East Ridge wrestling: Raptors win fifth straight dual

The East Ridge Raptors wrestlers continued their winning ways in a late addition to their schedule on Thursday, Dec. 22. The Raptors traveled to Columbia Heights and earned an impressive 64-12 victory over the Hylanders. The win improved East Ridge’s record to 5-2 with five consecutive wins.

Winning by fall for the Raptors were eighth grader MJ Okada at 106 pounds, sophomore Reid Lyden (126 pounds), freshmen Emilio Huerta (132 pounds), senior John Chatterton (138 pounds), sophomore Josh Stensgard (145 pounds), junior David Kroger (160 pounds), sophomore Nate Tigges (182 pounds), and sophomore JC Hassenauer (heavyweight). Also, senior Jon Balagot earned a 19-8 major decision win at 170 with an impressive performance, taking his opponent down six times and working two sets of nearfall. In addition, sophomore Jake Trevis and senior Kyle Siemers both earned decisions for the Raptors at 120 pounds and 195 pounds, respectively, while sophomore Ryan Thompson accepted a forfeit at 113 pounds.

East Ridge’s next competition will be at home on Thursday, Jan. 5, when the team hosts a quadrangular with Minneapolis Roosevelt, St Agnes, and Nicollet. East Ridge head coach Hans Horning said he hopes the team can keep its momentum going.

“The team is doing well but now they need to keep their conditioning and improve their technique as we practice over break,” he said. “That can often be a tough thing to do. They need to stay focused. We will find out on January 5th.”

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