The Tigers downed Rosemount 31-29 and handled host Eagan 35-27.

The Eagan match was a nip-and-tuck affair with a late decision by Jake Rudeen (170 pounds), a pin by Joe Hoeve (182) and Godfrey Mpetety's forfeit victory at 285 pounds enough to preserve the win.

Earlier in the match the Tigers reeled off four straight wins after falling behind 8-0 after the first two bouts of the night.

The four straight victories came on a pin by Matt Rustad (132) and decisions by Jamin LeDuc (120), Taylor Venz (126) and Brayden Chapman (138). The other Tiger win came from Joe Liden who scored a major decision in the 152 pound match.

Farmington fell behind early again (0-9) in the squeaker of a win over the Irish. Following the same recipe as the Eagan match, the Tigers rallied quickly, posting five straight wins to go up 18-9.

Venz won his match by pin and LeDuc, Rustad, Chapman and Eric Heusbourg (145) each scored three-point decisions.

Later in the match, a pin by John Walz (170) and a decision by Rudeen at 182 lbs. sealed the victory.

Six Tigers finished the night with perfect 2-0 recordd: LeDuc, Venz, Rustad, Chapman, Rudeen and Hoeve.

The triangular was just the start of a busy three days for the Tigers who entertain Faribault in a dual meet Friday before traveling to Apple Valley Saturday for the talent-filled Eastview Invitational.