USOEC Defeats Norway in Dual

MARQUETTE— The United States Olympic Education Center men’s Greco-Roman wrestling team defeated Norway in an international dual meet this evening, Feb. 22, hosted by Westwood High School with a clean sweep winning all seven matches.

In the first match of the night at 66 kilograms Joakim Braseth took on Northern Michigan University sophomore Alex Fleming (Sterling, Va.). Fleming won the match in two periods with a score of (1-0), (3-0).
Next up at 66 kg., sophomore Tanner Andrews (North Aurora, Ill.) defeated Joakim Korsnes in a (1-0), (7-0) decision.

Korsnes was not happy with his results, but was glad to get the experience. “I gave him (Andrews) my head way too early and surrendered too many points in the second period. It was nice to have such a big exhibition meet though; there are lots of fans here.”

At 70 kg., facility user Thrasher Porcher defeated Andreas Lillehagen (3-0) (2-0) for a two-period win. In the first 74 kg. match of the night, senior Ben Sanchez (Leominster, Mass.) won the first period against Nicolai Zubi (4-0) with two push-outs and took the second period (2-0) with a one point take down, a push-out, to win the match.

Sanchez saw progress in his training and utilized what he learned from the training camp with Norway, in the match. “I tried to create opportunities, which I’ve been working on” he said. “Once I got the lead I wanted to make sure to get points off of changes with out letting him (Zubi) earn any points.”

The next 74 kg match pitted Bendik Wollman against freshman Josh Castellano (Wood Dale, Ill.). Castellano won with a (0-1), (5-0), (6-0) decision. The match went to a third period after a hard fought. In the toughest match of the night, at 74 kg., junior Aaron Briggs (Tuscon, Ariz.) won the decision over Rasmus Nes Tjorstad, (1-0), (1-0).

The final match of the evening put Jon Isaksen against senior Mark Stenberg (Silverton, Ore.) at 84 kg. Stenberg came out on top with a two-period win of (1-0), (2-0).

Coach Dennis Hall was glad his wrestlers were able to gain some experience. “One of the main goals was to get the guys onto the mat and practice what they’ve learned,” he said. “I wanted them to open up and not worry about the score and just focus on wrestling and that’s what they did.”