Tigers, Ellsworth to clash for MBC wrestling lead

Talk about it

The showdown for the Middle Border Conference wrestling lead will happen this Thursday in New Richmond.

The Tigers and Ellsworth are both undefeated in the MBC dual matches this season. Ellsworth has won the conference title each of the past four seasons. New Richmond finished in second place in the MBC last season.

New Richmond coach Mark Neumann said he isn’t concerned about winning or losing against Ellsworth. He’s out to see how the Tigers will handle wrestling in a match of this magnitude.

“Hopefully we’ll get in their faces. I’d like to see us take the fight to them,” Neumann said.

Improve to 5-0

The New Richmond-Somerset wrestling dual meet is always a battle and that was the case again last Thursday.

The score stood at 22-19 before New Richmond won the final five matches of the night to capture a 46-19 win over the Spartans.

There were some tough physical matches, especially in the first half of the card of matches. New Richmond was able to take advantage of Somerset’s inexperience in some of the late matches.

The match started at 140 pounds, where Somerset’s Alex Praschak and New Richmond’ Jake Rebhan got the night started right. They waged a tough battle, with Praschak getting a five-point move that led to a 10-5 win for the Spartan junior.

Somerset drew the team lead to 6-0 when Isaac Neumann won at 145 pounds over John Gillis, 8-3.

Wylee Schmit returned from a knee injury to get a win at 145 pounds. Schmit pinned Nick Dvorak, tying the team score at 6-6.

Justin Gillis then gave New Richmond its first team lead of the night. He earned a major decision by beating Dillon Schaefer by a 13-3 score.

One of the matches everyone wanted to see Thursday was the 171-pound bout between Somerset’s Tony Martin and New Richmond’s Cole Johnston. The seniors are expected to be two of the top competitors in the class in the MBC this season. On Thursday Martin was able to use his strength and athleticism to earn a 13-3 win.

The Tigers took the lead again when Blake Jacobson scored a pin at 189 pounds. When Tommy Volkert received a forfeit at 215 pounds, the Tigers lead 22-10.

Somerset coach Mike Kappers said Darrin Emmeck had been sick all last week. So instead of having Emmeck face Volkert, a match fans were salivating to see, the Spartan coaches moved Emmeck up to 285, where he faced Tiger freshman Joel Neumann. Neumann gave Emmeck and battle, but Emmeck’s relentless style was able to produce a 9-4 Spartan win.

The Spartans then received a forfeit to Elliot Bell at 103 pounds, cutting New Richmond’s lead to 22-19.

One of the closest matches of the night came at 112 pounds. Somerset’s Ethan Bell and New Richmond’s Jon Keller were tied 2-2 after a period and Bell led 5-4 after two periods. Keller was then able to turn Bell for three back points early in the third period. Keller then kept locked in that position and Bell couldn’t fight off his back, with the match ending 7-5 in Keller’s favor.

That started the Tigers on a roll. Brad Gartner earned a 15-3 win over Caleb Belter at 119. Freshman Tanner Turany earned a spot in the varsity lineup for this match and showed he deserved it, getting a pin over Mikey Rivard at 125 pounds.

Charlie Gartner, another Tiger freshman, scored a pin over Cole White at 130 pounds. In the final match of the night, Tiger junior Jared Kerr won by technical fall over Trevor Bushinger.

Tiger coach Mark Neumann said he was pleased with the win, but was more glad to get through finals week. He said following a demanding stretch in the schedule and he hopes the Tigers will start showing progress.

Kappers was not happy with the performance of the Spartans. The exception was Martin’s win at 171.

“He’s the sun of the cloudy team,” Kappers said. “Cole Johnston is no slouch and Tony wrestled well against him.”

The Spartans have two more conference matches and Kappers would like to see the team win both of them, so the Spartans could finish 5-2 in the final standings. The Spartans will wrestle at Amery this Thursday, then wrestle at Baldwin-Woodville a week later. The Spartans will also be competing in a tournament in Eden Prairie this Saturday.

New Richmond 46, Somerset 19

140 - Alex Praschak (S) dec. Jake Rebhan 10-5. 145 - Isaac Neumann (S) dec. John Gillis 8-3. 152 - Wylee Schmit (NR) pinned Nick Dvorak 5:34. 160 - Justin Gillis (NR) dec. Dillon Schaefer 13-3. 171 - Tony Martin (S) dec. Cole Johnston 13-3. 189 - Blake Jacobson (NR) pinned Jeremy Kelly 2:55.

215 - Tom Volkert (NR) won by forfeit. 285 - Darrin Emmeck (S) dec. Joel Neumann 9-4. 103 - Elliot Bell (S) won by forfeit. 112 - Jon Keller (NR) dec. Ethan Bell 7-5. 119 - Brad Gartner (NR) dec. Caleb Belter 15-3. 125 - Tanner Turany (NR) pinned Mikey Rivard 1:43. 130 - Charlie Gartner (NR) pinned Cole White 1:39. 135 - Jared Kerr (NR) by tech. fall over Trevor Bushinger.

Tags: tigers, new, richmond, wrestling, ellsworth, dual, matches