Perham wrestlers 3rd at Rumble on the Red

Eric Peterson

The Forum

Based on sheer numbers, Randy Baker was happy his team won the Rumble on the Red high school wrestling tournament, which concluded Saturday at the Fargodome.

"I was happy we could win a big one like this," the Jackson County Central coach said. "Other than the state tournament, and they don't keep team scores there, this is the biggest one."

Ranked No. 2 in Minnesota Class 1A, the Huskies proved they were better than 49 other teams, scoring 274.5 points to earn first place. Apple Valley finished second with 235.5 points. Defending Rumble champion Perham, ranked No. 1 in Class AA was third with 215.5 points.

"It's such a unique tournament because it is so big and so tough," Perham coach Robb Moser said. "It's so easy to get down on yourself. You get so critical of yourself, but you have to realize you have a lot of tough teams."

Jackson County Central had three individuals win titles. Cole Von Ohlen won at 135, Torey Stewart won at 145 and Travis Rutt won at 171. All three won their titles in close matches, winning by a point. All three currently have No. 1 rankings in Class A.

A fourth Huskie, Caleb Lines, lost a 3-0 decision against Maple River's Aaron Norgren at 189.

"We still haven't wrestled our best as a team, which I hope will happen soon," Rutt said. "This gives us some experience. Most of the guys haven't wrestled in a tournament this big."

Rutt built a 6-2 lead after one period before he held off Perham's Mac Stoll for a 7-6 decision in the 171 title match. Stoll, ranked No. 2 in Class AA, was the only Perham wrestler to make the finals.

"Our season goals have nothing to do with how we placed in this tournament," Moser said. "It's all practice until the end of the season."

Stoll went 4-1 in the tournament in reaching the 171-pound finals. The only Yellowjacket wrestler to post a better record was Nathan Schmitz, who went 6-1 and beat No. 8-A Joel Bauman of K-M-S in the third place match at 189 pounds. Schmitz is ranked No. 8 in Class AA.

No. 4-AA Andrew Gorentz finished 4th at 103 pounds with a 4-2 record. No. 7 Jacob Werner finished fifth at 125 pounds, also with a 4-2 mark. Barry Nelson (5-3 at 140) and Casey Sazama (4-3 at 215) finished sixth, and Sam Warne (125) and Charlie Schmitz (160) each finished eighth with 3-3 records.

Finally in Lakes Country

The Jackets will start 2008 close to home as they head down Hwy. 10 tonight (Jan. 3) to take on New York Mills. Perham has won two-straight against the Eagles, including a 50-17 win last year.

Perham will finally get to wrestle in front of their home crowd for the first time this season when they host the Barrel O' Fun Invitational on Jan. 5. The first round of the individual tournament will begin at 10 a.m.

The Jackets will follow that up with a triangular meet at Breckenridge with Pelican Rapids on Jan. 8.

(The Forum and EOT Illustrated are both owned by Forum Communications.)

Rumble on the Red

December 28-29 (FargoDome)

1. Jackson County Central 274.5, 2. Apple Valley 235.5 , 3. Perham 215.5, 4. Coon Rapids 205, 5. Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg 193.5, 6. Saint Michael-Albertville 161, 7. Prior Lake 148, 8. Scott West 145, 9. Fargo South 143, 10. Elk Point Jefferson 140.5, 11. Wayzata 133, 12. Maple River 129.5, 13. Thief River Falls 128, 14. Rapid City Stevens 120, 15. Windom-Mt Lake-B/O 118.5, 16. Delano 117.5, 17. Henry Sibley 114, 18. Byron 112. , 19. Forest Lake 106.5, 20. West Fargo 105, 21. Sauk Rapids-Rice 104.5, 22. St. Cloud Apollo 103.5, 23. Frazee 103, 24. Minneota 100.5, 25. New Ulm 97, 26. Fulda/Murray County Central 91.5, 27. Eagan 91, 28. Grand Forks Red River 87.5, 29. Aberdeen Central 80, 30. Grand Meadow/Leroy-Os/Kingsland 77, 31. Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton 75, 32. Stewartville 69, 33. Faribault 68, 34. Orono 63, 35. Devils Lake 60, 36. New Richland-Harland-Ellendale-Geneva 55, 37. Blaine 40.5, 38. Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton 38, 39. Lake Park-Audubon 38, 40. Benilde St. Margaret`s 35, 41. Sisseton 34, 42. Fargo North 33, 43. Omaha-Gross 32.5, 44. United North Central 31, 45. Oconomowoc 27, 46. Wabasha-Kellogg 24, 47. Moorhead 19, 48. Marshall 18, 49. Richfield 11, 50. Hawley 9.

103--Andrew Gorentz--4 Place (4-2)

112--Isaac Werner (1-2)

119--Jacob Werner--5th Place (4-2)

125--Sam Warne--8th Place (3-3)

130--Joe Berns (2-2)

135--Taylor Doll (0-2)

140--Barry Nelson--6th Place (5-3)

145--Dwight Jenne (2-2)

152--Chris Scheidecker (1-2)

160--Charlie Schmitz--8th Place (3-3)

171--Mac Stoll--2nd Place (4-1)

189--Nathan Schmitz--3rd Place (6-1)

215--Casey Sazama--6th Place (4-3)

HWT--Jordan Palubicki (1-2)

Class AA Poll Section

1. Perham 8

2. St. Michael-Albertville 5

3. Simley 4

4. Plainview-Elgin-Millville 1

5. Foley 6

6. Montgomery-Lonsdale/LeCentre 2

7. Milaca 7

8. Scott West 2

9. New London-Spicer 6

10. Adrian Area 3

11. Kasson-Mantorville 1

12. Watertown-Mayer 2

13. Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus 8

15. Thief River Falls 8

19. Fergus Falls 8

Perham Ranked Individuals

103--Andrew Gorentz (#6)

112--Isaac Werner (#3)

119--Jacob Werner (#8)

125--Sam Warne (#6)

145--Dwight Jenne (#6)

171--Mac Stoll (#2)

189--Nathan Schmitz (#3)

215--Casey Sazama (#4)

Class A Poll Section

1. Canby 3

2. Jackson County Central 2

3. Kerkoven-Murdock-Sunberg 3

4. Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City 5

5. United South Central 2

6. Frazee 8

7. Maple River 2

8. Madelia/Truman 4

9. Yellow Medicine East 3

10. Goodhue 1

11. Kenyon-Wanamingo 1

12. Paynesville Area 5

20. Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale 6

21. New York Mills 6

23. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 8

NYM Ranked Individuals

135--Jordan Novak (#10)