NRHEG 2nd at tourney

The NRHEG Panthers wrestling team placed second at the St. Paul Johnson Governors Duals last weekend.
The Panthers finished the tournament with a 3-1 record, beating Chisago Lakes, East Ridge and St. Paul Johnson, while losing to Two Rivers.
“All in all, we had a good day today. We looked good in all the matches today but fell a bit short against Two Rivers. There were a couple of matches where we were in a position to win and didn't use our basics to finish moves. If you try to force moves or muscle through some situations, you run the risk of getting caught on your back. That is what happened a couple of times in the match we lost,” said NRHEG head coach Shawn Larson.
NRHEG started the day with a dominant 66-5 win over Chisago Lakes where NRHEG only lost one match by tech fall at 145 pounds.
The dual was a quick one as NRHEG received 30 points alone on five forfeits by Chisago Lakes.
After Chisago Lakes, NRHEG faced its only loss of the day in a tight 36-34 loss to Two Rivers; the eventual champion of the tournament.
NRHEG and Two Rivers battled back and forth up until the 182-pound match between NRHEG’s Aden Berg and Two Rivers’ Riley Pearce.
Berg was on the wrong end of a 20-5 tech fall that put Two Rivers up 36-16 with only three matches left in the dual; making it impossible for NRHEG to win.
Despite losing the dual, NRHEG finished with three pins by Ralph Roesler, Ben Hagen and Makota Misgen to earn the maximum 18 points and fall just short 36-34.
NRHEG recovered from the loss by dominating St. Paul Johnson in its next dual, dropping 54 points on the Governors and winning 54-21.
NRHEG started slow, falling behind 12-0 after the first two matches at 106 and 113 before Annabelle Petsinger sparked the Panthers with a second-period fall to cut St. Paul Johnson’s lead to 12-6.
Deven Parpart followed Petsinger with a pin of his own in the next match at 126 pounds to tie the meet at 12-12 before Nikolas Petsinger received six points from a forfeit to put NRHEG up 18-12.
NRHEG went on to tie again after Aidan Schlaak lost by fall at 138 pounds, however, 145-pounder Ryan Schlaak avenged the loss with a pin of his own to put NRHEG up 24-18.
The Panthers held the lead for the rest of the dual.
The Panthers’ last dual of the day came as a 48-27 win against East Ridge to close the day 3-1 and secure second place.
The two sides remained close with a 30-27 score favoring NRHEG up until the last three matches at 195, 220 and heavyweight where East Ridge was forced to forfeit all three matches, giving NRHEG a 48-27 final score.
NRHEG had a dominant week as the team won its home triangular prior to the Governors Duals beating Triton 54-21 and Madelia 78-4.
NRHEG’s next action comes on the road at the St. Clair Quadrangular at St. Clair High School on Friday, Feb. 4, at 5 p.m.