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Sports

Eagan Matmen Fall at Rosemount

Wildcats fall, 33-30, in a gripping regular-season finale on Thursday night.

It could have gone either way as the Eagan wrestling team closed out its regular season on a thrilling night in Rosemount — yet unfortunately for the Wildcats, the evening favored the Irish.

In a meet that all-but came down to a single crucial moment, Eagan came up just short in a 33-30 loss to its conference and sectional rival and enters the post-season with a 10-11 record.

"We've had our share of nights like this," Wildcats head coach Tony Stensland said. "Six of our 11 losses have been by six points or less."

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Eagan opened the evening by digging itself a 9-0 hole after forfeiting at 103 pounds and losing at 112; however, major decisions in favor of Conner Moore at 112 and Colin Sullivan at 125 drew the Wildcats to within a point at 9-8.

A loss at 130 and a win by Michael Rahman at 135 kept Eagan within a point at 12-11 heading into a crucial turn of events at 140.

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Alexie Gwinup had the Wildcats poised to take the lead as he went up 4-1 on Rosemount's Colin Busho in the second period.

Yet in the blink of an eye, Busho turned the tables on Gwinup and recorded a sudden — and contested — pin for what was, at the very least, a nine-point swing that put the hosts ahead by an 18-11 score.

"I don't think it was a pin, but the ref did and that's all that matters," Stensland said. "You just never leave the options open for the ref to make that call."

Eagan's Mike Marsh looked to stem the tide of momentum by claiming a major decision victory at 145 to keep the Wildcats close at 18-15, but the Irish appeared to take control of the evening by winning the next three matches by major decision, technical fall and fall to lead 33-15 with just three competitions to go.

Stensland's squad would need to win all three matches by either fall or forfeit to draw even and send the meet into tiebreaker scoring.

Bob Rada kept Eagan alive by pinning Rosemount's Jacob Pruter at 189, creating a need for the Irish — who came into the night open at 215 — to put up a junior varsity wrestler against Jacob Lueck.

Lueck claimed a 7-1 victory over Jack Krueger, but the win was not enough to keep the Wildcats alive as Rosemount clinched the team triumph.

"It would have been nice to get that pin at 215, but it didn't happen," Stensland said. "I give the Rosemount kid credit, he didn't get pinned and still wrestled offensively."

Eagan heavyweight Mitch Johnson finished off the evening with a win by fall to draw the Wildcats within three points in the final count and sending his team into sections on a high note despite the defeat.

The night's result dropped Eagan to 10-11 in dual meets with the Section 3AAA team tournament next on the schedule. The team sectionals are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 18 at the home of the prohibitive favorite — Apple Valley High School.

Following that, the 3AAA individual sectionals that will determine how many, if any, Eagan wrestlers will qualify for state, takes place at Park High School in Cottage Grove on Feb. 25 and 26.

"We just have to go out and wrestle," said Stensland of the Wildcats' sectional outlook. "It all depends on what kind of day we want it to be and we have to be optimistic; everyone has a chance."

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