The Prior Lake High School wrestling team hosted New Prague on Friday, January 31st in the annual Highway 13 duals.

The Lakers won the dual by a score of 32-30, with the result coming down to the final match at heavyweight. Senior Brock Zurn secured the victory for the Lakers, winning by a score of 12-3.

Other winners for the Lakers include sophomore Rocco Mikolyzk (107), sophomore Dekai Brown (114), sophomore Liam Collins (127), junior Zach Gabler (145), senior John Graham (152), and junior Charlie Nelson (172).

The annual dual features wrestlers from the youth, middle school, and high school. The last time the Lakers won the varsity dual and secured the traveling trophy was during the 2017-2018 season.

The Lakers also competed at the Waconia Invitational on Saturday, January 25th. The Lakers finished first in the team standings with a score of 191.5, followed by Waconia in second place (167.5) and Scott West in third (155.5).

Six Lakers finished in first place in their brackets, including Mikolyzk (107), Collins (114), junior Owen Trondson (133), Graham (152), Nelson (172), and Zurn (285).

The Laker girls wrestlers have also taken the mat, recently competing on Saturday, January 18th at the Pine Island Girls Tournament, which had nearly 400 wrestlers from over 40 schools competing. Senior Angelica Benitez placed 4th, freshman Liz Hodgdon placed 2nd, and 8th grader Ava Pannkuk placed 1st.  Hodgdon also won a 9th grade state title on Saturday, February 1st.

Next up for the Lakers is a conference matchup at Lakeville South on Thursday, February 6th, followed by a tournament at Mound Westonka on Friday, February 7th to wrap up the regular season. The Lakers will then compete at team sections on Friday, February 14th at Eastview High School, with individual sections taking place on Saturday, February 22nd at Farmington High School.