New Richmond wrestlers pancake Durand in final Middle Border Conference dual meet

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It’s been a few years since the New Richmond wrestling team has been in a position to really spank a less experienced team.

That was the situation in the Tigers’ final dual match of the season last Thursday. In front of a Senior Night crowd, the Tigers put a whipping on Durand, winning 69-3.

Senior Abe Anderson stole the show for the Tigers. Anderson pinned his Durand opponent in six seconds, marking the fastest pin at the start of a match in New Richmond varsity wrestling history. The previous record was seven seconds, set by Bret Stephens in the Barron Invitational in 2000. Anderson now has the fastest career pin in two weight classes. He set the 138-pound pin Thursday, he holds the 130-132 pound record at 10 seconds.

Anderson had his second straight match with a record-breaking performance. In his previous match, Anderson scored the 264th takedown of his varsity career. That broke the record of 263 takedowns that had been held by Ryan Peterson, who graduated in 1993. Anderson has 111 career wins, which currently ranks seventh all-time for the Tigers.

Durand came into Thursday’s match forfeiting five matches. The Tigers were able to score pins in six of the nine matches that were wrestled.

Tiger coach Mark Neumann said one of the team’s best efforts came in the team’s only loss. Freshman John Keifer nearly knocked off Durand’s top wrestler, Hunter Adler, losing 2-1 in the 132-pound match.

Neumann said another bright spot was Jake Rose in the 285-pound class. Rose is still rebuilding his confidence after a long layoff from an ankle injury. After trailing early in his match Thursday, Rose was able to score a second period pin.

This Saturday the Tigers will host the 2013 Middle Border Conference Wrestling Tournament, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at New Richmond High School. Coach Neumann said he expects this to be one of the most competitive MBC tournaments in some time. Ellsworth won the dual meet championship, edging Amery 32-28 on Thursday, with the final outcome undecided until the last 30 seconds of the closing bout.

“I would hope for a lot of high places in the lighter weights,” Neumann said of his team’s expectations for the meet. “I don’t think we’ll be intimidated by anyone there at all.”

The Tigers should be at full health for the conference tournament, including junior Shane Blackman, who has missed several matches due to injury. He was the Tigers’ top finisher in the meet last year, finishing second to Ellsworth state champion Jens Lantz in the 113-pound class.

Tags: sports, tigers, wrestling, prep