Hopkins wrestlers win four out of five
The last day of January was a good one for the Hopkins High wrestling team, and the first day of February was even better.
Noah Sattler (left), Hopkins High’s 113-pound wrestler, gets ahold of Rocori’s Adam Kunz during a victory in a quadrangular Jan. 31 at Minnetonka High’s East Gym. Sattler, who is a junior, has a 22-11 record this season and recently scored his 55th career victory. (Sun Sailor staff photo by John Sherman)
In a quadrangular Jan. 31 at Minnetonka, the Royals defeated Minnetonka 34-31 and Rocori 41-24. Their other match that night was a loss to Willmar.
Feb. 1 at Armstrong, the Royals added a 47-22 win over Armstrong and a 57-16 victory against Park Center.
Hopkins head coach Marcus LeVesseur was most pleased with his team’s narrow win over Minnetonka because the win gave Hopkins third place in the final Lake Conference standings.
“We have a few gaps in our lineup, due to injuries and people not fulfilling their commitments,” said LeVesseur. “In the Minnetonka match, we got out to an early lead. One crucial match was the pin we got from sophomore Nathan Schmid at 182 pounds.”
The Royals needed those points because Minnetonka came on like gangbusters at the end. Minnetonka’s 220-pounder Nik Gabler and heavyweight Oscar Arteaga pinned their men to close the gap to three points at the end.
“It was a good win for our guys,” said LeVesseur. “And beating Rocori was another good win. We got off to a good start when Jesse Sattler pinned his man at 106. Then Noah Sattler (113) and DaQuarius Black (120) won their matches.
“I tell Jesse that he’s our sparkplug. He was losing against Rocori, and then he reversed his opponent and pinned him.
“I don’t like to focus on any one match because this is a collective effort,” LeVesseur continued. “The good thing is that we’ve been winning some close matches.”
Against Armstrong, Nathan Schmid again came up with a key pin to put the Royals over the top.
Hopkins has three boys who have reached the 20-win mark. They are Noah Sattler, Thomas Falk (160) and Matt Parker (heavyweight).
The Royals will have a little more than a week to train for the Section 6AAA tournament. LeVesseur is working toward the goal of putting a full contingent on the mat for the team competition.
“We will go into it trying to knock somebody off,” he said. “We want some of our less experienced wrestlers to add some tools before the section meet.”
