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| Goldberg, Lindell take third at state |
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Posted: Saturday, March 6, 2010 5:56 pm
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County News/Zach Hacker WEM/JWP's Tom Goldberg holds Alex Peck on his back in the third period of his 5-1 decision Saturday at the state wrestling tournament. The win gave him third place at 130-pounds in Class AA.
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By ZACH HACKER
Sports Editor
ST. PAUL — A pair of area wrestlers capped off their high school careers on a winning note Saturday, taking third-place finishes at the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament.
Waterville-Elysian-Morristown/Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton’s Tom Goldberg and New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva’s David Lindell — both seniors — won their third-place matches Saturday to reach the podium in their respective weight classes.
“I’m senior so I didn’t want to end on a losing note,” Goldberg said. “I really wanted to go out there and win. I just put it all out on the mat and it worked out for me.”
His senior season was the third time Goldberg qualified for state. His previous two trips were in a different singlet, however, as he wrestled for Scott West until his junior season. The third-place finish was the best of his career.
He took third Saturday when he defeated Alex Peck of Benilde St. Margarets-Mounds Park Academy for third place in Class AA at 130 pounds.
Goldberg took an early 2-0 lead with a takedown with 1:20 remaining in the first period. He held onto that lead until late in the second when Peck managed an escape with just 12 seconds left to cut the lead in half and set the score at 2-1 heading into the third period.
The Grizzly senior left no doubt early in the third. He managed an escape right away and took Peck down in the first 10 seconds of the frame and rode his out for the final 1:35 to take a 5-1 decision.
“I knew he was going to be pretty tough,” Goldberg said of his opponent. “I’ve seen who he’s wrestled and throughout state he’s done pretty well. He didn’t have many losses so I figured, stay in good stance, if I see a good shot, take it, finish completely, and ride hard on top and I did that. That worked out well.”
“It was a great match,” said WEM/JWP coach Adam Roesler. “He kind of just kept being physical. He looked slick and quick there. He got a couple quick takedowns on the kid when I think he was kind of just pausing. Tom took advantage of that and that’s what you need to do in big time matches.”
The Class A 215-pound third-place matched pitted the previously ranked No.1 and 2 wrestlers against one another in Lindell, No. 1, and Logan Brand of Lewiston-Altura/Rushford-Peterson, No. 2. The two had met up once earlier this season, with Lindell taking a 6-5 decision in that contest.
Lindell said the previous experience against Brand helped him in preparing for Saturday’s match.
“We just did a lot of what we practiced on him and after my decision before we practiced a lot of moves that he did,” Lindell said. “My practice partner (Nick Christenson) just imitated like he was wrestling. We just practiced off that, watched film and did our homework.”
The extra work paid off. Through one period, neither grappler was able to find an opening and it went into the second period scoreless. It didn’t take long for Lindell to strike in the second frame. He took a 1-0 lead with an escape just 10 seconds into the period and tallied a takedown to go up 3-0 five seconds later.
Lindell was able to turn Brand to his back and appeared to be on his way to a pin after the takedown, but Brand’s nose sprung a leak and the match was stopped at 1:16 in the second. Lindell was, however, awarded the four-point near fall and went up big at 7-0.
“I wasn’t worried about if I was going to get that again or not,” Lindell said. “It was just a matter of wrestling the rest of the match. But I was a little bit mad. I was like, ‘Jeez. I could have finished it there.”
Lindell picked up right where he left off. Coming out of the blood timeout, he threw Brand to his back just five seconds after wrestling resumed. This time, he was able to stick him for the pin in 2:57.
For Lindell, this was his second consecutive trip to the state tournament. Despite not placing last year, he came into state expecting to bring home the title. Although it’s not where he wanted to be coming in, he said it was still a good way to end his Panther career.
“It’s something I’ve been training for since I was in sixth grade when I first went out,” he said. “I saw the other guys wrestling and competing at state. It’s been like, ‘I want to be on that stage and be at the top.’ Here I am my senior year and I’m not quite there. I ended on a good note though, so it was good.”
Roesler said the fact that Goldberg is the first Grizzly wrestler to reach the podium is “another notch in his belt.” Goldberg agreed it was a good way to end his career.
“It feels pretty good,” he said. “I’m pretty proud of myself. I didn’t really think I was going to do this well considering the kids that were on my side and my match for going for third or fourth. That was going to be my toughest match. I just went out there and did what I had to do.”
Zach Hacker is at 507-837-5447 or zhacker@wasecacountynews.com |
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