By Keith Harner & Colin Staab
The Northfield wrestling team hosted Faribault in the semi-finals for the Section 1AAA Championship race.
Caley Graber led the night off with a 10-0 major decision over Lain Kuhlman. Faribault rattled off three straight wins starting with a win at 113# with a 16-2 major decision by Lucas Nelson over seventh grader Charlie Johnson followed by a forfeit at 120 pounds and a fall by second ranked JT Hausen over Keith Harner at 126 pounds. Match score 16-4.
Sam Harner won 8-4 with an exciting last second takedown over senior Ricky Cordova. The Falcons picked up back-to-back falls at 138 and 145 pounds. Along with an 8-4 decision by Elliott Viland over Jack Prybil at 160, and a fall by Cooper Leichtnam at 170 pounds resulting in a team score of 37-7.
Northfield got back on the winning side of things with an overtime win by Owen Murphy, and a fall by Ryan Kuyper. But it was too late to turn things around with the score now 37-16.
Northfield forfeited at 220 and lost by fall at 285 pounds for a final team score of 55-16.
This marks the end of the Raiders team season with a record of 13-7. The wrestlers will compete in individual sections next Friday at the Rochester Mayo Civic Center.
All photos by Dana Kuyper