February 10, 2015

Wrestling Wolves head to Region IV Tourney

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

The Watford City varsity wrestling team traveled to Hettinger this past weekend to compete in the Region 4 Dual Tournament, which would determine the two teams that would represent the region in the Class B State Dual Tournament.
The Wolves, who entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, opened  against the Bowman County Bulldogs, the No. 3-ranked team.
While the Wolves had defeated Bowman County last month by just one point in their regular season dual, on Saturday the Bulldogs turned the tables and come away with a win over the Wolves.
“It was as close of a dual as we expected it to be,” stated Mitch Greenwood, Wolves’ head coach. “We knew going in that we had to score as many bonus points in our wins as possible, and give up as few bonus points in our losses, to stand a chance to win.”
The Wolves did not win the battle for bonus points as Bowman collected 13 bonus points from pins and major decisions compared to Watford City’s seven, with the Bulldogs emerging with a 34-25 win.
On the opposite side of the bracket, Hettinger defeated Beulah/Hazen,  38-36, setting up a third place dual between the Wolves and Beulah/Hazen.
The Wolves picked up wins at six weight classes. Jade Hepper and Liam Shannon picked up forfeit wins for Watford City, while Coleton Jore and CJ Thacker added pins. Clay Jorgenson scored five points in the closing seconds of his match to secure an 18-2 technical fall and Logan Gumke came away with a 4-2 decision.
The Miners, however, picked up seven wins including two very close matches at 182 pounds and 220 pounds, which allowed Beulah/Hazen to come away with a 35-32 win.
In the championship bout of the tournament, Hettinger came back to overcome a six-point deficit in the final two bouts, earning a decision and a pin to beat Bowman County, 36-33.
Since the third place team, Beulah/Hazen and the second place team, Bowman County, had not wrestled each other in the tournament, Beulah/Hazen had the right to challenge for a true second place match. Like each and every match prior to it, the true second match was a nail-biter that came down to the wire. Bowman County jumped all over Beulah/Hazen early, winning seven of the first eight matches and racing ahead to a 36-6 lead. Beulah/Hazen, however, came storming back, picking up five consecutive pins to tie the dual at 36 apiece with just one match remaining. Beulah/Hazen then won the final match of the dual by technical fall to complete the comeback, 41-36, to take second place and advance to the State Dual Tournament.
The Wolves’ next action comes on Saturday as they travel to Fort Yates for the Region 4 individual championships. This event will be an individually-bracketed tournament between the seven teams in the region. The top four place winners at each individual weight class will advance to the Class B State Tournament in Fargo on Feb. 19-21.
The Wolves had seven individuals ranked in the top four of their respective weight class in the most recent regional coaches polls. Jade Hepper and Logan Gumke are the two defending Region 4 Champions that the Wolves have on their team, while Coleton Jore was a runner-up at the regional a year ago. All totaled, the Wolves have seven wrestlers who qualified for last year’s state tournament that will be expected to compete at this year’s regional event.
Region 4 Dual Scores
Bowman County 34, Watford City 25

106: Liam Shannon decisioned DJ Martian, 6-1.
113: CJ Thacker decisioned Mitch Stuber, 15-6.
120: Cameron Taylor pinned by Jacob Ruggles, 3:27.
126: Jade Hepper decisioned Clayton Mattern, 9-2.
132: Logan Gumke decisioned by Tyler Longland, 2-0.
138: Bowman County won by forfeit.
145: Coleton Jore pinned Braydon Jorgensen, 3:11.
152: Clay Jorgenson decisioned Tel Lardy, 4-1.
160: Kobe Norton decisioned by Lane Jeffers, 16-4.
170: Bowman County won by forfeit.
182: Justin Schwartzenberger pinned by Sterling Lee, 1:58.
195: Connor Dennis pinned Beau Jeffers, 1:08.
220: Double Forfeit.
285: Jake Belland decisioned by Jason Schade, 4-0.

Beulah/Hazen 35, Watford City 32
113: Jake Leppell pinned by Jeremy Leintz, 2:44.
120: CJ Thacker pinned Jacob Scheer, 4:28.
126: Jade Hepper won by forfeit.
132: Logan Gumke decisioned Ethan Lagge, 4-2.
138: Double Forfeit.
145: Coleton Jore pinned Tyler Erickson, 1:28.
152: Clay Jorgeson technical fall over Damian Eslinger, 19-4.
160: Kobe Norton lost by injury default to Thomas Leintz.
170: Justin Schwartzenberger pinned by Tyrel Mellmer, 2:34.
182: Connor Dennis decisioned by Justice Roundy, 9-6.
195: Beulah/Hazen won by forfeit.
220: Jake Belland decisioned by Isaac Ripplinge, 9-5.
285: Jackson Faller lost by technical fall to Denzel Sanders, 18-2.
106: Liam Shannon won by forfeit.

WATFORD CITY WEATHER