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Wrestlers reach sub-section finals |
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By Tom Murphy
Special to The Argus
Caledonia/Houston’s wrestling team reached the finals of the
sub-section last Thursday at Waseca before falling to the host team,
which had the section’s number two seed.
Not bad for a team that started the season with five straight losses.
The wrestlers went into the Christmas break without a win and finished
the season 12-10. The team was delayed a start to its season because
athletes from both Caledonia and Houston were involved in the state
football playoffs. Houston finished one game short of the state
tournament and
Caledonia won the state title, while competing in different classes.
Also paying the price for its football successes meant injuries to two
of last year’s regulars who ended up never taking the mat for
each school.
Yet, a team that had two eighth graders and three ninth graders went
12-5 after Christmas and beat Lake City 51-15 in the first round before
falling to Waseca.
The Warriors needed to wrestle their best. In the end, Waseca won every
toss-up. When their ‘big guns’ did not win, the meet ‘snowballed’
in coach Jay Tolleson’s words regarding the final lopsided score.
During the week, the Warriors learned of a new MSHSL rule that they had
to reach Waseca or forfeit the match. Caledonia/Houston and Fillmore
Central were the only schools closed because of snow fall that day. “By
the time we reached I-90, the road was fine. Rochester had dry roads
and sunshine,” Tolleson said.
Tolleson said the section was very close this year. “Any of the seven
teams could have won it,” he said. As it was, the number three and four
seeds met in the finals with Plainview-Elgin-Millville getting the trip
to the state meet.
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