PONIES PLACE 2nd AT THE CLASH NATIONAL DUALS
Dateline: 1/4/2026 Coach Onken’s Living Room 1:48PM
The Ponies participated in their 4th Clash National Duals this weekend. Previously the Ponies finished 8th in 2025, 14th in 2024 and 12th in 2023. This year the Ponies came in as a top 4 seed and started the day with a bye. In the semi finals the faced Vacaville, CA who is currently ranked 38th overall in California’s one class system. The Ponies had little trouble taking down Vacaville 49-11 setting up a rematch in the final on Friday evening for Stillwater to face Bettendorf. Last year the Ponies fell to Bettendorf and on paper it looked like it would be another tight one. Bettendorf, IA is currently ranked 8th in the Class A Iowa rankings. The Ponies avenged their lose, easily earning their opportunity into Saturday’s 1st Bracket with a 40-24 win.
Of note, Kamel Benyahia got his first action on the varsity mat and Grayson Eggum won his 125th career varsity match. The Ponies would wrestle Saturday afternoon in bracket one with a chance to place anywhere from 1st or 4th for the first time in program history. However the going did not get easier on day 2 with #1 ranked St. Michael from Class AAA, #1 ranked Staples Motley from Class A and #1 ranked Creighton Prep from Class A in Nebraska.
The Ponies started with STMA and got on the board early with wins by Andrew Olson and Chase Lawrence to take an early 9-0 lead over the Knights. STMA went on a run to take the lead until Noah Nicholson scored a decision to keep the Ponies in the dual. George Jones and Grayson Eggum added two more wins but that was all the scoring for the Ponies who dropped the dual 39-21.
In round 2 the Ponies faced Staples Motley and were looking to avenge another loss from last seasons Clash Duals. Again the Ponies were up 9-0 with wins by Chase and Brodie Lawrence but Staples then came back with 2 wins of their own to take an 11-9 lead. Noah Nicholson scored a tech fall to give the Ponies a 14-11 lead while Staples scored a tech fall of their own to take the lead at 16-14. Staples scored an overtime decision at 145 to move the score to 19-14 but George Jones kept it close with a decision to keep it within 2 points. In one of the matches of the day Grayson Eggum took on #1 ranked Colbe Tappe and it went to the last period of overtime where Tappe scored an escape to eke out a decision win at 2-1 and gave Staples a 22-14 lead. The Ponies got pinned at 172 and the win was beginning to slip away with Staples up 28-14 but Ponies were not done with a decision win at 189 from Cael Spates, a fall at 215 by Cohen Lumby to bring the score 28-26. Andrew Olson just needed a decision at 285 and he did it with an 8-3 victory for himself and a Ponies 29-28 win over Staples Motley.
In the final round the Ponies faced the Junior Jays from Creighton Prep and a shot at 2nd place. The Ponies again got on the board first with a decision win by Brodie Lawrence. Creighton scored a fall but Ryan Birkenmayer scored a 3rd period fall to give the Ponies an 8-6 lead. Noah Nicholson scored another fall to give the Ponies a 14-6 lead at 133. Creighton scored a tech and a fall at the next two weights to take a 16-14 lead but the Ponies would come back with wins by George Jones and Grayson Eggum to lead 20-16. Creighton pinned at 172 and teched at 189 to give Creighton a 26-20 lead but it would be their last as Cohen Lumby scored a fall at 215, Andrew Olson a decision at 285 and Chase Lawrence topped it off with a tech at 107 to give the Ponies a 34-26 win over Creighton Prep. The finished the tournament 4-1 and placed 2nd overall.
The Ponies move to 14-1 on the season in dual meets and will look to add to the win total this Friday with a quad event at SAHS against Cambridge Isanti, Chatfield and Roseville.