Austin takes second at wrestling tournament

Published 6:39 am Monday, February 8, 2010

The Austin wrestling team sent four wrestlers to the finals and finished second overall at the Cougar Invitational Saturday at Mankato East High School.

Howie Underwood at 145 pounds and Michael Hirsch at 189 pounds both went 3-0 to take first in their respective weight classes.

Underwood scored a pin, a technical fall and a major decision, while Hirsch tallied two pins and a major decision.

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Underwood’s win in the finals gave him his 100th career victory, and he’s only the 11th Austin wrestler to reach that milestone.

In the finals, he defeated Sam Lindgren of LeSueur-Henderson 8-0. Lindgren is ranked No. 5 in Class A at 145 pounds.

“Howie is wrestling with a tremendouse amount of confidence right now, which will serve him well in the coming weeks,” Austin head wrestling coach Bill Kinney said.

At 112 pounds, Brennen Russell made his first tournament final Saturday and finished second, going 2-1, while Thomas Herrera also placed second with a record of 2-1 at 285 pounds.

As a team, 11 of the 12 of Austin’s varsity entrants placed at or above their seeded place, and the Packers tallied 16 pins Saturday, running their season total to 125, a new school record.

Austin wraps up the regular season Thursday against Albert Lea.

Cougar Invite at Mankato East High School

Other Austin placewinners:

Devon Felten 4th at 103

Erick Power 3rd at 119

Alex Amrich 6th at 125

Dylan Diekmann 4th at 130

Lucas Akkerman 5th at 140

Aaron Juenger 4th at 160

Jerrad Ryks 6th at 171

Brett Kraemer 4th at 215

Team results

1. Annandale-Maple Lake 208

2. Austin 169.5

3. Lakeville South 149

4. Wayzata 143

5. Tomah, WI 136.5

6. Marshall 112.5

7. Mankato East 110

8. LeSueur-Henderson 94