The Lion wrestlers opened their conference dual meet season Tuesday night with a convincing win over Republic County. Freshman Nathan Reed started the dual off right by pinning his opponent in the 3rd period after gaining a 9 - 0 advantage during the first two periods. At 119 Lbs, Sophomore John Corman received a forfeit. Junior, Dusty Greer continued the domination at 125 Lbs by pinning his opponent with 1:30 sec. left in the 1st period. Tyler Hamilton a 135 pound senior received a forfeit before 135 pound freshman Zac Eaton dominated Sophomore Trenton Colburn earning a major decision winning by 13 - 2. Colburn has held the varsity spot for 2 seasons for Republic County. Minneapolis’s only loss of the dual came at eh 140 pound weight class when returning state place winning Aaron Weatherhead pinned Junior Anthony Brannum. “Anthony wrestled extremely tough and was leading the match in the first period stated coach Giles.” Senior 152 pound Alberto Contreras, scored 4 takedowns in the first period and then pinned his opponent to put the home team on top 46 - 6. At 160 and 171 Lbs Nicholas Torres and Jacob Klein both received forfeits. At 189 Lbs, Junior Andy Griffith pinned his opponent with 1:17 sec. remaining in the first period. In the 215 Lbs and 285 Lbs weigh classes Drew Smith and Jacob Snider both received forfeits making the final score 76 - 6 Minneapolis.

Minneapolis 72 Southeast of Saline 6

In the second dual of the night for the Lions tremendous intensity and good execution helped the home team to another dominating performance. Nathan Reed 103 Lbs and Brody Laflin 112Lbs both recieved forfeits to start the dual. At 119 Lbs, John Corman put in a fine performance winning 8 - 1 in a match where he constantly took control of his opponent. Dusty Greer won a hard fought match against a seasoned opponent at 125 Lbs. "Both John and Dusty use and explosive physical styler of wreslting that takes a toll on their opponents and is fun to watch, stated Coach Giles." In the 130 Lb weight class Tyler Hamilton showed his skills by building up a 9 - 0 lead before pinning his opponent in the 2nd period. Zac Eaton at 135 Lbs pinned his opponent with :25 seconds remaining in the 1st period. Garrett Breese increased the Lion lead to 36 points making the score 36 - 0 after pinning his opponent in the 140 Lb weight class. Senior, Cody Eaton, scored a takedown and immediately wrapped his opponent up in a cradle for the pin at 145 Lbs. Alberto Contreras put 6 more points on the team score with a pin in the 2nd period putting the home team on top 48 - 0. Minneapolis suffered its only loss at 160 Lbs. Sophomore Nicholas Torres gave a tremendous effort against a veteran senior pulling within 1 point with a takedown at the end of the 1st period but came up shore in the match. At 171 Lbs Junior Jacob Klein won by forfeit. The 189 Lb wrestler Andy Griffith won by pinning his opponent in the 1st period before Sophomore Drew Smith and Freshman Jacob Snider won by forfeit. The final score was Minneapolis 72 - SES 6

There were three exhibition matches during the dual. Sr. Taylor Seimers own by pin at 130 Lbs, Sophomore Adam Klein won by pin at 135 Lbs, and Sophomore Austin Crosson won by pin at 160 Lbs.

"The team has performed very well during the first half of the season going 6 - 0 in duals (2 - 0 in conference duals), but the duals against Republic County and SES had to be as complete an effort as a team can have with the entire squad performing at a high level, says Coach Giles."