Above the Fold Media | For the Leader
Photos by Shaila Johnson & Robert Tabern
RIVER FALLS – The St. Croix Falls and LFGS boys wrestling teams earned top-five finishes in their given division of last week’s Northern Badger Wrestling Classic at UW-River Falls.
The Saints earned a runner-up finish in Division 2 with 235 points, just 21 points behind Cadott (256), while LFGS was fifth in Division 3 with 95 points, with Glenwood City (204.5) earning that win. Unity (31) was 12th in Division 2 in the two-day tournament that began on Thursday.
Five wrestlers had top-five individual finishes for St. Croix Falls, including third-place finishes from Kellen Kelly, 132 pounds, and Kaden Clark, at 138. Kelly opened with a pair of wins by pin before being sent to the consolation bracket with a 5-4 loss to William Penn, Ellsworth. He followed with four consecutive wins – two by pin, one by technical fall and a major decision in a rematch with Penn in the third-place match.
Clark also opened with two wins before losing a 5-3 decision to Gabe Knops, Glenwood City. Clark answered with four consecutive wins, including a 5-1 win over Knops in the third-place match.
Kody Fleck, 120, and Griffin Marko, 152, were fourth-place finishers. Fleck won six of his eight matches, including three by pin in less than a minute and Marko won four of his six matches; he reached the third-place match but lost by medical forfeit.
Kasey Johnson, 285, added a fifth-place finish for St. Croix Falls, starting with three wins by pin and then winning the fifth-place match by pin over Owen Kurtz, Rhinelander.
Lucas D’Jock, 170, led LFGS with a fifth-place finish. He opened with two wins by pin and followed a 6-3 loss to Zack Peterson, River Falls, with two more wins. He landed in the fifth-place match where he defeated Peterson in a rematch. Christian Greener, 106, had a ninth-place finish by winning five matches by pin and Brandon Lucas, 160, added a 10th-place finish for LFGS by winning four of his seven matches.
Adrien Olson, 132, led Unity with a 10th-place finish, winning four matches by pin.
Girls bracket
St. Croix Falls had four top-five finishers in the girls bracket of the Northern Badger Classic, starting with a runner-up finish from Nevaeh Nwachukwu, 145. She had one win by pin before being pinned in the first-place match by Mattie Papenthien, Middleton.
Kira Engquist, 120, had one win by pin and won the third-place match over Katelyn Roessler, Clear Lake, in a 6-4 decision. Paige Haaf, 132, won two of her four matches to place fourth and Aleah Jensen, 132, also won two matches to finish fifth.
