Wrestling: Farmington’s Venz makes his mark

• Photo: Taylor Venz

Farmington eighth-grader Taylor Venz won two of four matches last weekend at the Class 3A State Wrestling Tournament at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Venz finished the season with a record of 32-7.

Talk about it

Farmington eighth-grader Taylor Venz looked far from intimidated in his first time competing at the Class 2A State Wrestling Tournament.

Venz, the first Farmington eighth-grader to qualify for state, won two of his four matches in the 106-pound division last weekend at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. He finished the season with a record of 32-7.

“Taylor wrestled very well at the state tournament. I was extremely impressed with the composure and maturity Taylor displayed. For him to compete as well as he did as an eighth-grader making his first state appearance was very impressive,” Farmington coach Chad Olson said. “He finished as one of the top eight 106-pounders in the state and was right there with the other place-winners. The future is bright for Taylor and I’m going to enjoy the ride.”

Venz opened the tournament with a pin of Willmar’s Logan Walkow. He was then knocked to the consolation bracket after a 5-3 overtime loss to eventual fifth-place finisher Blaine Tschida of Coon Rapids.

Venz advanced through wrestle-backs with an 8-1 decision over Stillwater’s Christian Bahl before being knocked out 3-1 by eventual fourth-place finisher Trent Piepenburg of Alexandria.

Apple Valley freshman Maolu Woiwor won the Class 3A title at 106 pounds, defeating Albert Lea junior Trevor Westerlund, 8-6.

Tags: farmington, tigers, prep, sports, wrestling