Park wrestling: Wolfpack open with ninth place finish at Lakeville invite

The Park wrestling team hit the mat for the first time last week, taking ninth place at the 16-team Lakeville North Invitational on Saturday, Dec. 3.

As a team, the Wolfpack earned 86.5 points. Scott West won the tournament with 268 points, followed by Hudson (Wis.) with 193 points and Henry Sibley with 114 points.

Individually, Park had four wrestlers place and seven wrestlers that were one win away from placing as well.

“I thought going in that we should place as a team in the top five,” Park head coach Jim LaBrosse said. “The last round of wrestle-backs really hurt us in terms of team points. We lost way too many close matches but it is early and we will learn from this weekend’s action.”

For Park, sophomore Cody Linssen placed second at 195 pounds and senior Tyler Liljedahl earned second place at 220 pounds. Also, senior Kenny Gerhardt earned fourth place at 145 pounds and senior Nate Bauman finished in fourth place at 182 pounds.

In the Junior Varsity portion of the invite, Park had six wrestlers take first place: David Ayers (138 pounds), Jordan Reeves (152), Brandon Young (145), Darius Henry (195), Craig Seargant (285) and Steve Thongdyrisisack (285).

Next up for Park is the third-annual District 833 triangular against Suburban East Conference and intra-district rivals East Ridge and Woodbury on Thursday, Dec. 8, at Park. East Ridge and Woodbury start the match at 5 p.m., followed by Park vs. Woodbury at 6:15 p.m. and Park vs. East Ridge at 7:30 p.m. Park won the first District 833 triangular trophy two years ago, however, Woodbury won last year’s match.

After that, Park hosts the eight-team Wolfpack Duals on Saturday, Dec. 10, at Park. Teams competing will be Park, Chatfield, Cannon Falls, St. Francis, Blue Earth, Goodhue, Tartan and Paynsville. Wrestling begins at 9:30 a.m.

Tags: sports, wrestling, park, wolfpack, prep, updates