It was a good week for Ranger wrestlers. After a rout of Roseville in Suburban East Conference competition, coach Bob Dettmerís mat men claimed first place in the St. Francis Tournament on Saturday, topping an eight-team field.

Coach Bob Dettmerís charges notched two individual championships and eight second-place finishes to win the hardware at St. Francis.

The tournament title came after a rousing 72-9 win over the Roseville Raiders in conference action on Dec. 8.

The solid showing at St. Francis was anchored by Jordan Kolbowís championship at 160 pounds and a first place win at 125 pounds by Shawn Saxe.

For Kolbow, three more wins were added to his total for the season, pushing his mark to 7-0. He is now closing in on the school record for wins.

Kolbow in three matches at St. Francis came in with a 20-6 major decision, a fall in 2:54 and a 13-4 major decision over Centennialís Kevin Wallraff.

Shawn Saxe, a junior wrestling at 125 pounds, went 3-0, posting a 6-4 decision and pins that came in 3:36 and 0:47. The championship fall came over Mike Castellano of St. Francis.

The wins by Kolbow and Saxe were key in Forest Lakeís first place team total of 234.5. Anoka was second with 219.5 points while St. Francis was third with 207. All three schools are rivals for the Section 7 title along with perennial power Cambridge.

Other school totals at St. Francis were: Centennial, 113; Annandale/Maple Lake, 80; Cooper, 66; Fridley, 49; Eveleth-Gilbert/Mountain Iron-Buhl/Virginia, 22.

Forest Lakeís second place finishes were notched by Kevin Nelson at 103, Luke Opsahl at 112; Charlie Janssen at 119, Matt Joyer at 130, Kevin Determan at 135, Lucas Munkelwitz at 160, Ryan Turry at 189 and Dustin Bently at 215.

The Rangers got third-place finishes from Eric Norris at 140 pounds, Patrick Taylor at 145 and Brent Kolbow at 152. Heavyweight Collin Peterson, who was filling in for Derek Peterson, placed sixth at St. Francis.

ìIt was important for us to establish ourselves early and we did,î Dettmer said. He was pleased with the strong showing against Anoka and St. Francis opponents. Solid efforts by eighth grade wrestlers Nelson and Janssen bode well for the future, the coach said.

After the easy win over Roseville, Forest Lake is now 4-0 in dual meets. That includes three team wins at the Chisago Lakes Dual Meet Tourney.

In the win over the Raiders, Forest Lake got wins from Andy Kolbow at 112, Opsahl at 119, Janssen at 125, Saxe at 130, Joyer at 135, Morris at 140, Taylor at 145, Brent Kolbow at 152, Jordan Kolbow at 160, Munkelwitz at 171, Turry at 189 and Peterson at heavyweight.

Kolbow update

Jordan Kolbowís 7-0 start has moved him within 12 victories of equaling the school record for wins. The senior now has 152 wins in a career that is now in its sixth season. The school record remains in the hands of two-time state champion Troy Marr who won 164 marches in his career.

Kolbow went 37-1 as a junior at 145 pounds with his only loss of the season in the state championship match.

It will be a big week for the Ranger mat men. Tonight (Thursday) Forest Lake travels to Park Cottage Grove for an SEC contest. On Saturday, Forest Lake hosts its dual meet tournament with action beginning at 9 a.m. Along with the host school, other teams who will be here include Centennial, Eden Prairie, North Branch, Park, St. Paul Humboldt, Stillwater and Woodbury.

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Forest Lake Times
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