Many JV wrestlers reached the podium at the SEC JV tourney held at Cretin Derham-Hall HS on Saturday.

At 100 lbs, Caleb Howe took 2nd; at 113, Blake Tinsley took 6th; at 126, Gavin Wilson took 5th; at 132, Cedric Ramos took 4th and Jack Anderson took 5th; at 145, Sebastian Zamorano took 2nd; at 160, Phil Wiggins took 3rd; at 182, Ahmed Abdelal took home 1st place; at 195, Thomas Moesenthin also took home 1st place; at 195, Michael Edgerton took 3rd; at 220, Ethan Chaney took 2nd and at HWT, Trenton Willner took 4th.

Congrats to all of the JV wrestlers on a great season!

Freshmen Nick Howe and Ahmed Abdelal competed on Saturday at the 9th Grade and Under State Tournament, with Abdelal finishing 3rd.  Howe won his first match by fall, but lost his 2nd in a tough 3-1 overtime match.  He was unable to get by his next opponent in the consolation round.

Abdelal won his first two matches by pin before losing his semifinal match.  He then fought through a high-scoring 15-12 match to secure 3rd place.  Congrats to both Nick and Ahmed.

The Varsity and JV were at Robbinsdale Armstrong Saturday.  On the JV side, placing in their brackets were Kaiden Kirby (3rd), Ethan Chaney (3rd), Logan Ryan (2nd), Cedric Ramos (2nd), Sebastian Zamorano (2nd) and Ryan Holt (2nd).  Taking home titles in their brackets were Nashawn Hoyer, Thomas Moesenthin, Jack Anderson, Gavin Wilson and Trenton Willner.

The Varsity started their day with a very strong Faribault team.  The Royals kept it tight throughout, but came up short 33-32.  Wining for Woodbury were Cole West (major dec), Will Bents (major dec), Brady Moesenthin (fall), Nick Sieczkowski (dec), Donald Nde (dec) and Mason Barrows (fall).  Congrats to Donald on his 100th win with the Woodbury program!  Donald becomes the 4th wrestler this season, and 14th overall, to hit the 100 win milestone.

Woodbury then faced Maple Grove, and in a dominant performance, won 51-16.  Royals winners:  Alex Braun (fall), West (dec), Bents (fall) and Tre Hockenberger (fall).  Woodbury also took 5 forfeits from the Crimson.

Against a very tough Mahtomedi Zephyr squad (currently 16th in AA), Woodbury again led from start to finish.  Anthony Rizzo, West, Bents, Brock Rinehart, Omar Abdelal and Barrows all won by pin, while Braun (technical fal), Sam Ellis (dec), Nde (dec) and Hockenberger (dec) also picked up wins.

This week, the Royals travel to Stillwater HS on Thursday to face the Ponies and Irondale/Spring Lake Park in a triangular match.  Action begins at 5pm for both JV and Varsity.

On Saturday, the Suburban East JV Conference Individual Tourney will be held at Cretin Derham-Hall HS.  Action starts at 10:00am.

The Royals took 2 of 3 matches at the Bloomington Kennedy Duals on Saturday at took 5th place.  The Royals gave #4A Zumbrota-Mazzeppa a run in their first match, but fell short 38-31.  They then thumped Kennedy 51-24 and Minnetonka 50-23.

In the opener, Woodbury kept it close throughout.  Winning for the Royals were Alex Braun (fall), Cole West (major dec), Cade Johnson (fall), Omar Abdelal (fall) and Mason Barrows (fall).

The Royals next faced section foe Kennedy, and dominated throughout the match, recording 7 wins by fall.  Winners were Braun (fall), Antonio Rizzo (fall), West (fall), Will Bents (fall), Cedric Ramos (fall), Donald Nde (fall), Tre Hockenberger (fall) and Barrows (dec).

In the 5th place match against Minnetonka, wins were secured by Braun (major dec), Rizzo (major dec), Johnson (fall), West (fall), Sebastian Zamorano (fall and 1st varsity win), Brock Rinehart (fall), Nde (fall) and Hockenberger (fall).

JV results will be posted at a later date from Saturday's duals at Kennedy.

