by John Molene

It’s been a lean winter for Park’s middle and upper weight wrestlers. But Thursday night the Wolfpack feasted up and down the lineup.

“It’s been a struggle but tonight was a good win for us,” said Park head coach Jim LaBrosse. “It’s good to get a couple of conference wins. The boys came out and wrestled. I told them it’s a new season starting this week and gets us prepared for the team and individual sections.”

Park dispatched visiting Cretin Derham Hall 48-33 in the first round, then pinned rival East Ridge 66-18 in the nightcap.

No less than 10 Wolfpack wrestlers scored pins Thursday in the two meets, eight falls coming against East Ridge and three against Cretin opponents.

Junior Dom Atkins was the night’s big winner for the Wolfpack scoring a pair of falls, the first a pin 1:42 against East Ridge’s Josh Jones at 160 pounds then coming back with a first-period pin in 2:23 against Cretin’s Ben Tallman.

No other Park wrestler had two wins in the two meets, as each of the three teams had several holes in their lineups.

Earning pins against East Ridge were Park eighth grader Kyler Jubinal at 106, sophomore JJ Bachtle at 113, eighth grader Gunner Mullen at 120, junior Zach Silvis at 126, senior Jace Jessen at 145, sophomore Alex Carr at 182 and sophomore Jean Marin-Melendez at 195.

Park’s lighter weights feasted against the Raptors. Jubinal had a pin in 31 seconds, Bachtle put his opponent down in 38 seconds and Mullen pinned in 37 seconds.

Zach Silvis had a 1:14 pin at 132 – the 50th pin of his career.

“That’s a great feat for him,” said LaBrosse. “And it was just good for some of these kids to get some wins and hopefully they’ll continue to practice a little harder and get a little better each week.”

Park’s Carr put his foe’s shoulders to the mat in 31 seconds. Just two of the matches against East Ridge lasted more than a period and both of those were second-period pins for the Wolfpack.

Winners by pins against Cretin were Park seventh grader Zach Carr at 106, sophomore Dylan Wiebusch at 138 and Atkins at 160. Carr pinned his opponent at 3:16 into the match, Wiebusch had a third period pin and Atkins scored a fall at the 2:23 mark to give Park at 42-9 lead.

Park had seven pins and three forfeit victories against the Raptors. There were no decisions in the dual meet. The two teams combined for 10 pins and four forfeits.

Park had three pins and five forfeit victories in the first match against Cretin-Derham Hall.

The Wolfpack have taken some lumps during this rebuilding season. But of those winners Thursday, all but Jessen will be eligible to compete for the Wolfpack in future years.

Park at Simley

Wrestling Saturday at Simley – the 13-time Minnesota state champions — Park dropped a tough 41-39 decision to North, and then was slammed 77-0 by the top-ranked Class AA Spartans, 77-0.

The Wolfpack had two competitive matches against the Spartans. Gunner Mullen of Park, the Class AAA eighthranked wrestler, dropped an 11-5 decision at 106 to Class AA sixth-ranked Brandon Morvari. Class AAA’s fourth ranked Zach Silvis lost a hard-fought 5-0 decision at 120 pounds to Reid Nelson, third-ranked in Class AA.

Wrestling against North, Park match winners were: Silvis with a 3:34 fall at 120, Donovan Early-Pinder, a fall in 1:49 at 138 pounds, Dominic Atkins, a 5-0 victor at 160 and Alex Carr, a winner by fall in 1:12 at 170.

Simley also had its way with North in the triangular meet, slamming the Polars 83-0, just a point off the maximum possible.

Park competes at Stillwater Thursday, Feb. 25, starting at 5 p.m.

Park’s Zach Silvis — ranked fifth in Class AAA at 120 pounds — picks up North St. Paul opponent and prepares to slam him to the mat Saturday at Simley. Photo by John Molene