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NB-RC wrestling match showed spirit from teamsBy Barbara Brown But, although last weekís home match against the North Branch Vikings resulted in a sad score for the Rush City Tigers, the Tigers wrestled possibly better than they have all season. The Vikings, as well, showed a renewed energy and quickness on the mat when they went out to challenge their closest neighbor school. Rush Cityís gymnasium was packed last Thursday night when the lights went down and the spotlight came on to start the match. From the first match on, the crowd, both teams and their coaches seemed to be electrified with energy as Adam Morris (RC) and Joe Lofboom took the mat for the 135 match. Lofboom took victory with a 4-2 close win over Morris. The Tigers took the team score lead to 4-3 after the 140 match when Zach Sowman (RC) earned a major decision over North Branchís Ryan Decorsey 17-4. The score continued its flip-flopping pattern through the next two matches. North Branch came out with another win when Tim Morris (RC) took a 12-8 decision win in the 145 match over Alex Gerszewski, taking the score to 7-3. North Branch was not to be stopped, however, and the 152 match that pitted Cory Haley (NB) against MacKenzie Johnston ended with Haleyís 13-10 win taking the score to 7-6. Josh Villella, 160 (NB), took the mat next against Scott Englund and took a win by fall in 3:41. Mike Wuorinen (RC) got the Tiger score closer when he won a decision over Sam Suparat in the 171 match to take the score to 12-11. North Branch held on to the lead in the team scores through the rest of the match, but both Tiger and Viking wrestlers challenged each other to earn the wins they received. NBís James Kvale pinned Robert Lind in the 189 match in 52 seconds. Jarrod Swanson (NB) also earned a pin in 26 seconds over Scott Witte in the 215 match. North Branchís Jeremy Bergerson took a forfeit in the heavyweight match. Greg Arnt (NB), a 7th-grader who has recently showed up on the varsity mat for the Vikings added another win to his list with a 10-2 decision over Joey Robinson in the 103 match. Jeff Holmgren (NB), 112, beat Richard Marohn by a pin in 3:29. Josh Schwab (NB), 119, also earned a pin. Jason Benson from Rush City held out until 5:25, and pushed the points to 7-7 before he was pinned in the third period. John Buchanan (NB), 125, pinned Tim Allerton in 55 seconds. The last match of the night pitted Matt Wuorinen and Vince Zaffke against each other at 130. Although the final score was 52-17 both teams wrestled extremely well. ìRush City has a tough young team,î said North Branch head coach Tony Aho. ìTheir kids are mentally tough and come after you the whole match.î Aho credited the Viking win with key victories by Joe Lofboom and Cory Haley. ìOur guys have looked impressive over the last two weeks, comigng out on top in many close matches,î he said. Tiger head coach Kevin Jensen said he was impressed by the way the team wrestled. ìItís a good experience for our kids to wrestle a larger school,î he said. ìI think we wrestled much tougher than what the score indicated.î Rush City lost to Mille Lacs 53-15 on Feb. 6. Matt Wuorinen, Zach Sowman and MacKenzie Johnston won their matches. The Vikings beat Big Lake 51-14 on Feb. 6. Greg Arnt, Jeff Holmgren, Josh Schwab, John Buchanan, Josh Villella, Matt Krier, Luke Keocher, James Kvale, Jarrod Swanson and Jeremy Bergerson all won. ©ECM Post Review |