Wrestlers bond at Redwood Tournament

 

The Tri-City United Titan Wrestling Team bonded at a two-day tournament in Redwood Falls on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 14 and 15 where they finished 13th out of 28 teams.
“This was a two day tournament in Redwood Falls MN.  There were 28 teams with  over 600 wrestlers competing,” said Coach Brian Mikel. “The kids got a chance to spend the weekend with each other, cheer for one another, have fun, and bond as a team.” 
Mikel said overall he thought the varsity made some nice improvements at the tournament. 
“I felt we were better conditioned and our boys are starting to get more offensive from the feet,” he said.
106 - Justin Kopet went 0-2 and did not place.  
113 - Jack Mueller went 0-2 and did not place.  
120 - Chris Guajardo went 0-2 and did not place.  
126 - Levi Nelson had a very good tournament going 3-3 and placed 8th out of 24 wrestlers.  
132 - Mason Rutt had a great tournament, going 4-3 and placing 6th.  
Mason Brownlee had a great tournament. Mikel said he went 4-0 and won the championship with an impressive win over sixth-ranked Hunter Retzlaff of Sibley East by a score of 12-3.  
152 - Jordan Simonette was 0-2 and did not place.  
160 - Josh Selly went 3-1 and placed second. “Josh is improving with every match and starting to gain more and more confidence every time he steps on the mat.” the coach said.
170 - Kyle Hubert had a tough weight group, going 0-2 and not placing. 
182 - Joe Kalina went 0-2 and did not place. Mikel commented that Kalina is a first-year wrestler and is showing improvement with every match as well.  
285 - Ninth grader Alex Burns went 3-3 and placed sixth out of 16 wrestlers.  
“Alex, too, is  getting better and more confident with every match,” The coach said. “We just have to clean up some mistakes, and he'll be a force come section time.”
 
Junior Varsity
Mikel said the junior varsity also gained some valuable experience over the weekend.  Zach Mikel, wrestling at 106 pounds, won one out four matches and lost a couple of very close matches (one in double overtime) to finish fourth.  
Dylan Borchart battled illness and went 0-2 and did not place. 
Nicolai Gruber notched his first win of his high school career and finished third.  
Leslie Pritchett, 16 pounds went 0-3, but wrestled hard and showed signs of improvement.  
Jonah Johnson took care of business going 3-0 winning his bracket at 126 pounds.  
“Look for Jonah to be back on varsity soon,” Mikel said.
Harrison Weitzki had a great day going 2-1 and finishing second.  Mikel commented that Weitzski was just two points away from winning his weight bracket. 
Grant Fogarty had a tough bracket going 0-3 and not placing.  Mikel compliments him too, saying the Fogarty is showing big signs of improvement and working hard in practice every day.
Mikel wanted to give a special thank you to the parents for helping make the weekend possible. 
 
New Prague Triangular
The Titans traveled seven miles north on December 11 for the New Prague Triangular, the first for the TCU Titans. 
Match 1  
Tri-City United 47
Waseca 27
“This was our first dual meet victory of the year for the Titans,” Mike said.
Winning for the Titans were:
Johnson with a technical fall at 132 pounds.
Rutt with a big pin over a tough Waseca wrestler at 138 pounds.
Brownlee  with a win  forfeit.
Simonette winning at 152 pounds.
Selly winning by forfeit at 160 pounds
Levi Nelson winning by forfeit at 126 pounds.
Derek Traxler came up big as well with a big pin for the Titans at 170 pounds, making it Traxler's first varsity win on the year.
“I thought our younger kids really stepped up big in this match,” Mikel said.  “Our seventh and eighth graders are showing improvement but we still have a ways to go before reaching our full potential as was made evident in the second match against New Prague.”
 
Match 2
Tri-City United 11 
New Prague 67
“We just could not get anything going against New Prague on this night,” the Titan coach said. 
The lone bright spots for the Titans was a technical fall for Nelson at 126 pounds and Burns coming up with a big pin against a very tough opponent at 285 pounds. 
Brownlee faced off against Morgan Pariott in the big match of the night, losing a close 3-2 decision. 
“Even in the loss, I felt Mason wrestled well.  He pushed the action all of the second and third period. Hopefully the two will meet again this season,” Mikel said. “Hats off to New Prague as well. They wrestled outstanding and deserved the win.  It was a tough way to end the evening with this loss.  As coaches, we will go back to the drawing board and do what we need to do to get them ready for our next match.”
Next action for the Titans:  Thursday, Dec 20 at home against Scott West.

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