Posted: 12/18/02

Wrestlers upset No. 6 Bluejackets 49-19

Berk Brown
Sports Editor
In a span of three days last week, the Forest Lake wrestling team can wrestle with ñÝand beat ñÝsome of the best in the state.

The Rangers improved their dual record to 5-1 last week after crushing Suburban East Conference foe Woodbury and upsetting highly-ranked Cambridge-Isanti. Forest Lake then took second in the competitive St. Francis Invitational.

After starting the season completely off the rankings radar, the Rangers have wasted no time in changing that.

Forest Lake entered The Guillotineís rankings at No. 12 in AAA. But, that was before the Rangers beat sixth-ranked Cambridge-Isanti 49-19 on Friday.

On Saturday, the Rangers placed second at the St. Francis Invitational. Simley, the No. 2-ranked team in AAA, won the championship. Forest Lake had four individual champions in the tournament as well as a pair of second-place finishers and three wrestlers who finished third.

Jordan Kolbow (125 pounds), Dan Taylor (130) and John Denney (135) all stayed undefeated on the season by winning titles in their respective weight classes at St. Francis.

Forest Lake also got a championship from Brandon Engel at 275. Engel beat eighth-ranked Joe Batters of Anoka 4-2 in the championship match.

ìBrandon has been continuously improving and has now stepped his wrestling up to the next level,î Forest Lake coach Rich Elliot said.

Forest Lake got second-place finishes from Eric Morris (103) and Sean Hogan (112) and got third-place finishes from Patrick Taylor (119), Brandon Girtz (140) and Alex Behling (215).

ìThe team looked very good on Saturday,î Elliot said. ìBut, we hope to continue improving.î
It would be hard for the Rangers to improve much from their 49-19 win over the Bluejackets on Friday. Cambridge-Isanti was without one of its best wrestlers in 119-pounder Tim Carl, but the Rangers were able to get most of the breaks in the match.

ìItís a great win, but Iím sure Cambridge will come a little stronger at the end of the season,î Elliot said. ìThey have a lot of good wrestlers. Everything just went our way Friday.î

Morris, Patrick Taylor, Dan Taylor, Denney, Jimmy Underdahl (145) and Behling all won by fall for the Rangers against Cambridge-Isanti.

Hogan added a 5-4 win at 112 while Kolbow won his match at 125 by a score of 13-4 and Girtz won at 140 by a 15-9 margin. Engel took a 4-1 victory at 275 for the Rangers.

On Thursday, Dec. 5, Forest Lake defeated Woodbury 56-9.

Denney, Girtz, Ted Truedson (152), Jason Waidzulis (189), Engel and Clayton Harrison (119) all won by fall for the Rangers.

Doug Joyer (160) won his match 8-6 while Morris won 14-2, Hogan took a 6-2 victory, Girtz scored a 16-7 victory and Kolbow won by forfeit.

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