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Feb. 20, 2000
West eliminates New Ulm in Section 2-3ABy PAUL DUNLAP Journal Sports Editor WORTHINGTON -- An old adage held true at Worthington High School gym Saturday night. Having lost twice to top-seeded New Ulm already this season, the No. 2-seeded Mankato West squad pulled out an exciting 27-24 win to claim the Section 2AAA team championship. The Scarlets, now 21-5 on the season, will move on to face the Section 6AAA champion Thursday in opening-round action of the 2000 State Tournament at Target Center. The Eagles end their season at 22-2. "Too many close losses," New Ulm coach Dar Arndt said. "There isn't much else to say. "West did what they had to do to win the match. They won some matches from us that we had beat them at before." Tim Buzick got the Scarlets off on the right foot with a 14-12 decision over Dan Mielke at 103 pounds, but the Eagles' Josh Luneburg came right back to stick Patrik Hoffman at 1:18 to give New Ulm a 6-3 edge. The score would be tied after Mitch Hansen's 6-4 decision over Nate Gieseke, but Peter Zangl (20-11 major decision) and Shane Gulden (technical fall at 5:29) pushed New Ulm back in front at 15-6. West then fought back to knot the score once again on a 9-8 decision win by Jake Lawrence over Rob Gieseke as time expired, and a Cory Petersen pin of Justin Windschitl (1:15) at 140 pounds. Eric Miller seemed to right the ship again for the Eagles as he outlasted Paul Sheldon 13-7 at 145 pounds, and Bill Bastian bounced back from his first loss of the season with a 10-4 decision over Jon Kozitza for a 21-15 Eagle edge. Then came the turning point of the meet, according to Arndt. The Scarlets' Tim Wussow, wrestling Tony Ruch, looked as though he suffered a serious neck injury late in the first period. Wussow wrestled through it, until an illegal hold was called on Ruch with :03 left in the match. Wussow couldn't continue, which gave West six points on an injury default. "The injury default killed us," Arndt said after the match. "(Wussow) doesn't look too hurt right now, celebrating out there (on the mat)." Brandon Adkins gave West the lead with a 4-1 decision over Andy Bernard, but Gus Martens got those points right back as he decisioned Brian Meger 4-2 at 189 pounds. With the score tied going into the final match, Jim Baker ensured the win and the section title with a late takedown for a 7-4 victory over sophomore Kory Andersen. "That was a pretty big load -- getting to the state tournament -- for that 10th-grader to take on,"Arndt said. "It was pressure situation for him. "West wrestled better than we did tonight," Arndt said. "They got some good breaks and we didn't In semifinal action, the Eagles garnered seven pins en route to a 53-15 spanking of fourth-seeded Willmar, starting with Mielke (5:34) at 103 and Luneburg (3:03) at 112 for a quick 12-0 edge. "They (Willmar) were real new to us this year," Arndt said. "We did a little scouting on them and knew that some stuff would work." Zangl had his second technical fall of the day to give New Ulm a 17-6 lead, and Gulden followed with a pinfall (4:58) before Rob Gieseke came up huge with a five-point move in the final seconds to down Zach Larson 11-7 at 135 pounds. "That boy (Larson) was 18-7 coming in," Arndt said. "He really wrestled solid at the end and put it away with that five-point move -- a takedown to the back. That was a big, big turnaround for us." Justin Windschitl was inserted at 140 pounds for New Ulm, and wasted no time as he pinned Kevin Fuchs in 1:49. Miller gained a pin (1:12) at 145 for a commanding 38-6 lead. "Windschitl came in and really did the job for us at 140," Arndt commented. The surprise came at 152 when Bastian suffered his first loss of the season, 11-10, to the Cardinals' Nate Deleeuw. Deleeuw came through with a five-point move in the final 15 seconds to gain the win. "Unfortunately, Bastian didn't cut (Deleeuw) and he came up with that Granby roll for five points," Arndt said. "If we'd have been smart we'd have been cutting the guy and then getting out of there." Willmar would pull within 38-15 before Bernard (3:19) and Martens (:55) each came up with pinfall wins, Andersen would win 6-3 at heavyweight to produce the final margin. In quarterfinal action, the Eagles scored 38 straight points after being down 6-0 to defeat Wayzata 50-15. It didn't look good early, though, as Mielke held a 20-11 advantage before being stuck by Brett Browkaw in 3:52. "We had wrestled Wayzata earlier in the year, so I knew we could handle them," Arndt said when asked if Mielke's loss bothered him. "We were going to be OK." They were OK as Luneburg (:53) knotted the meet with a pin, and Nate Gieseke pulled out a tough 6-4 decision. Zangl's tech fall (2:00) at 125 was followed by a GuIden fall (1:28), a Rob Gieseke 17-6 major decision, a Travis Hermel 12-11 decision, a Miller tech fall (5:57), and a Bastian pin (3:20) at 152 for the 38-6 lead. Bernard (:34) and Martens (:47) both made quick work of their opponents for a 50-12 lead, and Andersen gave state-ranked Andy Tidwell-Neal all he wanted at heavyweight before failing 5-4 on a takedown with :09 left. "I was proud of him," Arndt said of Andersen. "He had (Tidwell-Neal) beat except for the match is six minutes long and not five-fifty. He's only a sophomore, though, so he'll learn a little bit."
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