Packer wrestlers fall to Cougars
Published 10:15 pm Thursday, January 24, 2013
Austin's Brandon Cotter tosses Mankato East's Cole Mosher in the 145-pound match in Ove Berven Gym Thursday. Cotter came through with a pin, but the Packers lost 36-33. -- Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
The Packer wrestling team couldn’t get the break they needed as they lost to Mankato East 36-33 on senior night in their regular season home finale in Ove Berven Gym Thursday.
Austin's Aiden Wilson tries to bring down Mankato East's Eric Jaster in Ove Berven Gym Thursday. -- Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
The Packers (5-6 overall, 3-4 Big Nine) allowed five pins in the loss, but it was a double forfeit at 126 pounds that was haunting Austin head coach Bill Kinney after the match as Austin could’ve had a wrestler in the 126-pound slot.
“The double forfeit was my fault and that cost us the match. I cost us the dual,” Kinney said. “I was trying to get a match for Brennen on senior night. He needs matches and he’s had forfeits in a number of duals this year.”
The Cougars (6-10 overall, 3-4 Big Nine) forfeited to Russell at 132.
Austin got a strong performance from junior Mitch Tebay, who moved up to spots and picked up a second period pin at 195. Tebay recently won the 170-pound title at the Lake Crystal-Wellcome-Memorial Invite and he’s feeling as confident as he has all season.
Austin's Mitch Tebay grapples with Mankato East's Nick Mavosky in the 182-pound match in Ove Berven Gym Thursday. -- Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
“I wasn’t sure who I was wrestling, but I went out there with the thought of winning it. It was way easier than I expected,” Tebay said.
Austin sophomore Kole Igou also moved up two spots and he picked up a 10-4 win at 182. Igou had a couple of chances to go for pins, but he wasn’t about to gamble against a bigger opponent.
“I had to stay focused, because I knew it was an important match,” he said. “I tried to wrestle smart, because I knew he was bigger and I had to be careful. I took my time and worked the moves I was comfortable making. Anything can happen on the varsity level.”
Austin senior Devon Felten took a 6-5 lead with a reversal in his match in the second period, but he was quickly turned back and pinned at 138. Austin’s Riley Grinstead took a 5-4 lead with a third period reversal and he nearly picked up a pin before the buzzer sounded, but instead settled for an 8-4 win.
Austin's Brad Kamp holds down Mankato East's Austin Westerlund in the 113-pound match at Ove Berven Gym Thursday. -- Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Since the match was originally scheduled for December, Kinney couldn’t help but think what the result would’ve been if it hadn’t been rescheduled due to snow.
“I think if we wrestled this back at the normal time back in December, it’s not even close,” Kinney said. “Here we are in January and we’ve got some people missing and some people hurt.”
AUSTIN RESULTS
106: Aiden Wilson (A) won 9-2 dec. over Eric Jaster (M); 113: Brad Kamp (A) pinned Austin Westerlund (ME) (3:14); 120: Walker Pearson (M) pinned Carter Oldenkamp (A) (:24); 126: Double forfeit; 132: Brennen Russell (A) won by forfeit; 138: Dalton Nelson (M) pinned Devon Felten (A) (3:35); 145: Brandon Cotter (A) pinned Cole Mosher (M) (2:31); 152: Riley Grinstead (A) 8-4 dec. over Keanu Rodriquez (M); 160: Cody Lorentz (M) pinned Zach Nelson (A) (1:19); 170: Nick Makovsky (M) pinned Joe Kamp (A) (4:32); 182: Kole Igou (A) 10-4 dec. over Lee Marxen (M); 195: Mitch Tebay (A) pinned Kalob Hays (M) (2:30); 220: Lincon Benzkofer (M) pinned Eli Kaercher (A) (1:12); Logan Swanson (M) pinned Logan Hotek (M) (:55)
