5 Eagles advance to semis

By PAUL DUNLAP

Journal Sports Editor

MANKATO -- Some were expected, others maybe not.

Whatever the case, the New Ulm High wrestling team turned an excellent opening round into five semifinalists during Friday's action at the Section 2-3A Individual Meet at Mankato West High School.

Moving on in the championship round for the Eagles are 119-pound junior Nate Gieseke, 125-pound freshman Dan Mielke, 130-pound senior Sky Royston, 135-pound sophomore Matt Wenninger and 189-pound junior Andy Bernard.

"We had an awesome first round, with 12 of our 13 guys advancing to the quarters," head coach Dar Arndt said. "Now coming through (quarters) with five kids (in the semis) ... I'm pretty happy with that."

Arndt couldn't have been happier with the first round. Besides 112-pound seventh grader Jeff Gieseke, all other Eagle wrestlers advanced -- including pins from 103-pound seventh grader Chris Koob (2:55), Nate Gieseke (1:53), 160-pound freshman Spencer Dickinson (1:36), 171-pound freshman Travis Aufderheide (:53), Bernard (:31) and senior heavyweight Andy Howk (1:03).

"You have to realize that, in that first round, there's a lot of unseeded wrestlers," Arndt said. "We were pinning well, but the competition is going to get better each round you go through."

Others advanced to the quarters due to first-round byes, including Mielke, 140-pound sophomore Paul Ruch, 145-pound senior Dylan Kapolczynski and 152-pound senior Tony Ruch.

Nate Gieseke and Bernard were equally dominant in the quarterfinals. Gieseke won by technical fall (5:52) over Eden Prairie's Wil Richard and Bernard stuck West's Brady Krusemark in 2:17.

"We have come to expect stuff like that from those guys," Arndt said. "They're two of our main weapons."

Mielke fought his way to the semis with a 15-8 decision over Willmar's Peter Johnson, and Royston advanced with a 12-5 decision in the opening round before outlasting Minnetonka's Paul Lamphere 11-7 in the quarters. After a bye, Wenninger moved on with a 10-4 decision over Mankato East's Nathan Graham.

"All those kids did a nice job," Arndt said, "They worked hard and it showed in the way they wrestled."

All other Eagles fell in the quarters, but still have a chance as wrestlebacks begin at 11 a.m. today. Koob was defeated 8-0 by Hutchinson's Beau Penk; Paul Ruch lost 8-1 to West's Paul Durbahn; Kapolczynski was pinned by Prior Lake's Ryan LeBeau (2:35); Tony Ruch lost a hard-fought 11-9 overtime decision to Eden Prairie's Drew Peterson; Dickinson was pinned by Willmar's Casey Swift (4:33); Aufderheide was pinned by Wayzata's Jeremy Fune; and Howk lost a 5-0 decision to Worthington's Ross Teerink.

"All these kids still have an excellent chance, including the kids coming through the wrestlebacks," Arndt said. "Some of these kids can fight all the way through to get to that true-second (match, with a chance at state). I think we're in pretty nice shape here after (Friday)."

Semifinal action pits Nate Gieseke against Buffalo's Dan Ruter (25-5 record), Mielke against top seeded Mitch Hansen of West (35-1), Royston against Wayzata's top seeded Dylan Columb (25-9), Wenninger against Hutchinson's A.J. Forcier (20-15), and Bernard against Wayzata's Dennis Kline (31-5), also a top seed.

"This is their chance to go to the big show," Arndt said. "They'll have to put everything they have into that (semifinal) match, and worry about everything else later."

The first round of wrestlebacks begin at 11 a.m. today with semifinal action, and the second- and third-round of wrestlebacks to follow. Championship matches are slated will begin at 5 p.m.