Prep report: Superior rules season-opening wrestling meet

SUPERIOR — Superior kicked off the 2022-23 high school wrestling season with three dual meet wins at home on Friday: 48-36 over Proctor-Hermantown, 48-30 over Cloquet-Esko-Carlton and 66-12 over Barron.

Against Proctor/Hermantown, seven classes were forfeited, five in favor of the Spartans, but the contested weight classes each featured falls, achieved by Connor Kreuger (138), Isaiah Essien (165) and Garet Rivord (285) for Superior and Cooper Lucarelli (120), Brett Pampuch (190) and Zak McPhee (215) for Proctor/Hermantown.

Though CEC had fewer points, the Lumberjacks won all four contested matches by fall, with Aiden Thiesen (113), Alex Comer (120), Bohdon Fjeld (144) and Warren Hietala (157) among the winners.

Krueger and Rivord earned their second falls of the night against Barron, while Joshua Johnson (144) and Jason Thomas (150) claimed victories as well.

Proctor/Hermantown downed Barron 60-6.

The Hunters got a big night from some of their best Friday.

Andy Larson scored on Denfeld's first shot of the game and went on to have two goals and three assists. Kaden Postal had two goals and two assists and Johnny Scott had two goals and an assist.

The Hunters took the lead for good late in the second period on goals from Scott and Arttu Mollberg, then finished it off with Postal and Larson in the third.

Hermantown opened its season by avenging one of its few losses from 2021-22, at the Champions Cup in Eden Prairie.

The Raiders led 3-2 after a period before the Hawks scored four unanswered goals in the second period. Hermantown got six goals from six players, including first varsity tallies for both Drew Nelson and Evan Gunderson.

The Spartans scored four times in the first period for a road win on Friday.

Their seven goals came from seven different players, but Brayden Severin had two assists to go with his goal. Brayden Hurtig and Jackson Marthaler finished with a goal and assist.

Trent Peterson made 13 saves for the Spartans.

Tristen Babich scored a pair of goals for the Bluejackets, including the opener on the power play 4:24 in.

The hosts scored four unanswered goals, with Christian Dixon and Keegan Fink adding a goal and assist for the winners.

A pair of first-period goals proved to be a sufficient cushion for the hosts to get past the Mirage on Friday night at Champlin Ice Forum.

Kyla Keding and Taylor Zahalka put the hosts up 2-0 before four minutes had elapsed, and though the Mirage got goals in the third period from Jane Eckstrom and Megan Bonfigt, each one only got them to within a goal.

Sydney Burnevik scored twice in the third period for Champlin Park/Coon Rapids, which was outshot 31-17.

Suri Langley made 12 saves for Proctor/Hermantown (3-2).

Nola Kwiatkowski had a 13-save shutout for the Wolverines, who got two goals and an assist from Ayla Troutwine.

Tre Sanigar scored 26 points for the Spartans, but a balanced effort from the Vikings helped them edge Superior on Friday night.

The teams went to the locker room tied 30-30 but Holmen inched ahead down the stretch.

Daynen Lull added 12 points and Calvin Anderson 10 for Superior, which hit nine 3-pointers, five of them from Sanigar.

The Agates rocked the Bluestreaks early on, scoring 55 points in the first half and cruising home from there.

Ethan Bopp led all scorers with 23 points and made four 3-pointers. Trent Gomez added 19 points.

July Abernathy paced Chisholm with 18 points.

The defending Section 7AAA champions hit the gas from the starting line, as four players scored in double figures and six connected from the outside.

Hermantown, which scored 50 points in the first half of its season, got a 20-point night from Abe Soumis, but Keaton Christianson added 17, Blake Schmitz 16 and Broc Sundland 14.

That balance outweighed a huge game from Cloquet's Marko Mayorga, who scored 29 points.

Four Bulldogs reached double figures in a season-opener win over Wrenshall on Friday.

Sam Ojibway paced the club with 20 points, while Jackson Korpela and Luuke Korpela poured in 18 each. Dante Thompson finished with 10.

Wrenshall’s Carter Woodall scored a game-high 29 for the Wrens.

The Panthers got a giant night from Austin Josephson, but his 33 points weren't enough to hold off 21 from the Grizzlies' Jonah Burnett, plus 19 from Jared Chiabotti.

Regan Juenemann put on a show at the Breakdown Tip-Off Classic in Hopkins, Minnesota, scoring 25 of her 42 points in the first half of the Hilltoppers' victory.

The Greyhounds couldn't get enough offense going to get past the Bengals. Ashlynne Guenther led East with 11 points.

Three players scored in double figures for Blaine led by 14 points from Sadie Dominickl.

Kenzie Kiminski dominated for the Polar Bears, scoring 28 points and making four treys as Floodwood pulled away by outscoring the Mariners 30-17 in the second half.

Ella Kuhlman's 24 points led the Vikings to a runaway victory despite 13 points from Denfeld's Alyssa Grammer.

The Eagles overcame 12 3-pointers from the Granite Diggers to even their overall record at 2-2 and win their Indianhead Conference opener.

Bailey Monson scored 20 points, one of four Eagles scoring in double digits. Kyra Latvala added 19 points, Claire Holmstrom 16 and Ella Postl 13.

A double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds from Bemidji State commit Tieryn Plasch helped the Tigers knock off the defending Heart O'North Conference champs in Northwestern's conference opener.

Shayna Wick added 12 points for the Tigers, who held Ladysmith to just 12 second-half points.

PREP SCOREBOARD
BOYS BASKETBALL
Holmen 66, Superior 60
Two Harbors 76, Chisholm 51
Hermantown 90, Cloquet 55
Carlton 76, Wrenshall 63
North Woods 88, South Ridge 61
Cromwell-Wright 45, McGregor 36
Esko 93, Rock Ridge 76
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Duluth Marshall 83, Maranatha Christian 64
Blaine 58, Duluth East 30
Floodwood 50, Silver Bay 38
North Branch 67, Duluth Denfeld 36
Hibbing 51, Irondale 41
BOYS HOCKEY
Duluth Denfeld 7, Minneapolis 4
Hibbing/Chisholm 5, Albert Lea 1
Superior 7, Hayward 1
Breck 5, Proctor 2
GIRLS HOCKEY
Champlin Park/Coon Rapids 5, Proctor/Hermantown 2
Rock Ridge 4, Princeton 0
Brainerd 5, Duluth 0
WRESTLING
Superior 48, Proctor/Hermantown 36
Superior 48, Cloquet-Esko-Carlton 30
Superior 66, Barron 12
Proctor/Hermantown 60, Barron 6