Sports 15 February 2017

STATE CHAMPS! Chickasaws win dual title

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 The goal all season was simple: Win a Class 2A state championship.Mission accomplished.New Hampton put together an inspired performance on its way to beating Solon 43-25 Wednesday night to claim the Class 2A state dual-meet championship.The top-ranked Chickasaws, who finished sixth in 2015 and third last winter, would not be denied."We've been talking about this since fifth-grade," senior Noah Hopp said, "and this was our time. I'm so proud of everyone of these guys."The Chickasaws trailed just once — at 6-0 — but responded with three striaght wins as Noah Fye bumped up to 138 and recorded an 8-2 win over a ranked wrestler and Keaton Geerts came up with a first-period fall at 145 to give New Hampton a 9-6 lead.Keegan Tenge bumped up to 152 and came up with a pin with one second left and the Chickasaws had all the momentum they would need.Noah Glaser's major decision at 182 and Areon Day's pin at 195 brought New Hampton to the brink of a state tile and Hopp sealed it with a pin at 220."Probably the best feeling of my life," said Tenge, who was injured in the sectional meet but came back Wednesday with three wins. "To go out and do that, it was just amazing. To win it with these guys, it's incredible."New Hampton would get major decisions from Dylan Robinson and Mason Cleveland to close out the night and deliver the Chickasaws their first state title since 2005.

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