LA CROSSE — The Holmen High School boys wrestling team was tied with Menomonie with four matches remaining Saturday afternoon in its final dual of two long days of The Clash National Duals at the La Crosse Center.
The Vikings wanted to finish the tournament with a bang and did with four straight victories to close out a 41-20 victory over the Mustangs — one that gave them third place in the seventh bracket.
“A tournament like this is really tough, but the way we ended was awesome,” Holmen coach Justin Lancaster said. “You have to be forced into tough situations sometimes and see what the response is when you have to fight.
“I like the way they responded at the end.”
Holmen won two of six duals, finishing each day with a victory. The Vikings beat Caledonia/Houston to close out their Friday, and freshman Noah Henderson kicked off the dominant ending to the dual against Menomonie on Saturday.
Henderson pinned Ryan Shackleton in 48 seconds to win at 139 pounds and break the 20-20 tie. Camden Thiele followed with a pin at 145, AJ Alesch won by decision at 152, and Colin Griffin provided the exclamation point with a pin in 1:04 at 160.
Freshman Rex Lancaster went unbeaten over the weekend while competing at 107 and 114. He received one forfeit but won all five matches he wrestled. He ended four of his wins by pin and recorded a major decision in the other.
“He did a great job and has been working really hard behind the scenes,” Justin Lancaster said of his son. “He got to show this weekend that he has come a long way.”
Freshman Caleb Eggerichs was 4-1 at 133, freshman Brock Needham 3-1 at 127, freshman Nathan Henderson 4-2 at 121 with wins in his last four matches and senior Jonathon Lamprich 4-2 at 172.
The Vikings entered the competition after placing third in Division 1 at the Bi-State Classic a week earlier in the same facility.
Lancaster said there wasn’t time to correct much of what coaches saw at Bi-State but that a lull in the schedule will allow for that moving forward.
“There are break periods in our schedule, and we have one right after this,” Lancaster said. “We can work on those things now.”
Mentality will be one area of focus, he said, along with emphasis on power and purpose while competing.
“Sometimes as coaches, we are teaching technique,” Lancaster said. “But we aren’t always adding that other part that is probably more important.”
The Vikings will next host a quadrangular on Jan. 10 and a triangular on Jan. 16.
