It was only the first weekend of wrestling but the Shakopee Sabers showed why they started the season ranked No. 1.

The Sabers went 5-0 against strong competition in their first action of the season.

Shakopee started the season by winning two dual meets last Friday and then followed that up by winning the Hastings Raiders Dual tournament on Saturday.

In those five wins, Shakopee defeated the No. 5-ranked East Ridge Raptors and two other teams listed in the Lean and Mean section of the rankings.

“Great start. I thought our kids wrestled really well for the first competitions of the season,” head coach Jim Jackson said. “I was very pleased with how we wrestled.”

The season started for the Sabers with a match against the No. 5-ranked Raptors as part of a triangular at Lakeville North High School.

Shakopee won the first seven matches on its way to a 60-18 win.

Seventh-grader Pierson Manville got the season and match started off right as he earned a 16-0 technical fall at 106 pounds for a 5-0 Sabers lead.

The Sabers followed that with pins at 113 and 120 pounds from Evan Bruckner and Paxton Creese.

The lead stretched to 26-0 after the 132 pound match with wins by Seth Bakken, and Tyler Jones.

East Ridge won at 138 only to see Sam Treml win the for Sabers at 145 pounds for a 32-6 lead.

East Ridge earned pins at 152 and 160 to cut the lead to 32-18 but Shakopee finished the match off by winning the final five matches, including pins from DJ Smith at 170 and Jack Casey at 195.

The Sabers followed that up by beating Lakeville North 54-14. North forfeited four matches to the Sabers.

The next day Shakopee won the championship at the Raider Dual tournament by beating River Falls, Wis., Coon Rapids and Albert Lea.

They opened the tournament with a 60-6 win against River Falls.

They next defeated Coon Rapids 52-14 to advance to the finals.

Earning pins in that match for the Sabers were Pierson Manville, Treml, Carson Manville, and Joey Johnson.

In the championship match against Albert Lea, the Sabers won 51-14.

Earning pins in the championship were Pierson Manville, Bruckner, Brandon Kidd, DJ Smith and Carson Manville.

The biggest win for the Sabers came at 132 pounds as Tyler Jones defeated the No. 2-ranked wrestler Nick Cantu 3-2.

Next
The Sabers will wrestle this weekend at the Woodbury Duals. Teams at the tournament are Annandale/Maple Lake, Anoka, Cambridge, Henry Sibley, Mahtomedi, Rochester Mayo, and, Woodbury.

Shakopee will open up against Annandale/Maple Lake and then wrestle either Mayo or Mahtomedi.