Pinning their spot at sections

Isaiah++Noeldner+working+to+turn+his+opponent

Serena Omangi

Isaiah Noeldner working to turn his opponent

Joey Wencl

The Owatonna Wrestling Team has kept the pace high throughout their season. As the team heads into sections, they are well prepared. The wrestlers have taken down most of their opponents with a breeze. The most anticipated duel meet of the year was the Albert Lea Tigers on Feb.3. Peyton Robb and Cade King gained a total of 6 points each. Robb won by pinfall and King won by forfeit – together adding 12 critical points for the team. Near the end of the meet, the score came down to 27-24 in favor of the tigers. The heavyweight match was the deciding factor of who wins the meet. Isaiah Noeldner a sophomore here at OHS wrestling heavyweight pulled off a thrilling pinfall victory to capture the win for the Huskies and get closer to the number one seed for sections. Parker westphal a team captain said, “I’m excited that we beat Albert Lea and the team is prepared to wrestle them again at sections.”  The 14 man line up for the huskies proved victorious. The Huskies took a thrilling 30-27 win.

The Huskies took on the Falcons in another home duel on Feb. 8 at senior night, and they secured their number one seed for sections. The Huskies were prepared and were ready to to take home the win. The duel started off with Blake West at 106 lbs., and he is ranked ranked number six in the state according to a variety of high school state rankings. Blake came out victorious and made it look easy by starting off the meet with a win. The duel meet took a loss at the 113 lb. class, but quickly rebounded with back to back wins. 120-138 lb. class took wins with thrilling victories at 132 and 138 lbs. Landon Johnson, ranked number seven in the state, took a pinfall and added 6 more points to the board. The next match, at 138 lbs., had a lot of momentum going into it. Riley Becker took a huge overtime victory win for the Huskies. Parker Westphal also said, “The team is ready for sections and that the huskies have a really good chance going to state”. The Huskies took more consecutive wins and came out on top beating Faribault 43-18. The Huskies are Big 9 champs going 9-0 in 1AAA section. Congrats to the boys, and good luck at the team sections meet on Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Rochester Civic Center. The Semi Finals will be held at 11:00 a.m. and Finals at 1:00 p.m.