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No. 3-ranked Fairmont/MCW tops New Ulm Area

Staff photo by Steve Muscatello New Ulm’s Colby Wenninger wrestles Jacob Rahn of Fairmont/Martin County West Friday at New Ulm High School.

NEW ULM — Despite Sean Howk, Cole Ranweiler and Colby Wenninger staying unbeaten on the season for the New Ulm Area wrestling team after Friday night, the Eagles were unable to hold off the No. 3-ranked Fairmont/Martin County West and suffered a 62-13 loss in Big South Conference wrestling action at New Ulm High School.

It wasn’t quite the way NUA wanted its home-opener to end, but three big victories by Howk, Ranweiler and Wenninger still made a statement.

“We try to take away the positives,” Eagles head coach John Rieser said. “We know where the bar’s at now, all you’ve got to do is you’ve got to come in day in and day out and work hard and see how much we can improve.”

After watching Fairmont/MCW pick up victory after victory to lead 35-0, Howk, currently unranked, wanted to get the Eagles on the board and show why he certainly belongs among the top-ranked wrestlers in the state. To do so, he had to defeat Payton Anderson, the current No. 3-ranked wrestler at 145 pounds in Class AA.

With the match being a stalemate at 0-0 after one period, Howk was on the board first with an escape for a 1-0 lead in the second. In the third period, Anderson got an escape of his own to tie it up and eventually secured a takedown near the boundary line for a 3-1 lead with 38 seconds to go.

Howk didn’t let the late takedown bother him as he managed to get a reversal late in the period to force overtime. In the overtime period, Howk got a takedown with 33 seconds left to put New Ulm on the board with a sudden victory, trailing 35-3.

Up next was a 152-pound matchup between the No. 4-ranked Miles Fitzgerald and the No. 10-ranked Ranweiler. Ranweiler was quick to attack in the first period, securing a takedown before adding a near fall for another 3 points and a 5-0 lead. With 25 seconds left in the very first period, Ranweiler scored a pin to have NUA down 35-9.

“I think [Cole] surprised that kid a little a bit,” Rieser said. “Cole’s grown quite a bit over the last year and put on a lot of muscle and he’s using it well right now and is super aggressive.”

The Red Bulls picked up another five wins in a row after Ranweiler’s win, three by forfeit, before Wenninger took on Jacob Rahn in what turned into a one-sided heavyweight battle. Wenninger led 6-0 after the first period after a takedown and two near falls.

Wenninger then went up 12-0 after two periods with an escape, a takedown and a 3-point near fall before winning a major decision 14-1. The only point surrendered by Wenninger was after getting penalized for a clasping violation with 1:13 to go.

Fairmont/MCW 62.0

New Ulm Area 13.0

106: Jesse Potts (FMCW) over (NUA) (For.) 113: Lucas Jagodzinske (FMCW) over Carter Brandes (NUA) (Fall 4:43) 120: Jaxson Rohman (FMCW) over (NUA) (For.) 126: Connor Simmonds (FMCW) over Jackson Bode (NUA) (Fall 2:27) 132: Cale Steuber (FMCW) over Jacob Bertrang (NUA) (TF 16-0 3:59) 138: Jordan Wolter (FMCW) over John Mehlhop (NUA) (Fall 1:00) 145: Sean Howk (NUA) over Payton Anderson (FMCW) (SV-1 5-3) 152: Cole Ranweiler (NUA) over Miles Fitzgerald (FMCW) (Fall 1:35) 160: Nathan Simmonds (FMCW) over Michael Uhl (NUA) (Fall 1:05) 170: Mario Maldonado (FMCW) over Lane Miller (NUA) (Dec 7-2) 182: Tristan Lange (FMCW) over (NUA) (For.) 195: Nathan Munich (FMCW) over (NUA) (For.) 220: Everardo Hernandez (FMCW) over (NUA) (For.) 285: Colby Wenninger (NUA) over Jacob Rahn (FMCW) (MD 14-1)

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