MINNEOTA - Winning 12 of the 14 individual matches Thursday night, the Class A fourth-ranked Minneota Vikings were in command from start to finish and claimed an impressive 52-9 victory over the Canby Lancers in a Camden Conference wrestling dual between the two long-time rivals.
Landyn VanOverbeke helped set the tone for Minneota, pinning Canby's Konnor King in two minutes and 25 seconds during the opening 106-pound match to give the Vikings a quick 6-0 lead.
Minneota went on to build leads that included 13-0, 25-6, 34-6, 40-9 and 46-9 before completing the final 52-9 triumph, winning six straight matches midway through and leaving head coach Joel Skillings well-pleased afterwards.
Article Photos
Photo by Lucas Knutson
Minneota’s Cole Hennen, top, tries to flip over Canby’s Levi Citrowske during their 132-pound match Thursday at Minneota High School. Hennen won in a 7-6 decision.
"Our kids are working hard in the practice room every day and a lot of good things went our way this time," Skillings said. "We are improving our overall mat awareness each time we compete, and I thought our guys did a nice job of being aggressive out there. We just have to keep working and continue to make improvements."
Following VanOverbeke's beginning pin, Vikings' teammate Bryce Bruner earned a 7-1 decision over Jack Citrowske at 113 pounds to increase the early margin to 9-0. Minneota's Justin VanKeulen then took an 8-0 major decision over Billy Deslauriers in the 120-pound match, pushing the spread to 13-0.
"We were a bit short-handed with one of our key guys ill, but Justin VanKeulen stepped down a weight level and did a nice job," Skillings said. "Then a little later, we had Cole Hennen pick up a big win at 132 pounds. We just had a lot of bright spots, as our kids wrestled well."
Fact Box
Minneota 52, Canby 9
106-Landyn VanOverbeke (M) pinned Konnor King, 2:25
113-Bryce Bruner (M) dec. Jack Citrowske, 7-1
120-Justin VanKeulen (M) maj. dec. Billy Deslauriers, 8-0
126-Nick Stoks (C) pinned Grant Abraham, 3:01
132-Cole Hennen (M) dec. Levi Citrowske, 7-6
138-Andrew Swedzinski (M) pinned Travis Dinius, 4:41
145-T.J. Bueltel (M) dec. John Deslauriers, 8-1
152-Travis Longtin (M) dec. Cedric Citrowske, 2-0
160-Alex Lessman (M) dec. Christian Full, 6-0
170-Isaac Josephson (M) dec. Matt Jelen, 9-3
182-Chris Kaddatz (C) dec. Nathan Bueltel, 4-1
195-Adam Josephson (M) won by forfeit
220-Doug VanKeulen (M) pinned Adam Evenson, 2:45
HWT-Josh VanOverbeke (M) won by forfeit
Canby got on the board when the Lancers' 126-pounder Nick Stoks pinned Grant Abraham in 3:01, trimming the gap to 13-6.
But that's when Hennen emerged with a 7-6 victory over Levi Citrowske in perhaps the night's most exciting match, prevailing at 132 pounds to give the Vikings a 16-6 advantage and begin a streak of six straight wins for Minneota.
Andrew Swedzinski (138 pounds) followed with a pin in 4:41 over Travis Dinius to make it 22-6, while T.J. Bueltel (145 pounds) notched an 8-1 decision over John Deslauriers to push the score to 25-6.
Another close match ensued, with Minneota's Travis Longtin and Canby's Cedric Citrowske locking horns at 152 pounds. The match went to overtime scoreless, and Longtin scored two quick points just 10 seconds into the extra period for a 2-0 decision that upped the margin to 28-6.
"Those two guys are both seniors who have been around a long time," Skillings said. "It was a big match, and Travis stuck with it long enough to come away with the win."
Decisions by the Vikings' Alex Lessman (6-0 over Christian Full) and Isaac Josephson (9-3 over Matt Jelen) at 160 and 170 pounds, respectively, extended the lead to 34-6 before Canby picked up its second and final win. The Lancers' Chris Kaddatz earned a 4-1 victory over Nathan Bueltel in the 182-pound match, cutting the deficit to 34-9.
Minneota then finished with 18 consecutive points to open up final leads of 40-9, 46-9 and 52-9, as Adam Josephson (195 pounds) and Josh VanOverbeke (heavyweight) each won via forfeit. Doug VanKeulen pinned Adam Evenson in 2:45 during the 220-pound match to complete the Vikings' dominant performance.
Minneota will compete in the Minnewaska tournament Saturday, while Canby is at the Wabasso/Red Rock Central tournament.