The Owatonna Huskies Wrestling squad has sprung out to a satisfactory 6-3 start in conference play, not including a second place finish in the Dick Shiels Faribault invite and another second place finish in a Chanhassen tournament that took place on Dec. 11. Owatonna was then set to compete in “The Clash.”

“The Clash” is a nationally known showcase event, filled with talented teams from around the Midwest. Owatonna started the event with a win over Holmen, Wisconsin. They quickly moved to 2-1 landing them a third place finish in their pool.  The Huskies advanced to play in the third place bracket, where the Huskies battled their way into close matches with some of the midwest’s best wrestling units. Unfortunately, they came up short and left “The Clash” with a record of 2-4 in the six matches.

Owatonna has certainly had some team success, but individual success has been evident. Three Huskies left “The Clash” with a 5-1 record overall, Landen Johnson, Cael Robb and Jacob Reinardy. The success of those three huskies has proven to be virtually permanent. Owatonna Head Coach Derek Johnson said, “Their work ethics and love for evolving in wrestling are what sets them apart.”

In the Huskies most recent tournament, known as “The East Ridge Ruckus”, they placed 6 out of 16 teams. Once again Owatonna’s star power was illuminating, with Reinhardy, Robb and Johnson all making appearances in the finals and Johnson earned the victory. 

The Huskies look to continue their stretch of acceptable performances against Albert Lea at home on Friday night.