Six-point pins at Faribault
Faribault scored 24 points in the last four matches on three pins and a forfeit to score a come-from-behind 40-33 non-conference dual meet win over the Tigers Thursday night, Jan. 6, in Faribault.
The loss was the third in as many outings for the young Farmington squad.
The Tigers performed well in the lower weight classes and held a 33-16 lead after the first ten matches.
"The meet was decided up top," Farmington coach Chad Olson said. "We had three wrestlers pull huge upsets in the middle weights. I thought we were in the driver's seat at that point."
Jacob Gabbard got the visitors off the a flying start with a 9-1 major decision at 103 lbs. and then Conner Phu recorded an easy six points with a forfeit at 112 lbs.
Faribault won the next two bouts before the Tigers came back to win five of the next six.
Included in the run were six-point pins by Chris McCue (140)and Joe Hoeve (152), four-point major decisions by Jake Rudeen (130) and Tyler Beckett (160) and a three-point win by Carl Elmer (145).
Faribault needed to score bonus points the rest of the way and they did exactly that, out-pointing Farmington 24-0 in the final four bouts.
"This was the best we have wrestled this year by far," Olson said. "We talked all week about loving the battle and wrestling our style and we did that.
"The scoreboard showed we lost but in my opinion we had a successful night. We still have a lot of technical things to clean up, but as long as we continue to battle, we can fix them."
The Tigers don't get much time to dwell on the loss as they get back on the mat Saturday (Jan. 8) when they host the annual Farmington Duals at FHS.
