Wrestling: Venz, Rudeen set pace at Rumble on the Red

Talk about it

Sixty teams from six states offered a big challenge for the Farmington wrestling team at last week’s Rumble on the Red tournament at the Fargodome.

Four wrestlers registered wins and scored points in the varsity portion of the tournament as the Tigers placed 52nd with 24.5 points.

“We had a good tournament,” Farmington coach Chad Olson said. “Twelve wrestlers made the second day. We only had three make it last year. Eleven of the 12 were 10th grade or younger.”

Taylor Venz (106 pounds) and Jake Rudeen (138 pounds) set the pace, each wrestling to records of 3-2.

“Jake Rudeen had a great tournament. The last two matches he wrestled on the first day were the best matches of his career,” Olson said. “Taylor Venz had over 20 ranked wrestlers in his weight class and was one match away from placing.”

Joe Hoeve added a 2-2 showing in the 152-pound bracket and Brayden Chapman went 1-2 at 132 pounds to complete the Tiger scoring.

Kyle Benjamin, John Walz, Joe Liden, Chris McCue, Ridge Raddatz, Tyler Engel, Dakota Louis-Dupay and Bret Hoffman also competed for Farmington.

Jacob Gabbard led the JV team with a third-place finish in a 70-wrestler bracket.

The Tigers are back in action at home Saturday when they put their five-game dual winning streak on the line at the annual Tiger Duals. Teams from Lakeville North, Chatfield, Park, Northfield, Paynesville Area, Lake City and Milaca will also compete.

Tags: sports, farmington, tigers, prep, wrestling