Wrestling: Larkin, Spindler, Zieske all win Park Region titles
WCA-A-B-E senior Levi Larkin pins New York Mills' Elliot Mann on Jan. 4. Larkin won a Park Region Conference championship at 170 pounds on Saturday. (Eric Morken / Echo Press)
Kaden Spindler
Gage ZieskeThe Long Prairie-Grey Eagle wrestling team won a tight dual with West Central Area-Ashby-Brandon-Evansville early this season.
Seniors Kaden Spindler and Levi Larkin paced the Knights with first-place finishes in their brackets. Spindler (31-3) did it at 160 pounds, getting a pin in 5:29 in the semifinals before beating Jackson Held (32-4) of Royalton-Upsala by a 6-4 decision for the title.
Larkin (25-6) got a pin in the 170-pound quarterfinals, and a major decision (9-0) in the semis. He then pinned Dalton Butler of LPGE-Browerville in 2:23 for the championship.
The Knights had many other top-six finishes. Kaleb Getz (126 pounds), Chris Onstad (132) and Mason Nibbe (220) all placed second in their brackets. Anthony Sykora (106), Jordan Lohse (113) and Wyatt Olson (195) were third. Hunter Mickelson was fourth at 145 pounds, John Barber fifth at 152 and Reubens Swanson (120), Hunter Hanson, Mark Adams (182) and Devin Stone (285) were all sixth.
Zieske wins a title
Osakis’ Gage Zieske has been a known commodity for a few years now, but he continues to take his game to another level as a senior.
Zieske (37-1) racks up points in a hurry with his strength and athleticism, and he won by major decisions by scores of 18-6 and 20-9 in his opening two rounds at 138 pounds. That sent him to the championship where he won a 5-2 decision over Matt Frost (27-8) of New York Mills.
“Ever since the loss last year in the state tournament, Gage has been on a mission to place in this year’s state tournament,” Osakis head coach Joey Andreasen said. “He has worked extremely hard in the off-season, wrestling and lifting weights to prepare himself for his senior year. He is a very confident wrestler and has put in the work to achieve his goals.”
Fellow senior Colton Waldvogel would have likely been in the running to also win a conference title in his bracket, but Waldvogel did not wrestle in the tournament after getting the flu last week, Andreasen said.
Osakis’ Nathan Kulzer also had a nice day as he finished third at 126 pounds. Kulzer won his third-place match by a 3-1 decision over Hayden Hart of OTC.
Dominic Strom was fourth at 182 pounds after going 2-2 in the tournament. Brock Faber (195) and Jeran Baker (285) each finished fifth in their brackets, and Duncan Vandergon rounded out Osakis’ top-six finishers by taking sixth at 145 pounds.
PARK REGION CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
TEAM SCORES - 1. - LPGE-Browerville - 191.5; 2. WCA-A-B-E - 182; 3. OTC - 174; 4. Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale-Parkers Prairie - 142; 5. New York Mills - 125; 6. Royalton-Upsala - 124; 7. United North Central - 81; 8. Osakis - 65; 9. Wadena-Deer Creek - 23
