The Hayfield wrestling team hosted a triangular meet against Dover-Eyota and Lake City on Friday night. The Vikings took second place in the tournament behind Lake City, who took home first-place honors.

The Tigers made quick work of Dover-Eyota in the first dual of the night by securing a 54-17 victory over the Eagles.

In the second dual of the night, Lake City had a tougher time dispatching its opponent. The Tigers won the first two matches against Hayfield (135, 140) but a third-period pin by 145 pounder George Evjen over Dan Cox and a 5-2 Sam Rud decision over Lake City's Jake Atkinson at 152 evened the score at 9-9. Lake City took the next four matches -- two by fall, one by forfeit and two by decision -- to make it 30-9. The Vikings won four of the last six matches to battle back, but came up short as Lake City took the dual 37-32.

The highlight of the second dual came in the way of a heavyweight matchup. Lake City's Ben Robertson is the second-ranked heavyweight wrestler in the state, but Hayfield's Carl Bamlet (8-1) did not let that bother him. Robertson fought his way to a first-period takedown and second-period escape to go up 3-0 on Bamlet, but the Hayfield matman got the next takedown, turned Robertson's shoulders to the mat and pinned him.

"It was going to be a very tough match, we were all very excited for Carl," commented Hayfield coach Will Pazurek.

The Vikings took the first four matches of the final dual against Dover-Eyota. Falls by Brandon Klocke (135), Evjen (145), Rud (152), and a decision by Bruce Erath at 140 pounds put Hayfield up 21-0. The Eagles took the next four matches, three by fall and one by forfeit, to take the lead 24-21. The Vikings took five of the last six matches for a 46-29 win over the Tigers.

Evjen (145), Bamlet (275), Steve Emerick (112), and Shane Masching (130) pinned their way to a 2-0 record for the night. Rud (152) went 2-0 with one by fall. In all, 10 Vikings won at least one match during the triangular.

Will Naylor made his varsity debut at 160 pounds. Naylor, who gave up at least 10 pounds to his opponents, lost both of his matches.

"I was very glad that Will was able to wrestle tonight," Coach Pazurek said.

The Hayfield wrestlers will have some time off to enjoy the holidays without worrying too much about their weight, but will be back on the mat Jan. 3 when they travel to Cannon Falls to wrestle the Bombers in a Hiawatha Valley League match.