Faribault Wrestlers a Pin Away From State

Faribault Falcon head coach Jesse Armbruster told KDHL after their section final loss to Farmington on Saturday he was very proud of his team.

The Falcons beat No. 12 3A-ranked Owatonna in the semis and almost knocked off the No. 5-rated Farmington Tigers in the championship. It was Faribault's first win over Owatonna since 1997.

The Falcons ended their regular dual season with back-to-back losses to Owatonna (44-21) and Farmington (47-19), which made Saturday's accomplishment even more impressive.

Before wrestling Northfield in the quarterfinals Thursday in Faribault, Armbruster told me he was finally able to put together their best lineup. They dominated Northfield 47-11.

The semifinal with Owatonna started off the way the Faribault coaches envisioned.

Eighth-grader Riley Stoltz picked up his 22nd win of the season by pinning his opponent in 1:34. After losses at 113 and 120, the match was tied at 6 and sophomore 126-pounder Cain Van Ryn defeated his opponent 17-7 for a major decision to make the team score Faribault 10 and Owatonna 6.

Owatonna freshman Caade King scored a major decision at 132 pounds to improve his record to 21-3 to tie the match at 10.

At 138 pounds, Faribault senior Tony Avila did not register a victory but came up big for his team by only losing 3-1 to Owatonna junior Tanner Cole. Cole is ranked third in the state at the weight. The Huskies had a 13-10 lead at that point.

At 145, Faribault eighth-grader Charlie Chambers won 16-9 to tie the team score up again and douse any momentum for the Huskies. Faribault sophomore Austin Rendler dominated his opponent 10-0 at 152.

Falcon senior Ryan Mullenex, ranked fourth in the state at 160 pounds, pinned his opponent in 2:22. At 170, Faribault senior Isaac VanThomme picked up a fall in :56 and Faribault had a 29-13 lead.

The Huskies would not cave in. They scored pins at 182 and 195 in :55 and 1:03 to make the score 29-25 in Faribault's favor heading into the final two weights.

The Falcons moved 220-pound Dillon McEachran down to 195 and bumped up 195-pound Felipe Ramirez to wrestle 220 and that proved to be the move of the match for Faribault. Owatonna junior 195-pound Brandon Moen is ranked tops in the state at the weight and came into the match with just two losses.

Huskies junior 220-pound wrestler Goy Tut was a pretty formidable opponent, too, with a 23-12 record, but the Faribault coaches believed Ramirez could use his quickness against him and it worked, with Ramirez capturing his 30th win of the season 7-3.

That win meant Falcon senior Edwin Santiago could just go out and wrestle without any concern about winning or losing or even getting pinned because Faribault had a seven-point lead heading into the final match.

Santiago did defeat Owatonna senior Austin Abbas to improve his record to 26-10 and the Falcons were heading to the finals with a 35-25 win.

In the final, Farmington raced out to a 23-0 lead.

At 138 pounds, senior Tony Avila tallied a fall in 1:25 and at 145 eighth-grader Charlie Chambers collected a pin in 1:55 and Faribault seized some momentum.

At 152, Faribault sophomore Austin Rendler defeated his opponent to make the score 23-15 heading into the 160 match where Faribault was hoping state-ranked senior Ryan Mullenex could get a pin.

Mullenex came through against a tough guy to turn scoring the fall at 4:20 of the match, making the team score 23-21.

At 170, senior Isaac VanThomme came through again with a :49 pin and Faribault was up 27-23.

At 182 and 195, Farmington scored back-to-back falls in :28 and :19 to lead 35-27 heading into the final two weights.

Faribault again bumped Felipe Ramirez up to 220 and moved Dillon McEacharn down to 195.

It was not easy, but Ramirez scored a victory in overtime 3-1, putting Faribault in a position to win if senior Edwin Santiago could score a pin against his opponent.

Farmington bumped up their outstanding 220-pound Trevor Frost with 26 wins. Santiago also had 26 wins and a weight advantage. Santiago had to have a pin. Frost simply had to stay off his back. Frost secured a win and Farmington captured the section crown with a hard-fought 38-30 victory.

The Falcons ended their dual season with a 20-5 record.

Faribault will miss the five seniors who helped turn around the wrestling program: Tony Avila, Ryan Mullenex, Anthony VanThomme, Isaac VanThomme and Edwin Santiago.

Armbruster believes several of his wrestlers could head to state as individuals. The individual section tournament is next weekend in Rochester.