RO wrestling earns 5th in Leon
The Red Oak wrestling team capped off the week with a fifth-place team finish in Leon at the Dan Christensen Invitational on Friday, Dec. 10. The Tigers scored 108 points, led by Brandon Erp who placed second in his bracket.
“This tournament is kind of odd when you seed it because it’s so early in the season, and we wrestle a very tough schedule,” Red Oak head wrestling coach Tiegen Podliska said. “We placed ahead of guys who were seeded above us and had way better records than us in most of the brackets. We challenge ourselves and it paid off on the backside, even if it meant we had some really tough first-round matches.”
The Tigers combined for 20 falls, one major decision, a forfeit, and a medical forfeit, to score bonus pints in most matches they won.
Abraham Lincoln
The Red Oak girls competed in the Monday Night of Conflict at Abraham Lincoln in Monday, Dec. 6. A total of 17 schools were represented in the event.
Red Oak’s Nicole Bond placed third going 1-1 on the night with one pin.
Josie McCunn finished third going 1-1 on the night with one pin.
Tymberlee Bentley went 0-2 on the night, finishing in fourth place.
“It was an exciting night for our girls as it was the first time we’ve sent morehan one girl to a tournament,” Podliska said. “They all ran into some very tough wrestlers in the first round, but fought hard.”
Creston
The Red Oak grapplers competed in Creston on Tuesday, Dec. 7, dropping both duals.
“We didn’t have the results we wanted, but I’ll take these guys to battle any day,” Podliska said. “We had a bunch of guys and girls who put up a fight. We wrestled some of the top teams in our area, a couple top-10 teams in the state most likely, and put ourselves in position to win some matches. The frustrating thing at times is this team is young, but the exciting thing is this team is young. When you have a young team, there’s a lot of room for growth.”
Riverside
The Tiger girls competed in the girls tournament in Riverside on Saturday, Dec. 11, and came home with two silvers and one bronze medal.
Tymberlee Bentley finished 2-1 with two falls for second place; Josie McCunn finished 2-1 with two falls for second place; and Nicole Bond finished 1-2 with one technical fall for third place.
“It was a positive day for our girls as for the first time, we sent more than one girl to a girls wrestling tournament,” Podliska said. “They all competed hard. There was a lot of good competition at the tournament, which is what we want. These girls are just going to continue to progress as they learn more and more within the sport.
The Tigers travel to Council Bluffs tonight for a quad at St. Albert beginning at 5 p.m.