This week, the Royals host St Paul Harding, Roseville and Cretin-Derham Hall on Thursday for senior and parent's night.  Action begins at 4:30pm at Woodbury HS.

On Saturday, Nick Howe and Ahmed Abdelal will compete at the 9th Grade and Under State Tournament at Champlin Park HS.  Action begins there at 8:30am.

The Varsity and Junior Varsity will compete at the Armstrong Duals at Robbinsdale Armstrong HS with action starting at 9:00am.  Competing teams include Armstrong, Delano, Chaska/Chanhassen, Eastview, Faribault, Goodhue, Mahtomedi, Maple Grove, Mounds View, Rogers, South St Paul and St Michael-Albertville.

The Royals went into the Bear's Den on Thursday night and ensured White Bear would continue hibernating over the winter, securing a convincing 54-19 win.  In addition, the Junior Varsity won 8 of 12 matches to complete a dominating performance.

Winning on the Junior Varsity:  Ryan Holt (fall), Jack Anderson (fall), Dave Hawley (fall), Ahmed Abdelal (fall), Thomas Moesenthin (fall), Ethan Chaney (fall), Logan Ryan (fall) and Omar Abdelal (major decision).

The Royals varsity squad wrestled with a bit of a chip on their shoulders, winning 10 of 13 matches--including 2 forfeits, and forfeiting another.  Alex Braun got things rolling with a pin in the first match of the night.  Also winning by fall were Cade Johnson, Cole West, Brady Moesenthin, Nick Sieczkowski and Tre Hockenberger.  Brock Rinehart and Mason Barrows both won exciting matches by decision to make the final score 54-19.

On Saturday, the team will split to two locations:  the 9th Grade Section Tournament will take place at Richfield HS.  Some wrestlers 9th grade and younger will travel to Richfield HS to take a shot at qualifying for the 9th Grade State Tournament.  Action begins at 9am.

In addition, the majority of the squad wil be at Bloomington Kennedy HS for the Kennedy Duals.  Participating teams in addition to the Royals are Kennedy, Champlin Park, Hastings, Minnetonka, Owatonna, Simley and Zumbrota-Mazeppa,  Both Varsity and Junior Varsity wrestlers will compete, with action starting at 9:00am.

Wrestlers will be advised by Coach Smith which location they will be attending.  Please check with your wrestler to know where he will be going.

The Woodbury grapplers took 2 of 3 duals at the District 833 triangular Thursday night, beating Park 48-25, Sauk Rapids-Rice 55-9 while losing to East Ridge on criteria after a tough 37-37 dual.

Against Park, 4 forfeits gave the Royals 24 easy points while wins from Antonio Rizzo (technical fall), Will Bents (fall), Sam Ellis (major decision), Nick Sieczkowski (fall) and Donald Nde (decision) provided the margin for victory in the opening dual of the night.

The East Ridge match was back-and-forth throughout.  Winning for Woodbury were Cade Johnson (fall), Cole West (major decision), Brady Moesenthin (decision), Sam Ellis (fall), Brock Rinehart (fall) and Tre Hockenberger (fall).  After all weights were completed, the 37-37 score reverted to tie-breaking criteria where East Ridge got the additional point.

The Royals dominated Sauk Rapids-Rice from start to finish.  Royals earning victories:  Alex Braun (fall), Johnson (decision), Bents (decision), Ellis (decision), Rinehart (fall), Nde (major decision) and falls by Ahmed Abdelal, Hockenberger and Mason Barrows.

Results from the Junior Varsity:  Cedric Ramos 1-0, Dave Hawley 1-0, Sebastian Zamorano 2-0, Andrew Kraemer 2-0, Noah Golden 2-0, Niles Prestine 2-0, Thomas Moesenthin 1-0, Phil Wiggins 1-1, Ahmed Abdelal 1-0, Blake Tinsley 0-1, Logan Ryan 1-1, Nashawn Hoyer 2-0 and Nick Howe 1-0.

Woodbury is off until Saturday, January 19th, when they travel to Eastview HS in Apple Valley for an individual tournament.  Wrestling for both Junior Varsity and Varsity begins at 10:00am.