Alexandria wrestling: Cardinals top Rocori

Talk about it

Alexandria’s young wrestling team continues to improve with each outing, leading the Cardinals to a 47-19 win over Rocori Tuesday night in Central Lakes Conference action.

Leading the team was 8th grader Ben Bogart, who battled a veteran senior to a 4-3 victory.

“Ben continued to be the giant killer,” said head coach Tom Ellison. “This is the second time in CLC matches that Ben had to face an accomplished senior wrestler in the 106-pound weight class, and for the second time, Ben was able to get the win.

“This time, Ben scored an escape late in the third period to win 4-3.”

Rocori was able to even the match with a win at the next weight, but the Cardinals picked up four straight victories after that for a 22-3 lead, behind a forfeit win from junior Trent Piepenburg, a major decision from freshman Blake Olhausen, a decision from junior Jacob Schiltgen, and a pin from sophomore Tristan Johnson.

“Rocori answered back with wins at 145 and 152,” noted Ellison. “[Sophomore] Dustin Neu picked up his first varsity career win by getting a major decision at 160 pounds.”

Alexandria earned wins by forfeit from sophomore Mike Schluter at 170 pounds and from junior Shawn Nelson.

“Eighth grader Dan Oberg stepped in at 220 for Justin Cumberbatch and was able to pick a second period pin,” said the coach. “Justin wanted to move up a weight class and take on a real challenge in facing the heavyweight from Rocori, who is having an excellent season.”

Cumberbatch, a sophomore, gave up five inches in height and more than 70 pounds to the Rocori heavyweight, but came away with a 13-11 win.

“Our young team continues to improve each time out,” said Ellison. “There is work to be done yet on improving our position during matches as our opponents are getting some scoring opportunities when we get out of position. This team will work on that as they are not afraid to dig in at practice [to] improve their wrestling techniques.”

Alexandria will hone its skills tomorrow, Saturday, when it travels to the Monticello Invitational.

ALEXANDRIA 47, ROCORI 19

106 – Ben Bogart, Alex, dec Xavier Gropper 4-3, 113 – Adam Kunz, Roc, dec Dylan Kriese 8-4, 120 – Trent Piepenburg, Alex, won by forfeit, 126 – Blake Olhausen, Alex, maj dec Logan Peterka 12-2, 132 – Jacob Schiltgen, Alex, dec Cody Buerman 2-1, 138 – Tristan Johnson, Alex, pinned Matt Soldner 2:39, 145 – Nicke Warne, Roc, pinned Damian Henry 5:07, 152 – Ben Hoffman, Roc, dec Joe Brown 15-2, 160 – Dustin Neu, Alex, maj dec Mitchell Schwinghammer 11-1, 170 – Mike Schluter, Alex, won by forfeit, 182 – Travis Klein, Roc, pinned Andrew Moske 4:34, 195 – Shawn Nelson, Alex, won by forfeit, 220 – Dan Oberg, Alex, pinned Seth Miller 3:15, 285 – Justin Cumberbatch, Alex, dec Tyler Hoffman 13-11.

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, cardinals, wrestling