Westfield’s struggle continues with pair of losses

The Westfield wrestling team’s disappointing start to the season continued this past week when they went 0-2 at a pair of triangulars.
In the first triangular, the Razorbacks lost to Maple River 45-28 and lost to perennial power Scott West 60-12 on Tuesday, Jan. 19. In its second triangular, which was a home meet in Hayfield, Westfield lost to Medford 54-21 and lost to Chatfield 62-16 on Thursday, Jan. 21.
Against Maple River, the Razorbacks got off to a strong start because their four lowest weights all won.
“Hunter Simonsen got us off to a great start at 106 and Kevin Hodge was able to keep it going with a tough-fought match at 113. This gave us a great start. Bo Zweiner and Lane Lembke were able to follow it up with falls of their own at 120 and 126,” said Westfield Co-Head Coach David Lassahn.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, the Razorbacks were unable to fill a few weights and gave up four forfeits due to not having wrestlers available at 132, 138, 170 and 182.
In between those forfeits, Maple River won three straight matches, including two by fall to take a 27-21 lead – a lead they would never relinquish.
“We give Maple River credit, they bounced back in the middle weights of the dual. However, the forfeits we gave up proved to be too much to overcome,” he said.
Westfield did end the meet strong. Tyler Archer won by major decision 12-3 and Dylan Ehmke won by decision 9-4, but it was too little, too late and the Razorbacks lost 45-28.
Against Scott West, it was Panthers who got off to a great start as their three lowest weights all won to give Scott West a 17-0 lead.
Lembke got Westfield on the board with a win by decision 9-5, but then the Razorbacks didn’t get their next win until Archer won by fall at 195 pounds. Ehmke followed with a win by decision 3-2 at 220 pounds, but those were the only three wins Westfield earned in their 60-12 loss.
The Panthers’ dominant performance wasn’t surprising to Lassahn.
“Scott West is known as one of the wrestling powers in Minnesota. They have a strong wrestling tradition and seem to always be competing for a spot in the state tournament,” he said. “The ability to fill a full line up and still have depth is critical. They have over 30 wrestlers in the room, and this creates a very competitive atmosphere.”
Thanks to that competitive atmosphere, he noted that the Razorbacks were at a disadvantage.
“In a few of the matches, we were simply outmatched. However, the ability to stay in good position and have that attack style mindset is critical when wrestling tougher competition. The wrestlers will take this as a learning experience and look to improve,” he said.
Lassahn commended Lembke, Archer and Ehmke for their performances in their wins.
“Lane wrestled one of his best matches of the year in this one.  He was constantly attacking and looking for ways to score. He’ll look to continue to build off of this win and help lead this team as a senior.
Tyler is off to a great start this year, and this match was no different. He was able to secure the fall for us. He’s up a couple weight classes this season and has proved that his strength and speed can handle the jump in weight classes. Dylan wrestled to a hard fought 3-2 victory. He has come in this year with a great attitude and mindset. We look for him to be one of our leaders this year as a senior,” he said.
 
Despite the two losses to Maple River and Scott West, he thought the Razorbacks wrestled pretty well in the matches we competed in. 
“This group is hard working and knows they will be outmatched in most duals this year due to open weights. However, we look to be competitive in the matches we do wrestle,” Lassahn said.
Against Medford, Zweiner won by 6-2 decision at 113, Lembke won by forfeit at 126, Archer won by fall at 195, and Vincent Hernandez won by forfeit at 220.
Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, the Tigers won the rest of the matches, including five by forfeit to win 54-21.
Against Chatfield, Lembke won again, but this time by 12-0 major decision. Also winning were Sam Skillestad by forfeit and Ehmke by fall.
The Gophers won the rest of the matches, including five wins by forfeit to end up with a 62-16 victory.
Westfield’s (0-6) next meet is a home triangular at Blooming Prairie High School at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28. The Razorbacks host the NRHEG Panthers and the Lake City Tigers.