Rocori wrestlers slipped by the Annandale-Maple Lake Lightning 36-31 on Tuesday, Jan. 21, at a triangular match-up that included competition between the Spartans and third-ranked Paynesville. A-ML also fell to the Bulldogs 47-18 later that night. Competition didn’t slacken for the Lightning, who went up against Wright County Conference rival, Becker, ranked second in the state, Thursday, Jan. 23. A-ML fell 55-12, and its record dropped to 2-3 in the WCC and 10-12 overall. The Lightning started out the week against the similarly matched Rocori Spartans. The Spartans took advantage of some close matches and claimed the win. “All along it was a decent match,” Lightning coach Bruce Bartels said. “If we had won all the matches we held the lead in, we would have been in good shape.” Dusty Nicka held the audience with his performance in the final match of the day against Spartan Justin Heurung in the heavyweight division. The tight competition ended in Heurung’s favor, but only by a point. Matt Schultz of A-ML also lost by only a point against Grant Johnson in the 130 pound weight class. Ben Anderson had an exciting win against Spartan Sam Howe with an unexpected 1-0 outcome. You don’t often see a one-point match, Bartels said. The two pins of the day came from Stephen Pilgram and Tom Ogden. “Rocori is in a group battling for the third, fourth or fifth seed. We are right in there with them even though we didn’t win,” Bartels said. A-ML hopes to see Rocori again at the upcoming section duals. Later that night, the Lightning pitted their two-senior line-up against Paynesville’s eight. Though A-ML fell to the Bulldogs’ age and experience, Bartels was pleased with the individual performances. Dusty Alama had a particularly good night. After trailing 11-7, Alama took down and pinned John Hemmingson of Paynesville. “That was a nice lesson to all our wrestlers to never quit,” Bartels said. Lightning freshman Brad Salveson went out against a returning state champion wrestling at 189, and though it only lasted 1:23, coaches were proud of his determination. “We gave him a choice. He didn’t have to wrestle if he didn’t want to. He said ‘No, I want to go.’ That’s the kind of ‘give-me-a-shot attitude we like to see in our athletes,” Bartels said. On Thursday, the Lightning were again outdone by age and experience. Becker’s seven seniors smothered the Lightning, but “the kids stuck with it,” Bartels said, winning three individual matches, an improvement over last year when they claimed only two against the Bulldogs. Ben Anderson and Phil Roemer had two wins in a row for the team followed by Ogden’s technical fall over Yurly Yevsin. Pilgram saw his first defeat of the season against Jon Koranda, a Becker football star with a 22-2 season wrestling record. “That was an exciting match,” Bartels said. “In the third period he turned the corner and if we had been wrestling quarters instead of periods he would have won. All we needed was a fourth quarter.” Pilgram’s loss put him at 25-1 for the season. The Lightning were scheduled to travel to Silver Lake on Tuesday, Jan. 28, for a make-up meet against Glencoe-Silver Lake. The varsity matches will begin at 7:30 p.m. On Friday, Jan. 31, A-ML will compete in the WCC tournament at Becker for the conference championship. The event will begin at 4 p.m. on four mats at the Becker fieldhouse. Second-place teams will earn all-conference honors. Third-place teams will earn honorable-mention honors. “It will be a tough tournament,” Bartels said. “Litchfield and Becker are both ranked in the top 10 and Waconia and Watertown-Mayer have received votes for ranking.” Results of the match against Rocori at the Annandale-Maple Lake Triangular are as follows: At 103 pounds, Kyle Erickson (A-ML) fall Travis Scharer, 1:12; at 112, Jay Forness (A-ML) win by forfeit; at 119, Ben Anderson (A-ML) decision Sam Howe 1-0; at 125, Darren Nathan (R) fall Phil Roemer, 2:40; at 130, Grant Johnson (R) decision Matt Schultz 7-6; at 135, Joey Howe (R) fall Dusty Alama, :51; at 140, Stephen Pilgram (A-ML) fall Dean Demarais, 3:58; at 145, Max Johnannes (R) fall Nick Demarais, 4:34; at 152, Ben Johnson (R) decision Adam Northenscold 11-4; at 160, Ian Schorn (R) fall Scott Christen, 3:24; 171, Tom Ogden (A-ML) fall Matt Toren, 5:24; at 189, Brad Salveson (A-ML) major decision Adam Blum 10-2; at 215, Matt Hesse (R) decision Adam Michalski 8-2; at heavyweight, Justin Heurung (R) decision Dusty Nicka 5-4. Results of the A-ML match against Paynesville are as follows: At 103 pounds; Joey Sheridan (P) major decision Kyle Erickson 14-3; at 112, Cory Christensen (P) technical fall Jay Forness 26-10, 4:00; at 119, Ben Anderson (A-ML) decision Pat Noonan 7-4; at 125, Phil Roemer (AML) decision Jack Mueller 9-3; at 130, Sean Glenz (P) fall Aaron Hempel 3:03; at 135, Dusty Alama (A-ML) fall John Hemmingson 5:26; at 140: Stephen Pilgram (A-ML) decision Justin Reeck 5-0; at 145, Joel Kerzman (P) major decision Nick Demarais 10-2; at 152, Adam Northenscold (A-ML) decision Josh Johnson 9-8; at 160, Josh Kerzman (P) technical fall Scott Christen 15-0, 4:00; at 171, Ryan Glenz (P) technical fall Tom Ogden 16-1 4:55; at 189, Mary Engen (P) fall Brad Salveson 1:23; at 215: Pat Utsch (P) fall Adam Michalski 3:08; at heavyweight, Brad Person (P) fall Dusty Nicka 5:45. Results of Thursday’s match against Becker are as follows: At 145 pounds, Eric O’Brien (B) major decision Sam Nordlie 9-0; at 152, Brandon Backes (B) pin Nick Demarais in 5:08; at 160, Jadian Foley (B) pin Adam Northenscold in 1:24; at 171, Tom Ogden (A-ML) technical fall Yurly Yevsin, 16-1; at 189, Jeremy Pederson (B) win by forfeit; at 215, Lex Anderson (B) technical fall Adam Michalski, 21-5; at 275, Mike Hopkins (B) decision Dusty Nicka, 5-1; at 103, Robert Koranda (B) pin Corey Salveson in 1:21; at 112, Russ Lumley (B) pin Tyler Wadman in 3:05; at 119, Ben Anderson (A-ML) decision Jason Shierts, 8-3; at 125, Phil Roemer (A-ML) major decision Jon Lavoi 8-0; at 130, Kent Backes (B) pin Aaron Hempel in 1:13; at 135, Josh Saba (B) major decision Dusty Alama 10-1; at 140 Jon Koranda (B) decision Stephen Pilgram 8-5.
