The Prior Lake wrestling team won two competitive duals to stay unbeaten in the South Suburban Conference.

The Lakers improved to 5-0 in the SSC (6-5 overall) winning twice at the Eagan triangular Jan. 4, beating the host Wildcats 45-22 and Lakeville North 43-24.

"Both duals were competitive and the boys fought hard," Lakers coach Joe Block said. "We lost some matches in the last 20 or 30 seconds that we probably should have won. Those matches will go a long way for us here in January in the sense that there was a lot to learn from them."

Prior Lake ia back on the mat Jan. 11 at No. 6-ranked New Prague in the annual Highway 13 Rumble at 6 p.m.. The Lakers are wrestling in the Elk River Invitational the next day starting at 9 a.m.

Prior Lake is back in SSC action Jan. 18 at home versus Lakeville South at 7 p.m. The Lakers' final three league duals are versus No. 1 Shakopee Jan. 24, versus No. 2 Apple Valley Jan. 31 and at Burnsville Feb. 7. All three start at 7 p.m.

Shakopee, Apple Valley and New Prague are Section 2AAA foes, as are Burnsville, Lakeville North and Lakeville South.

"The kids are working hard and are getting better every day," Block said. "It has been fun to see them grow over the last couple of weeks. I'm excited to see how much they have really progressed as we get into the back stretch of our season."

In beating Eagan, Prior Lake won four matches by fall, including the first three. Sophomore Teagan Block earned a pin at 106 pounds, as did sophomore Gabe McDonald at 113 and junior Cory St. Martin at 120.

Senior Calvin Sund won by fall at 195 pounds for the Lakers.

Other wins for the Lakers: sophomore Brendan McGraw at 126 (6-2), sophomore Colton Sund at 145 (forfeit), sophomore Tanner Newlin at 170 (7-6), sophomore Billy Trees at 182 (9-7) and ninth-grader Rickey Gonser at 220 (forfeit).

Against Lakeville North, the Lakers had three wins by fall. Senior Logan Edwards won by pin at 160 to put his team up 25-16. Trees had a pin at 182, as did Calvin Sund at 195.

Other wins: St. Martin at 120 (8-2), junior Chase Bloomquist at 132 (forfeit), sophomore Cole Edwards at 138 (10-1), Colton Sund at 145 (forfeit) and sophomore Brandon Butler at heavyweight (forfeit).

Following the Elk River invite, the Lakers have two other tourneys before getting ready for the Section 2AAA team action, which is Feb. 15 at Burnsville. They are at Cambridge-Isanti Jan. 19 and Rochester Century Jan. 26.