Faribault Wrestlers Hang on for Victory

The Faribault Falcons and Austin Packers gave fans a thrilling dual meet in Nomeland Gym on Thursday night. The Falcons had to hang on for a 37-30 win.

Before the match, Faribault head coach Jesse Armbruster told KDHL he was not happy with how his team had been practicing throughout the week and was afraid it would carry over into the match with Austin.

Early it looked like the Falcons were going to run away with the match.

Armbruster said he hoped his 106-pound seventh-grader would be able to stay off his back and not give up any bonus points to his freshman opponent Jacob Tapp. Not only did Aiden Tobin avoid back points, he provided a pin in 4:41 while leading 5-0 going into the third period. That was a unexpected huge boost.

Freshman Sam LaCanne scored a victory at 113 pounds and freshman Riley Stoltz notched a pin in 47 seconds to give Faribault a 15-0 lead.

Falcon freshman Bryce Nolen was up by a 9-4 score in the third period when he got caught in a headlock and was pinned in 5:07 at 126 pounds to make the score 15-6 Faribault.

Freshman Josh Oathoudt seemed to get momentum back for the Falcons with a :29 second pin at 132 pounds for a 21-6 lead. Junior Cain Van Ryn rolled to a 13-2 win at 138 and Faribault appeared to be in the driver's seat with a 25-6 lead.

But Austin picked up wins at 145, 152, 160 and 170 to take a 26-25 lead

Falcon sophomore Josh Heyda pulled out a big 7-5 win in the third period of his 182-pound match to stop the Austin momentum.

At 195, Packer senior Corey Waller achieved late back points in an 8-0 win to give Austin a 30-28 lead.

Before the match, Arbruster said if his team was close heading into the final two matches his team would prevail.

Class 3A third-ranked Felipe Ramirez didn't look like his usual explosive self on the mat but did pick up a 5-1 win at 220 pounds, making the score Faribault 31, Austin 30 going into the 285-pound match.

Falcon junior Dillon McEachran faced Austin sophomore Elijah Marks in the last match of the contest. Marks weighed in at 281.2 and McEachran 241.1 and the Faribault grappler put an exclamation point on the match with a 4:52 pin.

Our Faribault State Farm wrestlers of the match were Tobin, Heyda and McEachern courtesy of Faribault State Farm Agents Jason Krohn and Tony Langerud.