Wrestling roundup: Benson Braves' early success paves way for a victory over Melrose/Sauk Centre. New London-Spicer wins a pair at Rockford.
Dec. 14—BENSON — The Benson wrestling team came out of the blocks fast on Thursday night.
Hosting Melrose/Sauk Centre for a West Central Conference dual, the Braves built a 23-4 lead through five matches. That helped Benson hang on for a 35-31 victory.
Carson and Gavin Olson got the Braves off on the right foot.
Carson, a seventh-grader, won by fall at 107 pounds in 5 minutes, 41 seconds over the Defenders' Alonso Montanez. Olson, a sophomore ranked sixth in Class A at 107, won by fall at 114 against Brian Hernandez.
After Sauk Centre/Melrose won at 121, the Braves took the next two matches. Ed Wah pinned Tyaus Meyer in 3:01 at 127, followed by a 15-0 tech fall for Max Nygaard at 133.
The Defenders cut Benson's lead to 23-19 with three straight wins before Nick Bolduc ended that streak at 160. Ranked seventh at 160, Bolduc pinned Dan Fredricks at 1:19. Then at 172, eighth-grader Adrian Young secured a 7-6 decision over Ben Fredrichs.
At 215, the Braves' Jack Storlien secured the team victory with a 4-3 decision over Johny Lara.
Benson returns to action Saturday at the Monticello Invitational.
New London-Spicer secured bonus points in nine wins over Rockford at the Rockets' home quadrangular.
Andrew Sandau (114 pounds), Holton Hanson (145), Grant Leenstra (215) and Marshel Johnson (285) each won by fall for the Wildcats. Jeremiah Nelson added a major decision at 113. NLS also won four matches by forfeit.
Down 24-15, New London-Spicer won four of the final five matches to knock off Mound-Westonka at Rockford.
Caleb Nelson started the run with a decision at 160 pounds. Adam Sandau and Brody Duke followed that up with falls at 172 and 189. Then in the final match, the Wildcats' Marshel Johnson put an exclamation point on the win with a first-period fall at 285.
Elden Halvorson (121) and Lucas Engels (127) also won by fall for NLS.
