The Parkside wrestling team traveled to North Dakota this past weekend for a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference duals against UMary and Minot State. The Rangers dominated in both matchups, defeating UMary, 31-9, and Minot State, 28-9. Helping lead the team to a dominating weekend was Troy Dolphin, our Kenosha.com Ranger of the Week.
A hot start
A freshman from Kenosha and a graduate of Christian Life, Dolphin opened the 2022-23 season wrestling unattached with the intention of redshirting. After starting 6-2 in unattached matchups, Parkside coach Nick Becker decided to lift Dolphin’s redshirt status and put him into the starting lineup. The move has paid off. Dolphin is 4-0 since being named the starter at 133 pounds. He opened with a 17-0 technical fall in the Rangers’ win over Augustana, then recorded a pin in 1:16 in a win over Southwest Minnesota State. During this past weekend’s road trip, Dolphin started things off by pinning UMary’s third-ranked Reece Barnhardt in 1:39. Dolphin went on to win a 9-8 decision over Minot State’s James Davis the next day.
The family business
Dolphin has been wrestling for 15 years, starting when he was just four years old. He grew up playing baseball and football along with wrestling, but decided to focus strictly on wrestling in seventh grade. Dolphin followed in his dad’s footsteps, as his dad wrestled for most of his life and competed at Parkside under former coach Jim Koch.
Up next
Parkside wrestling returns to action on Sunday (Feb. 5) as the Rangers take on Upper Iowa at 2 p.m. in Fayette, Iowa. The Rangers return to DeSimone Arena on Thursday, Feb. 9 as they host Minnesota State-Moorhead. For more information, visit parksiderangers.com.
