Austin’s Felten takes first at Fillmore wrestling invite
Published 11:55 am Monday, December 19, 2011
Austin junior Devon Felten took home the first place title at a wrestling invite in Fillmore Central for the second straight year as the Packers took sixth out of 11 teams Saturday.
Felten took first at 120 pounds as he edged out A.J. Riley of Chatfield 2-0 in the finals.
“Devon wrestled with a great deal of confidence on Saturday,” Austin head coach Bill Kinney said. “He is looking more and more like the dominant wrestler we’ve come to know.”
Felten pinned Nicollet’s Ethan Pehling of Nicollet in 33 seconds in the first round and he pinned his teammate Erick Power in 1:50 in the semifinals. It was the first action of the year for Power, who was injured in the first week of practice.
Power settled for third at 120.
“We should have had 2 wrestlers in the finals at this weight,” Kinney said. “Erick Power had to wrestle Devon in the semifinals because the other coaches in the seeding meeting wouldn’t seed Erick any higher than fifth. Erick was clearly better than the rest of the field at 120 lbs.”
Brennen Russell took second at 126 after picking up two pins in the first two rounds and pinned by Harvey Pleschort of Pine Island with 46 seconds left in the match. Brandon Cotter knocked off the No. 1 and No. 4 seeded wrestlers to get to the138-pound finals, but he was pinned by Thomas Miller of Plainview-Elgin-Millville with 24 seconds left in the match.
Brandon has shown flashes of brilliance in the early parts of this season,” Kinney said. “He has also struggled at times. We will look for more consistency from him as the season progresses.”
Austin’s Connor Eads took fourth at 106, Dylan Diekmann took fourth at 132, Riley Grinstead took fourth at 145, and Joe Williamson took fifth at 220.
“This was a very good week for our wrestling team,” Kinney said. “We wrestled with great enthusiasm and intensity. Our technique is improving and our mental approach to matches is the best it has been all season.”