For awhile it looked like Sparta might shut out Logan. The JV won every single match and the varsity only lost two matches. In the end that spelled out a resounding 67-12 victory over the Rangers. The outcome was unusual for a number of reasons. Logan is typically a team that has given Sparta fits in the past, but somehow Sparta always escaped with a victory. They were a team you could count on putting up 20+ points on the Spartans each year, but youth, inexperience and a large graduating class from last year caught up to the Rangers this year and it showed.
Every single JV wrestler finished undefeated on the night and they won a number of close and entertaining duals. And they set the tone for the varsity.
Sparta picked up an incredible 10 pins during the match including two stretches of five straight pins from 189 to 112 and 130 to 152. Eight of the pins came in the first period and one, Bryce Nowaczyks’s 16 second pin, came before live blogger Mike Montgomery had anytime to say anything about the match on the live blog.
The match at 171 pounds was the best of the night. Brandon Brueggen met Damion Figueroa in what appeared to be a match between identical twins. At the end of three periods and one overtime the match was tied at one apiece. Brueggen went down in the first of two 30 second overtime periods and quickly got an escape. The final overtime period saw Figueroa go down and for the first 21 seconds until the two went off the mat, Brueggen held on for dear life to keep him from escaping. Then with about seven seconds left he was able to break Figueroa down to the mat and ride out the victory. After that, the Spartans got down to business and put away Logan in a hurry.
Full match-by-match results are below…
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160 — Tom Tourdot pinned Sam McCormick (Logan) 3:38
171 — Brandon Brueggen decisioned Damion Figueroa (Logan) 2-1 Double OT
189 — Jordan Stanek pinned Dylan Jones (Logan) 1:52
215 — Matt Tourdot pinned Tyler Mattie (Logan) 1:58
285 — Steven Stevenson pinned Trevor Peden (Logan) 1:31
103 — Bryce Nowaczyk pinned Nate Juran (Logan) 0:16
112 — Adam Wiedl pinned Gabe Kapanke (Logan) 1:01
119 — Stefan Jobe (Logan) pinned Gerret Meinhardt 0:31
125 — Kyle Mckenzie (Logan) pinned Nick Winchel 2:32
130 — Toby Mosley pinned Josh Johnson (Logan) 1:33
135 — Derek VonRuden pinned Tyler Wolfert (Logan) 2:42
140 — Logan Denasha pinned Billy Olson (Logan) 0:39
145 — Nick Anderson major decisioned Mark Knudtson (Logan) 9-1
152 — Morgan Leis pinned Chris Schleifer (Logan) 1:59
FINAL SCORE: Sparta 67 – Logan 12
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The win puts the Spartans record at 2-0 in the MVC and 8-0 overall. Next up for Sparta is a tournament in Harrisonville, MO. If you can’t follow the team to Missouri, you can follow them Friday evening and all day Saturday on Trackwrestling. You can also check back here both days to get sporadic updates on how the team is doing.
Finally, another thanks goes out to Mike Montgomery for his help with what might have been the shortest live blog to date. Be sure to check back here tomorrow for photos from tonight’s dual and for videos from the Holmen dual.