By Brenda Erdahl
Sports Editor
The Annandale-Maple Lake wrestling team improved to 3-0 overall last week after winning two duals at an Annandale-hosted triangular Tuesday, Dec. 5.
All three of the Lightning’s wins came against frontrunners of Section 6AA which bodes well for the team’s goal of a state tournament berth.
“I don’t feel we wrestled our best and we still beat Foley and Big Lake, so that shows what our potential is for the season,” said Head Coach Ben Youngs.
ANML 35, Foley 28
The Lightning stormed out to an 18-0 lead over the Falcons on pins from Brayden Fobbe, Porter Pribyl, and Cassen Brumm. After dropping the next two matches, Ayden Fitzgerald won a key matchup against an opponent he had narrowly defeated last year.
“It was nothing flashy, but he ground out a tough win, and Shay McClory and Cole LaFave followed with wins, which gave us a big lead,” Youngs said.
The lead provided a nice cushion for the home team when Foley rattled out the next three wins to tighten things up. Nathan Klatt sealed the ANML win with a big victory at 215 against a “great wrestler,” Youngs said.
ANML 34 Big Lake 27
The Lightning didn’t get the big lead against the Hornets who started their lineup with the No. 5 ranked 107-pounder. ANML was down 18-12 after 139 pounds, where the Hornets have three of their top kids. The Lightning won the next three to take back the lead, including a forfeit by A.J. Bogatzki and more wins by McClory and LaFave. Big Lake won the next two matches before Nathan Klatt once again sealed the win with a quick pin. Adam Klatt found a way to get a fall as well to stretch the lead to 40-27, Youngs said.
“Those were big wins in the section, putting us in good position. We have a few key duals left in the regular season, including Becker, HLWW, ROCORI, and Monticello. Still, we have given ourselves a very good shot to host the quarterfinals (top 4 seeds host) and even be one of the top seeds,” Youngs said.
Becker will be the team to beat in 6AA. ROCORI will join the group with Big Lake, Foley and Maple Lake as top contenders. In the Wright County Conference, Watertown-Mayer will have the upper hand as the reigning champion with three wrestlers who are among the top-ranked in their weight classes. Despite the tough competition, ANML’s goal is to win both the conference and the section this year to advance to state.