The Alexandria wrestling team swept a triangular at Wheaton on Thursday as the Cardinals beat New York Mills in a 43-27 final and Border West in a 56-21 match.
Sophomore Mason McGrane continues to cement himself as one of the top wrestlers in the state in the lighter weights. McGrane, ranked 7th at 113 pounds in the Dec. 9 Guillotine polls, won the 120-pound bracket in an invite at Sauk Centre-Melrose earlier this season. He pinned 4th-ranked Cole Sykora of Border West in the second period on Thursday night in Wheaton.
Alexandria 8th-grader Nolan Fettig is ranked 10th in the Class AA polls at 106 pounds, and he had two wins at the triangular on Thursday. Grayson Timm, Isaac Saffert, Kelly Johnson, Landon Seward, Mason Teaser and Luke Maanum all went 2-0 to help the Cardinals sweep.
Junior Blaze Nelson, ranked 8th at 138 pounds, also contributed by stepping up to the challenge of wrestling two of the top athletes from both Border West and New York Mills.
“We shuffled our lineup a bit, moving several guys up a weight class, which in the end paid off big and contributed to the overall team scores,” Alexandria head coach Aldon Struchen said. “We had Blaze Nelson go after two very good opponents, and although he ended up losing both very close contested matches, it will serve him well for the end of the season seeking out the best guys from opposing teams. He was leading both matches before making a few critical mistakes in the third period. Mason Teaser came back to win a hard-fought match up a weight class against New York Mills, which put the dual meet out of reach. He had a great match strategy and his patience really paid off for him.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Alexandria is back on the mat on Saturday at the West Central Area Invite in Barrett starting at 9 a.m.
