Wrestlers pick up first team win of the season against BOLD

The Cardinals wrestling team picked up its first victory of the season beating BOLD 42-30 in Westbrook Friday, Jan. 21.
In earlier action last week, Luverne fell to Worthington 60-18 and Windom 42-24 in Worthington Tuesday, Jan. 18.
The Cardinals also wrestled Red Rock Central on Jan. 21 but suffered a 40-25 setback in that contest.
 
Worthington Triangular 
The Cardinals produced only three victories against the Trojans in Worthington Jan. 18.
At 126, Cameron McCrary received a forfeit before Hudson Hough pinned Vincent Vanderkooi at 132 pounds.
Luverne’s Braydon Ripka secured the final victory by pinning Worthington’s Moo Bleh at 145.   
Facing the Eagles of Windom-Mountain Lake, the Cardinals tallied 24 team points with four pins.
At 126, Hudson Hough pinned Aiden Holmberg before Jaden Reisch downed Eagan Maras at 152.
Jacob Madison pinned Matthew Ekstrom at 170, and Ayden Bonnett secured the final victory at 220.
After pinning both of his opponents, seventh-grader Hough reflected on his wins.
“I didn’t expect to win, and it feels pretty nice,” Hough said. “I took advantage of the other guy’s mistakes and wrestled pretty well.” 
 
Red Rock Central Triangular 
The Cardinals secured their first team victory of the season by defeating three Trojan wrestlers and receiving four forfeits.
At 106 and 113, Luverne’s Brody Kopp and Josh Stroh each received a forfeit before Hudson Hough pinned BOLD’s Gavin Hammerschmidt at 132.
Braydon Ripka pinned Elijah Swenson in 1:27 at 152, and Cash Bonnett pinned BOLD’s Hayden Edwards in 2:29 at 160.
The Cardinals’ Jacob Madison at 182 and Ayden Bonnett at 195 received forfeits, putting Luverne ahead in order to secure the team victory.
“It feels good to get our first team win.” Ripka said. “Knowing that we can beat the teams who can fill weight classes just as much as we can is definitely a confidence booster.”
The Cardinals came up short against the Falcons from RRC but managed to win five matches.
Brody Kopp pinned Gavin Willardson at 106, getting the Cardinals off to a good start. Josh Stroh followed up pinning Marshal Willhite at 113 before Cameron McCrary downed Jonah Skarupa in a 13-2 major decision.
After three Falcon victories at 126, 132 and 138, Braydon Ripka pinned Andrew Pankonin in under a minute to add six more team points. 
Cash Bonnett, wrestling at 160, lost a close 4-2 decision before Jacob Madison edged Austin Cown 5-3 at 182 pounds. Ayden Bonnett ended the wrestling for the Cardinals, suffering a 5-2 loss.  
“Guys wrestled well last week, and we had some tough matches,” head coach Jordan Kopp said.
“I feel like if we had our full team, we could have done better winning a few more matches and maybe changed some outcomes of the duals.”