Eagles edge Mankato West

By PAUL DUNLAP

Journal Sports Editor

NEW ULM -- The New Ulm High wrestling team gave head coach Dar Arndt its own version of a 50th birthday present Tuesday night.

On Senior Night, big wins from seniors Sky Royston, Justin Windschitl, Tony Ruch and Dylan Kapolczynski lifted the Eagles to a crucial 29-22 nonconference win over Mankato West at NUHS gym.

"This is big for us because of the section team stuff," Arndt said following the win. "(West) lost to Wayzata, Mankato East, and now us, so it's making our 9-9-2 season a little brighter towards the tail end here."

The Eagles trailed just twice in the meet -- never by more than two points. Chris Koob got New Ulm off on the right foot with a 16-7 major decision over James Campbell, and Nate Gieseke would put the Eagles up 10-4 with a pin of Tyler Woelfel (3:03) at 119. The Scarlets main trio of wrestlers -- 112-pound Jake Sheldon, 125-pound Mitch Hansen, and 130-pound Victor Solis -- managed just 12 points as West held a slim 13-12 lead after five weights.

"You have to give credit to (112-pound) Jon Jamison, (125-pound) Dan Mielke and (130-pound) Matt Wenninger," Arndt said. "Those three (West) wrestlers are tough, and all three were able to stay off their backs and save us some points. That was critical."

Royston put New Ulm back on top with a decision win over Wes Graff at 135, and Windschitl put it back on top for good with a technical fall (5:25) over Nate Coker at 145. Tony Ruch followed with another tech fall (6:00), and Kapolczynski's emotional 3-1 overtime win over Matt Goodrich at 160 put the Eagles in command at 26-15.

"They basically sealed this thing up right in the middle," Arndt said of his seniors. "I kind of knew what I wanted to do at (those weights), and it worked out for us."

A major decision by Tim Wussow at 171 pulled the Scarlets within 26-19 with two weights to go, but 189-pound Andy Bernard clinched the win with a 5-1 decision over Brady Krusemark.

"There was a lot of stalling (by Krusemark) in that match," Arndt said. "Finally we got the (stalling) calls that we needed to open it up a little bit."

The win should give the Eagles some momentum heading into the South Central Conference Tournament Saturday in St. James.

"Losing all the seniors we did, nobody expected too much out of us," Arndt said. "We pulled together a pretty solid season, considering all the kids we lost (due to graduation)."

NEW ULM 29,

MANKATO WEST 22

103-Chris Koob (NU) maj. dec. James Campbell 16-7; 112-Jake Sheldon (MW) maj. dec. Jon Jamison 11-3; 119-Nate Gieseke (NU) pinned Tyler Woelfel 3:03; 125-Mitch Hansen (MW) tech. fall Dan Mielke 5:25; 130-Victor Solis (MW) dec. Matt Wenninger 9-5; 135-Sky Royston (NU) dec. Wes Graff 6-4; 140-Paul Durbahn (MW) dec. Paul Ruch 9-4; 145-Justin Windschitl (NU) tech. fall Nate Coker 5:25; 152-Tony Ruch (NU) tech. fall Tim Palmer 6:00; 160-Dylan Kapolczynski (NU) dec. Matt Goodrich 3-1, OT; 171-Tim Wussow (MW) maj. dec. Travis Aufderheide 22-9; 189-Andy Bernard (NU) dec. Brady Krusemark 5-1; 275-Blake Klinger (MW) dec. Andy Howk 7-2.