Area wrestlers find success at invite
BY RYAN SCHLEICHER – SUN NEWSPAPERS
Irondale’s Eriq Smith captured the heavyweight championship this past weekend at the Don Meyers Fridley Wrestling Invitational.
Irondale’s Eriq Smith, on top against Minneapolis Patrick Henry’s Kelsey Bocek. Smith went on to win the 280-pound bracket championship. (Photo by John Sherman – Sun Newspapers)
Smith, who wrestled in the 285-pound and up division, is a junior at Irondale High School. His path to the championship was impressive as he dominated his opponents by beating them in 2-0 pin decisions. Smith ran right through Peter Oakland from Rogers to meet with Kelsey Bocek From Minneapolis Patrick Henry. Smith twisted and turned his way right past Bocek and into the finals against Tartan’s Jason Telin.
Tartan High School which traditionally brings tough competitors lived up to that history as it claimed the overall team title in this competition but Telin could not complete the heavyweight championship as he fell to Smith.
Chris Knudsen from Irondale made it to the semi-final matchup in the 170-pound category but was eliminated only one round before the finals. Knudsen lost to Ryder Schmidt from Mound-Westonka. Schmidt went on to win the 170-pound division.
Ajan Ajanic of Fridley tries to escape the grasp of Mound-Westonka’s Tyler Hebig in the 160-pound semifinals. (Photo by John Sherman – Sun Newspapers)
Ajan Ajanic from Fridley was eliminated in the semi-finals of the 160-pound division by Tyler Hebig. Ajanic made Hebig battle, the winner moving on to the finals. Hebig went on to win the 160-pound division title by defeating Cory Berry from Champlin.
Jeff Jarshaw from Irondale won the 152-pound division. Jarshaw defeated Dillon Carlson from North St. Paul in the semi-final round. In the finals, Jarshaw was able to find a way to come out on top of John Byers of Mound-Westonka.
Family brought home titles in their respective divisions. Dustin Weinmann from Irondale won the 132-pound division by defeating Hunter Smith from Zimmerman. However, this wasn’t the only Weinmannn that was victorious on this day. Ryan Weinmann brought home a division title in the 126-pound bracket by defeating Ryan Reid of Mound-Westonka.
Wrestlers from Totino-Grace performed in the Litchfield Invitational this past weekend with some having decent success. Totino-Grace as a team did not perform well finishing second from the bottom, scoring 71 points just to edge out Albany. Some wrestlers however deserve notable consideration.
Jaxon Sommers took second place, being defeated 10-4 in the championship round of the 106-pound bracket.
Pierce Rothenbacher was pinned by Austin Walz from Sauk Rapids to take second place in the 138-pound bracket.
