LAKE CRYSTAL — It wasn’t the easiest of season-openers for the Le Sueur-Henderson wrestling team on Friday.

The Giants began the 2009-2010 campaign at a triangular in Lake Crystal where they were pitted against Class A’s third-ranked Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial and Class AA’s New Ulm. Handicapped by forfeits at three weights, the Giants held their own while splitting their two dual meets.

In the opener, LSH fell to the LCWM Knights 52-21. In their second dual, the Giants upended New Ulm 42-28. LCWM downed New Ulm 47-18.

“To be ranked third is pretty high for us right now,” LCWM coach Andre Harnitz said. “We’d like to be there towards the end of the season but we’re not there yet.”

The marquee match of the triangular came in the LSH vs. LCWM dual where the Knights’ third-ranked Paul Norgren took on Le Sueur-Henderson’s fifth-rated Brett Pfarr at 145 pounds. It was a bout both wrestlers wanted and it did not disappoint.

Norgren built a 6-2 lead early in the third period, before Pfarr rallied to tie the match at 6-6 by the end of regulation. In overtime, Pfarr successfully shot the legs of Norgren and engineered the winning takedown for an 8-6 victory.

“I was looking forward to this match all day,” Pfarr said. “I’ve never wrestled before because he’s always been a couple of weights higher than me, but I knew it could happen tonight.

“I just wanted to keep the intensity up and keep pushing and maybe wear him out a little bit. When we got into overtime I just told myself to stay aggressive.”

Norgren was also looking forward to the duel which is why he bumped up from 140 to 145.

“I’ve been working out a lot at MSU and I’ve been learning some new techniques,” Norgren said. “Obviously, I still need to work on them.

“I have a tendency to tense up in matches, too, and they’ve been working with me on that as well. I just need to go out and have fun and not worry about whether I win or lose.”

Harnitz tipped his hat to Pfarr after the meet.

“He’s ahead of where we thought he’d be this early in the season,” the coach said. “He deserved it. He wrestled a good match.”

Norgren was in the Maple River wrestling program until this year before his family moved to the LCWM school district.

“It’s nice to be able to add a wrestler of his caliber to our team,” Harnitz said. “He fits in at a good spot in our lineup, too.”

LSH and LCWM also went into overtime at 119 pounds. The Giants’ Cody Wiese wrestled Brandon Schultz to a 7-7 tie through regulation and then delivered the winning takedown in overtime.

The final match of the dual pitted 274-pound Aaron Bruihler of LSH against 200-pound Matt Johnson in a battle of heavyweights. Both wrestlers had opportunities for pins but it was Johnson who finally pulled it off at the 4:39 mark.

LCWM’s fall guys against New Ulm included Brandon Schultz (119 pounds) and Eric Hood (152). The lone pinner for New Ulm was Ryan Hoffmaan (125). The Eagles had a nice win at 215 where Jake Schmidt decisioned eighth-ranked Nate Meixell 5-1.



Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial 52, Le Sueur-Henderson 21
103—Dylan Keck (LCWM) won by forfeit; 112—Cole Bohnert (LCWM) won by forfeit; 119—Brandon Schultz (LCWM) def. Cody Wiese 9-7 OT; 125—Chris Pfarr (LSH) pinned Ryan Roberts 1:34; 130—Dakota Yarger (LCWM) 3:59; 135—Spencer Yackel (LCWM) dec. Trey Fitzke 9-3; 140—Brett Schwartz (LSH) pinned Davantay Corey 3:55; 145—Brett Pfarr (LSH) dec. Paul Norgren 8-6 OT; 152—Eric Hood (LCWM) maj. dec. Joe Willaert 12-3; 160—Aaron Hutchens (LCWM) pinned Dustin Daley :58; 171—Cody Tibbetts (LCWM) pinned Seth Hynes-Marquette 3:53; 189—Josh Willaert (LSH) pinned Thomas Sandt 5:22; 215—Nate Meixell (LCWM) won by forfeit; 285—Matt Johnson (LCWM) pinned Aaron Bruihler 4:39.