RiceLake - Team Sect

[ElectricGuy]

Did I miss something or did RL just forfeit 10 matches during a team sectional - track has to be screwed up on that right?

[couldhavebeen]

It's correct....... Only wrestled 4 matches

[ElectricGuy]

Any story behind that?  I see they did have 7 at regionals - I know they have had a lot of injuries from what I've heard.. just very sad.

[Han Solo]

wow.....

Well, on the bright side they might have just set a record.  Not a good record, but a record. 

[npope]

So, they won their regional with only seven wrestlers? Wow - talk about a weak regional!

[Jimmy]

We need more weight classes,gotta provide opportunity!

[TomM]

I am told that in Minnesota high school tournament series if you forfeit a weight class during the 'series' (dual meet sectionals and state) you can not use that weight class again during the series.  So in this case, Rice Lake would only be able to wrestle four weight classes at dual meet state tournament. 
Anyone have the 'rule' on that from Minnesota?

[sikowskit]

It's been a very difficult year for us.  We had some individuals who were unable to wrestle part or all of this year due to injuries sustained during our football team's run to the state finals.  We had starters from last year who chose not to go out for the team this year, and others who decided to quit during this season.  We've also been dealing with some end-of-the-year injuries and illnesses that forced us to keep some individuals from wrestling last night.  In an attempt to get as healthy as possible before individual sectionals Saturday (and without a mathematical chance to be competitive), it was an easy choice to withhold them from competition, .

While it is unfortunate (and yes, a bit embarrassing) that our match against Melrose-Mindoro included so many forfeits, we are focusing on the positives of the situation: we may not wrestle in the toughest regional in the state, but it says a lot about 7 young men that they can wrestled in such a dominant fashion last weekend that they were able to win their fourth regional title in a row, beating several teams with full lineups.  We have several individuals who have a great opportunity Saturday to accomplish their dream of becoming state qualifiers, and that is our focus this week.

Our middle school and youth programs are strong, and our numbers will improve, and Rice Lake wrestling will be just fine.  Please don't judge our performance/lack of numbers last night too strongly, but rather look at what our 7 young competitors were able to accomplish last weekend, and what they will do Saturday and in the future.

If you have additional questions, please contact me personally.

Ted Sikowski

[ElectricGuy]

Ted,  didn't mean it as a shot against the program (x HON guy here) - just was really caught off guard.  We have made it up for some of your hosted youth tourneys over the past years and I knew you had some good youth numbers, that is what also led me to question.

Congrats and good luck at sectionals

[sikowskit]

No worries, I didn't take it that way.  I just thought it was worth explaining our situation a little bit.  We were surprised we were able to win regionals with the low numbers.