Wrestling Tigers third among 8 in home invite

I had to wince a little seeing a headline about our Morris wrestling invitational. It was a wonderful affair of course, showcasing spirited competition. But the headline included those "MAHACA" initials.

This unwieldy construction attempts to represent the schools or communities involved in the program. I say "attempts" because people outside this area are going to be mystified.
What is "MAHACA?" Shall we pronounce it phonetically? I don't know.

But we love our wrestlers from Morris Area, Hancock and Chokio Alberta.

I have stated before and will state again - not that such pronouncements fall on receptive ears - that we ought to just adopt "Morris" or "Morris Area" as the name. It's understood we attract student athletes from a broad area.
It's above my pay grade - actually I get paid nothing - to make such decisions, though.

The Tigers placed third among eight teams in the big annual invite here. The date was February 11 (Saturday).

The KMS team was really humming as five Saints garnered titles, and five were runners-up. The Saints with 241 points distanced themselves from the competition.

The Tigers were barely nosed out of second place by the boys from Pequot Lakes-Pine River-Backus. The Pequot point total was 166. The Tigers': 165.

The KMS champs were Jordon Engler (106), Cody Peters (120), Lamberto Rodriguez (126), Zach Carlson (138) and Jordon Rothers (160).

The Tigers shone with four individual champions. Tim Ostby at 145 pounds blew past opponents, going 3-0 to take No. 1. Connor Metzger, who carried the banner at 170 pounds, turned back his three foes for the title.

Joel Harrison, manning the 220-pound slot, had a 3-0 day to emerge on top. Big Zach Gibson at 285 was in command like he so often is, going 2-0 en route to No. 1.

Evan Nelson went 2-1 at 120 pounds to take second place. Mitchell Ascheman, at the light end of the weight ladder (106 pounds), had a 2-1 day to place third.

Travis Ostby won two bouts and lost one to place third at 113 pounds. Dillan Johnson went 2-1 for a third place showing at 126 pounds.

The Tigers had two fifth place achievers: Wade Ehlers at 182 pounds (a 1-1 showing) and Tyler Moser at 195 (0-1).

The sixth place distinction is represented by Matt Munsterman (one win, two losses) and Seth Nelson (152 pounds, 2-2).

Also vying for MAHACA - it's tough typing those initials - were Jerid Berning (138 pounds, 0-2) and Aaron Nelson (160, 0-2).

It was an exhilarating day for the wrestling faithful, to be sure.
Tomorrow (Friday, 2/17) will see the Tigers in Marshall for Section 3, Class AA competition.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com