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January 26, 2000
Eagles cruise to winBy PAUL DUNLAP Journal Sports Editor NEW ULM -- There wasn't a baseball game being played at New Ulm High School gym Tuesday night, but the Eagles almost threw a shutout anyway. The eighth-ranked New Ulm wrestling squad won the first 12 weights, cruising to a 69-3 South Central Conference win over Fairmont. "The Eagles looked like they did (Saturday) at Park Center," coach Dar Arndt said. "We didn't back down in any of our wrestling technique tonight and that really showed." What also showed was how short-handed the Cardinals were. The Eagles were awarded five forfeit wins -- Dan Mielke at 103 pounds, Peter Zangl at 125, Paul Ruch at 130, Andy Bernard at 171, and Gus Martens at 189 -- for a total of 30 points. "I can't explain it, because they (Fairmont) have an outstanding youth freestyle program," Arndt said. "It actually hurts New Ulm wrestling by not getting the competition matches going into the tail end of the season. Forfeits aren't in our favor at all ... it makes the score look big, but we'd rather earn them six at a time." Josh Luneburg started the offensive surge at 112 pounds for the Eagles by pinning Clint Curry at 2:33. Nate Gieseke followed by sticking Ryan Unke at 1:26. The forfeit wins by Zangl and Paul Ruch upped the advantage to 30-0. Shane Gulden would continue the pressure as he won by technical fall (5:41) over Fairmont's Tyler Klunder at 135, and Rob Gieseke tacked on four more points with a 16-4 major decision over Ryan Howell at 140. Eric Miller started a string of three straight pins as he stuck Kaey Klunder at the 3:53 mark. Tony Ruch followed at 152 with a pin (1:52) over Chris Swanson, and Bill Bastian continued by sticking Randy Johnson at 160. The score at that point was 57-0, but Bastian's win was significant as it was the 100th of his career. He joins teammates Zangl, Gulden, and Miller in that exclusive category. "Bastian is No. 4, then you tack on the fact that (Gus) Martens is going to get there (to 100) real soon," Arndt said. "This is really big stuff for our program -- I don't know of a team in the state that has five 100-match winners." The best match of the night was also the last as Fairmont heavyweight Pete Kuisle, ranked in the state, had all he wanted from Kory Andersen. Andersen led 5-2 going into the third before Kuisle rallied for the win. "He (Kuisle) is second or third in the state, and (Andersen) is our B-squadder who went the distance with him," Arndt said. "I think Andersen (10-1 record before the loss) is a little underrated ... he's better than most people give him credit for." New Ulm improves its record to 17-1 on the season with the win, 5-1 in the SCC. The Eagles will step out of the conference as they host River Valley Thursday. "They're a team like Madelia-Truman, I think," Arndt said of the Wildcats. "They have some good kids on that team. They going to give us some trouble, but I think the Eagles are well-balanced. We're learning to wrestle our lineup a little better, too."
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