February 24, 2010

Four Wolves place at State Wrestling Tournament

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City had four wrestlers place as the Wolves garnered 72 points to place in 11th place at the 2010 State Class B Wrestling Tournament, which concluded on Saturday at the Fargodome.
Brady Lund led the Wolves with a second place finish at 135 pounds, while Jake Thomas took third place at 145 pounds. Placing in fifth place for Watford City was Karson Knudtson at 152 pounds and Kalin Mogen at 160 pounds.
Lund, a junior, entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed in North Dakota at 135 pounds with a 30-1 record. In his opening match, Lund pinned Josh Tank (Rugby) in 2:51 and then pinned Craig Bucholz (Bowman) in 1:15. In the semifinals, Lund decisioned Hunter Mairs (Lisbon) 5-4 setting up the title match against Lance Ehrlin, (Oakes) the No. 2 seed in the tournament. In a very close match, Lund gave up a stalling point to Ehrlin with that single point being the deciding point as Ehrlin decisioned Lund 1-0.
Thomas, a junior, entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed at 145 pounds with a 27-5 record. Thomas easily decisioned Oakly Zink (Hillsboro) 10-3 in his opening match and then was decisioned 9-2 by Anthony Lafontaine (Bishop Ryan). In wrestle back action, Thomas pinned Casey Pederson (Grafton) in 58 seconds and then pinned Jordon Thomsen (Valley City) in 4:46. Thomas then decisioned Garrett Slater (Hettinger) 4-0 to advance to the third place match with Thomas winning a 6-4 decision over Sheldon Dewald (Napoleon.)
Knudtson, a junior, entered the tournament as the No. 6 seed with a 23-14 record. Knudtson won his first match with a 10-5 decision over Michael Finn (Larimore) and then was decisioned 12-3 by Billy Hall (New Town.) In his wrestle backs, Knudtson decisioned Zach Berube (Rugby) 11-2 and then decisioned Tyler Christen (Bishop Ryan) 7-4 before losing a 7-0 decision to Jared Weinand (Beulah-Hazen.) In the fifth place match, Knudtson again saw himself squaring off against New Town’s Billy Hall but this time it was picking up the win on a medical forfeit.
Mogen, a junior, entered the tournament as the No. 7 seed at 160 pounds with a 28-9 record. In his opening round match, Mogen easily decisioned Mike Ostrem (Rugby) 15-2 before losing a 7-2 decision to Reed Koenig (Central Cass.) In his wrestle back action, Mogen decisioned William Anderson (Valley City) 14-7 and then decisioned Jimi Bridges (Velva) 6-4. Mogen then was decisioned 4-3 by Dylan Carr (Carrington.) In the fifth place match, Mogen pinned No. 4 seeded Garrett Burg (Hillsboro) in 1:31.
Watford City wrestlers that competed, but did not place at the State Class B Wrestling Tournament were Trevor Kalberer, an eighth grader, at 112 pounds; Gus Nelson, a sophomore, at 125 pounds; Adam Greenhaw, a senior, at 130 pounds; Jeremy Heim, a senior, at 140 pounds; Nolan Kalberer, a junior, at 171 pounds; Cody Fisketjon, a senior, at 189 pounds; Ben Haugeberg, a senior, at 215 pounds; and Blake Wold, a senior, at 285 pounds.
Trevor Kalberer was decisioned 6-0 by Cody Boegeli (Oakes) the No. 2 seed in the tournament in his opening round and then was decisioned by Patrick Neumiller (Carrington) 6-2.
Nelson was pinned in his opening match in 54 seconds by Matt Ruby (Des Lacs Burlington), the No. 2 seed in the tournament and then came back to win a  12-5 decision over Garrett Tabor (Killdeer). Nelson was then pinned in 2:48 by Adam Dean (Velva.)
Greenhaw was pinned in 3:31 by Cody Idso (MPCG) in his opening match before coming back to pin Cody Dignan (Kenmare) in 1:36. He was then pinned by Colten Lee (Velva) in 2:00.
Heim was pinned by Tyler Anderson (Hillsboro), the No. 4 seed in the tournament in 1:30 in his opening match and then was decisioned 9-1 by Wendel Lafferty (North Border).
Nolan Kalberer lost a 10-1 decision to Michael Bonn (Rock Lake-Saint John), the No. 2 seed in the tournament in his opening match and then pinned Bryce Brady (Grafton) in 4:28. He then was pinned by Billy Vetsch (South Border) in 2:51.
Fisketjon was decisioned 6-0 by Jared Vandal, (Rock Lake-Saint John) the No. 2 seed in the tournament in his opening round and then decisioned Eric Becker (Napoleon) 8-4. He then lost an 8-0 decision to Matt Perdue (Kenmare).
Haugeberg was pinned by Eric Danks (New Town) in 1:54 in his opening round and then lost a 5-1 decision to Trey Lafferty (North Border.)
Wold was pinned by Seth Anderson, (Rock Lake-Saint John) the No. 3 seed in the tournament in his opening match and then was decisioned 10-3 by Kendall Little Owl (Standing Rock.)

WATFORD CITY WEATHER