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Feb. 27, 2000
Eagles advance 7 to Class 3A state tourneyBy PAUL DUNLAP Journal Sports Editor WILLMAR -- The Eagles got quite a bit of redemption Saturday at the Section 2AAA Individual Meet. Disappointed about the outcome of the section team meet last weekend in Worthington, New Ulm placed in 10 of the 13 weights, including five section champions and seven total state entrants, to dominate the competition at Willmar High School. "On the way home (from Worthington), everyone was quiet," senior co-captain Peter Zangl said. "It (loss) broke all our hearts, I think, and plus we were top seed -- it made us feel like we choked. This weekend, we came here and hopefully proved how good we are." The final tally is five champs (112-pound senior Josh Luneburg, 119-pound Zangl, 130-pound senior Shane Gulden, 152-pound senior Bill Bastian, and 171-pound sophomore Andy Bernard), two runners-up (140-pound senior Eric Miller and 189-pound Gus Martens), two third-place finishers (103-pound eighth-grader Dan Mielke and 135-pound senior Rob Gieseke), and a fourth-place finisher (125-pound sophomore Nate Gieseke). "I think we proved to the section that we were the toughest team," Bastian said. "It was disappointing last week, but this week we have seven in the finals and seven going to state." Luneburg started the title run off, defeating Chaska's Jake Moore 3-0 in the semifinals before dismantling previously unbeaten Andy Hackman of Eden Prairie 11-2 in the championship. Luneburg's takedown and 3-point near-fall in the opening period set the tone. "He wrestles almost the exact same style that I do," Luneburg said. "He was hard to counter, but I think my experience pulled it out for me. I'm a down wrestler; I like to leg-ride, and once I get you down I can usually keep you there." Zangl had an even smoother road to the 119-pound crown, winning by technical fall (3:47) over Wayzata's Dylan Columb before earning an 18-8 major decision over Willmar's Mike Jensen for the title. Zangl earned his 18 points on nine takedowns. "I get into that zone where I just start taking people down," he said. "Once I get that first takedown, then I'm usually on top. That's the way it's been, and that's probably the way it'll always be." Gulden made it a trio as he thumped Mankato East's Nate Graham 23-9 in the semis before sticking Hutchinson's Tim Hall at 2:56 for the 130-pound title. "I've wrestled (Hall) every year since the eighth grade, I think, and I always seem to come out on top," he said. "I took him down with an inside single-leg, and I seemed to have caught him with a headlock on the way down. I don't think he was expecting it." At 152 pounds, Bastian wasn't about to be left out of the group. He dominated Hutchinson's Todd Selle in the semis, 18-8, and wore down Mankato East's Clint Adams to the tune of a 9-1 major decision in the championship. "The coaches told me (Adams) is a real good wrestler in the first period," he said. "I needed to get through the first period without giving him any points, and as the match went on I stayed the same and he started to drop a little bit. That's what I needed to do." It would be Bernard's turn at 171 pounds and the sophomore left no doubt. He outlasted Mankato West's Brian Meger in a 10-6 decision in the semis before completely dominating Hutchinson's Steve Ellis in a four-minute technical fall. "He (Ellis) was a real upright wrestler, and I knew that if I kept going after his legs he was going to break and I was going to beat him," he said. "This was my first varsity tech (fall), so it was pretty neat having it happen now. State's going to be awesome." Miller and Martens, however, had much tougher roads to get to Target Center. Both won their semifinal matches, both lost in the finals (Miller 11-6 to Eden Prairie's Kevin Hengler and Martens 15-7 to Prior Lake's T.J. Scheidecker), and both came through with big pins in their true-second matches. Miller dominated ex-state champ Ryan LeBeau in 1:18, and Martens needed just 42 seconds to stick East's Luke Baynes. With those wins, the two join their five teammates when state tournament action opens Thursday. "This is how we get our revenge, I guess," co-captain Gulden said. "We're going to do well up there (at state) -- we'll have about half the team going." In other action, Mielke and Rob Gieseke were able to fend off semifinal losses to gain thirds in their weights. Mielke, after falling to Prior Lake's Josh Lindquist in a 5-1 decision, pinned Minnetonka's Kyle Bauser (1:36) before outlasting Eden Prairie's Dan Workman for third. Gieseke lost 4-2 to West's Jake Lawrence in the semis before decisioning both Eden Prairie's Brian Dow (8-1) and Willmar's Zach Larson (12-5) for his third-place finish. Nate Gieseke had an even harder task for fourth, winning wrestleback matches over Wayzata's Erik Schutz (fall 2:29), Buffalo's Mike Baker (3-1 decision), and Worthington's Travis Thiner (6-4 decision) before finally falling to Hutchinson's Andy Merkins in the third-place match. Eagle wrestlers Travis Hermel (145 pounds), Tony Ruch (160 pounds), and Kory Andersen (heavyweight) were stopped in the wrestlebacks.
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