Trojan wrestlers finish second in Section 2AAA

For the majority of the season, New Prague and Shakopee were considered two of the top teams in Class AAA wrestling.

Shakopee is the defending Class AAA State Champions and the Trojans were rated 4th all season.

It was inevitable the two teams would battle for the Section 2AAA championship Friday, Feb. 14 in Shakopee.

After winning their opening two matches, the two elite teams did advance to the finals.

New Prague opened the tourney with a 62-9 win over Apple Valley. This was the first time in program history they have defeated the Eagles.

Winning by fall for the Trojans were Colby Dunkel (113), Colton Bornholdt (120), Joey Novak (126), Nick Novak (138), Carter Bornholdt (145), Jacob Vaughn (152), William Busch (195), and Jarek Tikalsky (220).

In the semifinals, the Trojans faced No. 3 seed Prior Lake and defeated the Lakers, 50-12.

Koy Buesgens (106), Colton Bornholdt (120), and Max Scheffler (145) each defeated ranked Prior Lake wrestlers, all by decisions. Evan Anderson (285) had the fastest fall in 15 seconds.

Shakopee opened with a 78-0 win over Burnsville and a 78-0 win over Eastview. This set up the epic battle Friday night, which the Sabres won, 49-13. Shakopee featured nine ranked wrestlers and New Prague had seven.

The Sabres ranked wrestlers won eight of their matches, including four head-to-head match-ups with New Prague ranked wrestlers.

Buesgens opened the match with a 14-3 major decision at 106 pounds.

Shakopee won the next four matches to build a 19-4 win. Nick Novak (138) and Max Scheffler (145) got the Trojans back on track with a 3-0 decision and a 10-2 major decision, respectively. This cut the Sabre's lead to 19-10. Shakopee won six of the final seven bouts, earning bonus points in five of the six matches.

The lone win came at....

To see more on this story pick up the February 20, 2020 print edition of The New Prague Times.