Huskies’ West First, King Second at MN Christmas Tournament

Owatonna's Blake West captured first place at the prestigious Minnesota Christmas Wrestling Tournament Saturday. Cade King finished second and the Huskies ended up seventh in the 40-team event. Westfield's Tristan Rieken finished third.

The Huskies had five place winners overall. Final team standings featured Simley with 204.5 points to win the title. Kasson-Mantorville was a close second with 199.5. They were followed by Shakopee 176, Willmar 175.5, Apple Valley 166.5, Scott West 164.5, Owatonna 157.

Top-rated West went 5-0 at 106 pounds, beating No. 2 rated Pierson Manville of Shakopee 5-4 in the championship match. No. 1 ranked King lost to No. 2 Zach Glazier of Albert Lea 3-2 in the finals at 182 pounds. Each was a state champion last season.

Ninth-ranked Landen Johnson of the Huskies won five times in the consolation round then lost to No. 2 Hunter Lyden of East Ridge to finish fourth at 138 pounds.

Owatonna's Nick Staska, third-ranked at 195, started the tournament 2-0 then lost to Joey Johnson of Shakopee 7-1 in the quarterfinals. Staska won twice in the consolation round before losing to William Gleason in overtime in the fifth place match.

No. 5 rated Kaden Nelson started 2-0 on Friday. He lost to No. 1 Sebas Sviggum of Apple Valley in the quarterfinals but came back to take eighth place.

Colton Krell of the Westfield Razorbacks, and top-ranked at 170 pounds, wrestled at 182. He won his first four matches before running into eventual champ Glazier in the semifinals. Krell then lost to No. 1 Dalton Andrist of Kasson-Mantorville and beat 7th ranked Josh Piechowski of Stillwater to take fith place.

Westfield 285-pounder Tristan Rieken finished third. He won his first three matches by fall then lost to No. 3 Calvin Menke of Scott West in the semifinals. Rieken bounced back with two more pins including the third place match over Jesse Fiers of Onalaska, WI.

Owatonna's 285-pound entry Isaiah Noeldner lost to Rieken in the first round. Noeldner won three straight in the consolation bracket, two by pin, before being eliminated. Owatonna's Chase Dallman made a big drive for placing with four straight wins in the wrestle-backs but fell short of placing.

The Huskies host Rochester Century Thursday, December 20 at 5 pm at the OHS gym.

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