Huskies top Falcons for Big Nine Conference wrestling title

At this time last season, the Owatonna was hoping to qualify as a team for the state tournament, only to have those hopes dashed by Faribault in the section semifinals.
While it wasn’t for a bid to the state tournament, a Big Nine Conference championship and a presumed top-seed for the section tournament were on the line Thursday night.
The Huskies would relish the moment.
With gritty performances from some unlikely grapplers, the No. 6 ranked Owatonna Huskies ( 14-5, 8-0) clinched its first Big Nine Conference championship since 2013 with a 40-19 drubbing of Faribault at the OHS gymnasium on senior night.
“Losing to Faribault last year in Sections, it kind of had a bad taste in a lot of our guys’ mouths,” commented co-head coach Scott Seykora. “We have a lot of the same guys returning back and they didn’t want that to happen again.”
After crunching the numbers with his staff, Seykora noted that they opted to shift guys around the lineup in their lower weights, meaning that there would be a number of guys who needed to step up. After Kaden Nelson bumped down to 106 pounds and earned a 10-6 decision, Joey Wencl took his place at 113.
Wencl, who has seen the vast majority of his action on the junior varsity this season, needed a takedown in the final seconds on the match to record the 9-7 decision after falling behind late in the third period. The Falcons would soar back to take a 12-6 lead after Josh Oathoudt recorded a pin at the 3:42-mark of the match, after Kobie Kath managed to hold Cain Van Ryn to a 9-2 decision.
At 138, Carlos Beascochea, Owatonna’s third junior varsity grappler to see action in the dual, quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead after catching Faribault’s Ren Ross in a headlock. Beascochea dominated the match to a 7-0 decision, cutting the deficit to just three (12-9). Seykora noted that the performances by some of the unlikely varsity participants were well deserved.
“Some kids got an opportunity and they proved that they belong apart of Owatonna wrestling as well,” commented Seykora. “Sometimes kids are stuck behind good kids and they don’t always get that opportunity, but I tell them that they have to stick with it. The kids staying in the room are the ones that are going to get the opportunities when they come up.”
From there, the Huskies would start the show the strength in their lineup, reeling off five straight victories, virtually locking up the Big Nine Conference championship.  No.1 ranked Peyton Robb (145), No.3 ranked Cade King (160) and No.1 ranked Brandon Moen all recorded pins while Parker Westphal won by a convincing 16-0 major decision.
It was at 170 pounds, however, where everyone couldn’t pull their eyes away.
After trailing 1-0 for much of the match, Owatonna’s Nick Staska managed to hit a reversal with just under 1:30 left in the third period to go up 2-1 on Josh Heyda. Any attempt to ride Heyda out for the final minute failed as a quick stand up tie the match with just thirty seconds remaining in the match. Then, with roughly ten seconds left, Staska managed to gain enough control on the edge of the mat to be rewarded the winning takedown. A caution point would give Staska the 6-2 win and Owatonna the commanding 28-12 lead.
In the final match of the night, Huskies’ heavyweight Goy Tut put an empathic stamp of approval for Owatonna.
Just fifteen seconds into the first period Tut took a powerful blast double-leg on Hank Schultz that would have made every wrestling fan’s heart explode. The senior would record the pin at the 1:31-mark of the period.
Seykora noted that seeding for the Section tournament should be conducted sometime early next week with matches slated to start Thursday at OHS.