Stevens Point edges Raider wrestlers

• Tanner Owens controls Stevens Point’s Ethan Wroblewski

Hudson senior Tanner Owens controls Stevens Point’s Ethan Wroblewski on his way to an 8-5 decision in the 152-pound match in the Raider wrestling team’s dual against Point last Thursday at the high school. Photo by Bob Burrows

Talk about it

Hudson wrestling coach Chris Hansen got everything he wanted out of last Thursday’s nonconference dual with Stevens Point.

Except a win.

Despite winning eight of the 14 matches, the Raiders came out on the short end of a 31-29 final score.

“We had a great dual with Stevens Point,” Hansen said. “It is exactly what I am looking for as a coach. Of course, I’d rather come out on the winning end but the bottom line is we try to put our kids in difficult positions and Point offered us just that.”

The dual was the last for the Raiders before this week’s Bi-State Classic in La Crosse. The Raiders finished fifth in the prestigious 54-team tournament in 2010. This year’s classic will take place Thursday and Friday, Dec. 29-20, at the La Crosse Center.

Last Thursday against Stevens Point, the Raiders won the majority of the matches but couldn’t score enough points to pull out the team victory. Five of Hudson’s eight wins were decisions with two major decisions and one pin accounting for the rest of the team score.

“We won 8 of the 14 matches and still lost the dual,” Hansen noted. “That is a great lesson for us. I can explain that to the kids forever but until it actually happens, they never truly understand.”

The Raiders lone pin came from junior Derek Schindler at 182 pounds and gave Hudson a one-point lead with two matches remaining.

Sophomore Mathias Tobin opened the dual with a 5-2 decision over Justin Pawlek at 285 pounds to give Hudson an early 3-0 lead, but they trailed the rest of the night until Schindler stuck Nickolas Molski at 5:22 of the 182 pound match to put the Raiders on top, 26-25.

“Derek Schindler had a great match,” Hansen said. “He was relentless in his attempt for a pin. He easily could have simply won the match but sold out for the pin.”

Stevens Point got a pin at 195 pounds to regain the lead, 31-26, before sophomore Elliot Motu won a 5-3 decision at 220 pounds to make the final 31-29.

Stevens Point built a 12-3 lead before junior Nick Nelson won an 8-5 decision at 120 pounds to make the score 12-6. Point led 25-6 before the Raiders won the next five matches to take their one-point lead.

Junior Austin Koski started the run with a 10-2 major decision at 145 pounds before senior Tanner Owens posted an 8-5 decision at 152. Senior Kolya earned a 3-0 decision at 160 and junior Dima Hawksford won a 14-6 decision at 170 before Schindler’s pin at 182.

Following this week’s Bi-State Classic in La Crosse, the Raiders will look to remain undefeated in the Big Rivers Conference when they host River Falls Thursday, Jan. 5, at 7 p.m.

Tags: sports, wrestling, raiders, prep