Wrestling: Felten and Russell win tournament titles in Mankato

Published 7:55 am Monday, February 4, 2013

MANKATO – Two Austin seniors took home tournament titles in their last regular season tournament as the Packer wrestling team took fourth place out of eight teams at the Mankato East Invite Saturday.

Brennen Russell and Devon Felten captured tournament championships in their last regular season tournament.

Brennen Russell beat Matt Elsenpeter of Watertown-Mayer, who is ranked No. 8 in the state, 8-6 in four overtimes in the 126-pound finals.

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“Brennen is on a hot streak right now,” Austin head coach Bill Kinney said. “This is the third week in a row that he has beaten a state ranked wrestler. He is wrestling with a great deal of confidence and poise, and our challenge is to keep this going for the remainder of the month.”

Devon Felten won by scores of 15-0, 7-2 and 6-2 to win the 138-pound title.

“Devon is also wrestling very well right now,” Kinney said. “You can tell that he has elevated his intensity and aggression. He cruised through the 138 lb. bracket on Saturday.”

Brandon Cotter took second for the Packers at 145 and Alec Estrada took second at 160 in his first varsity tournament.

“Alec Estrada was a pleasant surprise to make the finals,” Kinney said. “We are quite deep with talent in our middle weights. We are hoping that we can spread a few of those guys out to more weight classes in the coming seasons.”

Mitch Tebay took third at 170, Nathan Brinkman took fourth at 132, Riley Grinstead took fifth at 152, Aiden Wilson took sixth at 106 and Brad Kamp took sixth at 113.