Wrestling: A couple of close ones

Jake Rudeen scored a 15-0 technical fall against Monticello (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Thursday's triangular  meet at Tiger Gym had  plenty of drama but no happy endings for the Tigers as they lost a couple of close ones, 36-33 to Monticello and 42-31 to Eastview.

"Both meets were very good," Tiger coach Chad Olson said. "We left a lot of bonus points which in the end cost us. It was a great learning experience for our boys."

The Tigers jumped to a 12-0 lead against Monticello, ranked No. 9 in Class AA, on a forfeit win by Victor Gliva at 106 and a pin by Taylor Venz at 113 before the Magic scored a pair of falls to even the score and set up a nip-and-tuck rest of the night.

Jake Rudeen (152) registered a technical fall and Kyle Benjamin (132) won a major decision for the Tigers who also got three-point decisions from Joe Hoeve (160) and Godfrey Mpetey (220) and a forfeit victory by Chris McCue (182).

Mpetey's win gave Farmington a 33-30 heading into the final bout where Brent Riddle scored a second period pin of Jamie Scavone to provide the final margin of victory for Monticello.

Kyle Benjamin was a 12-4 winner over Monticello's Cooper Hanson (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Against Eastview Jamin LeDuc ran his season mark to 7-1 with a decision in 106-pound bout and Venz upped his perfect record to 7-0 with a pin at 113 to give the Tigers a quick 10-0 lead but the Lightning countered with two straight six-point wins to set up a nip-and-tuck match through the next six bouts.

Eastview led 26-25 after the 152 bout were Rudeen scored a six-point fall but the Lightning won five of the final six matches to extend their lead. McCue's pin in the 182-pond match provided the only Farmington win in the run.

Matt Rustad's major decision at 132 lbs. and Brayden Chapman's pin in the 138-pound match-up provided the other Farmington points.

Next Tuesday the Tigers head to Richfield for a quadrangular meet with Chaska/Chanhassen, Shakopee and the host Spartans.

"Next week will be a good mesuring stick to see how we stack up in our section," Olson said. "We have duals against five section teams.