Boys Swimming: Kirchmann shines at Maroon and Gold

Christopher Kirchmann 1st in 100 freestyle; 2nd in 50 freestyle (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Christopher Kirchmann won the 100 freestyle and took second in the 50 free to pace the Tigers to an eighth place finish in the 2013 Maroon and Gold Invitational meet held Saturday at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

Tiger coach Ryan Hamen liked Kirchmann's performance at the talent-laden meet but said the fleet senior still is looking for more.

 "Christopher had good placement in his 50 and 100 free but did not come out with the times he had hoped for," Hamen said.

Lakeville South won the meet with 522.5 points, followed by Wayzata 492, Lakeville North 423, Eau Clarie North 402, Woodbury 347, Anoka 337.5, Breck/Blake 287, Farmington 257, Hopkins 246, St. Cloud Tech 211 and White Bear Lake 24.
  
 "It is always fun to swim with similar and faster teams," Tiger coach Hamen said. "This meet was a good picture of how many teams in the state of Minnesota are doing."

In addition to Kirchmann's big day, the Tigers managed six top ten finishes in other events.

The 200 freestyle relay team of Eric Schimmel, Evan Carufel, Brandon Dion and Kirchmann too fifth and the 200 medley relay foursome of Oliver Chow, Nick Stephan, Dion and Kirchmann ranked sixth.

The 400 freestyle quartet of Schimmel, Dahlton Bell, Christian Bell and Daniel Berg placed tenth.

In individual events, Carufel finished sixth on the one-meter board and Dahlton Bell came in ninth in the 50 freestyle.

Top Farmington finisher in other events:
200 freestyle: 16. Aaron Cochnauer
200 individual medley: 19. Chow
100 butterfly: 11. Cochnauer
500 freestyle: 17. Austin Kueck
100 backstroke: 16. Cameron Molnar
100 breaststroke: 18. Spencer Kabran

The Tigers get back to their dual meet schedule next Thursday with a Missota Conference encounter with Red Wing at the Dodge Middle School pool.

Tiger Scoreboard: January 6, 2013

Boys Basketball
Farmington 56 North St. Paul 42

Boys Hockey
Farmington 3  Simley 2 (OT)

Wrestling
Koda Classic at Farmington
Quarterfinals
No. 9 Lakeville North 31 Farmington 29
Consolation Semifinals
Paynesville Area 40 Farmington 34
Seventh Place
Farmington 48 Lake City 24

Gymnastics
Faribault Invitational
Northfield 147.425, Winona 143.650, Owatonna 141.625, Rosemount 138.7, Lakeville North 138.45, Faribault 138.075, Elk River 136.5, Cambridge-Isanti 136.4, Farmington 133.05,  Forest Lake 131.075, Rochester Century 126.725, Byron-Lourdes 126.65, Martin County West 126.25, Waseca 124.95, Rochester John Marshall 124.25, Rochester Mayo 105.2, Breck 95.35

Boys Swimming and Diving
Maroon and Gold Invitational at U of M
Maroon Division
Lakeville South 522.5, Wayzata 492, Lakeville North 423, Eau Clarie North 402, Woodbury 347, Anoka 337.5, Breck/Blake 287, Farmington 257, Hopkins 246, St. Cloud Tech 211, White Bear Lake 24

Wrestling: Falcon flurry finishes off Tigers

John Walz scored a pin in the 145-pound bout (photo by Jim Lindquist)

Farmington won six of the first nine matches to build a 24-12 lead but Faribault came on strong in the upper weights to hand the Tigers a 36-24 loss Friday night at Tiger Gym.

The Falcons rang up a pair of pins, two decisions and a six-point forfeit in the final final five bouts to secure the win.

Jamin LeDuc and Taylor Venz continued to dominate in the lower weight classes for Farmington. Once-beaten LeDuc (13-1) scored a 9-0 major decision in the 106-pound match-up and Venz raised his season mark to 18-2 with a 7-0 decision at 113 lbs.

Brayden Chapman gave the Tigers a 12-6 lead with a technical fall victory at 132 pounds and then John Walz, Jake Rudeen and Joe Hoeve combined for three straight wins to give the home team its biggest lead of the night at 24-12.

Walz recorded a pin at 145 lbs. and Rudeen (152) and Hoeve (160) followed with back-to-back one-point wins.

The Friday night dual served as a last-minute warm-up for today's (Saturday) eight-team Koda Classic tournament.

Other schools in the field include Lakeville North, Lake City, Chatfield, Milaca, Northfield, Park of Cottage Grove and Paynseville Area.

Tiger Scoreboard: January 5, 2013

Wrestling
Faribault 36 Farmington 24

Boys Swimming: Tigers all over the Raiders 97-81

Cameron Molnar won 200 medley and 500 freestyle

Farmington used Thursday night's dual meet at Northfield as an opportunity to try some swimmers in off events in preparation for the long season ahead.

Most of the Tigers entrants were at their best in a dominating 97-81 win.

"It was a lot of fun seeing the boys working on different strokes they normally never swim and still have the ability to perform competitively," Tiger coach Ryan Hamen said.

"The boys also had fun with different relay teams and getting to swim against their teammates. There was a great internal rivalry and competitiveness within our own team when the boys finished seeing it was a teammate giving them their best drive to do better."

Farmington won seven of the meet's first nine events to build a commanding lead before swimming the final three as exhibitions.

The quartet of Dahlton Bell, Spencer Kabran, Christian Bell and Evan Carufel started the meet with a victory in the 200 medley relay. In the 200 freestyle relay, the Tiger foursome of Kabran, Tyler Lerbakken, Bradley Dow and Christopher Kirchmann also led the field.

Cameron Molnar led the Tigers in the individual events with first place finishes in the 200 individual medley and the 500 freestyle.

Other Farmington event winners included Kirchmann, 200 freestyle; Carufel, diving and Oliver Chow, 100 butterfly.

Daniel Berg took second in two races, the 50 and 500 freestyle. Also finishing second were Kabran, 200 individual medley; Garrett Haugen, 200 freestyle and Robin DeCastro, 100 butterfly.

A half dozen more Farmington entrants scored third place points: Lerbakken, 100 butterfly; Christian Bell, 200 individual medley; Mitch Haugen, 50 freestyle; Jonathan Bovee, diving;  Brooke Lange, 500 freestyle and Dahlton Bell, 500 freestyle.

Saturday the Tigers take part in a big invitational meet at the University of Minnesota. They return to dual meet action next Thursday with a home dual with Red Wing at the Dodge Middle School pool.