Wolves qualify eight for State
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
Watford City will be advancing eight individual wrestlers to the State Class B Wrestling Tournament in Bismarck this week following the Region IV Tournament in Killdeer on Saturday.
Watford City took fifth place at the regional tournament scoring 112 points. Killdeer won the tournament with a team score of 226 points followed by Hettinger with 180 points. Rounding out the team scoring was Beulah-Hazen, third, 159; New Salem-Almont, 4th, 148.5; Watford City, fifth, 112; Standing Rock, 6th, 79; Beach, 7th, 78; and Bowman County, 8th, 51.
Leading the Wolves at Region IV with second place finishes was Coleton Jore, 113 pounds, and Trevor Kalberer, 145 pounds; while Logan Gumke took third place at 106 pounds. Taking fourth place and also securing a trip to the State Tournament was Clay Jorgenson, 126 pounds; Josh Johnson, 132 pounds; Austin Garmann, 152 pounds; Joe Nelson, 160 pounds; and Keegan Thompson, 170 pounds.
The State Class B Wrestling Tournament, which will be held at the Bismarck Civic Center, will begin at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16 and conclude with the individual championship matches which begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18.
Region IV Tournament Results
106: Logan Gumke opened the tournament with a pin over Rope Smith, Killdeer, in 1:58 and then was decisioned 17-7 by Chauncey Hughes, Hettinger in the semifinals. Gumke then came back to pin Matt Carlson, Bowman County in 3:30 and won the third place match with a 12-6 decision over Talon Nielsen, Beach.
113: After receiving a first round bye, Coleton Jore pinned Josh Snyder of Beulah-Hazen in 5:03 to advance to the title match. In that match Jore lost by technical fall, 16-0, to Derek Tabor, Killdeer.
126: Clay Jorgenson opened the regional tournament with a 11-6 decision over Kyle Mcgee, Bowman County, before losing by technical fall, 17-1, to Trevor Abrahamson, Hettinger, in the semifinals. Jorgenson then decisioned Mason Faut, Beulah-Hazen, 7-3, in the consolation semifinals. In the third place match, Jorgenson was pinned by Troy Steele, Beach, in 2:07.
132: Josh Johnson lost by technical fall, 19-4, in the quarterfinals to Christian Hughes, Hettinger, and then pinned Aden Stone, Standing Rock in 2:32. In the consolation semifinals, Johnson pinned Alex Krebs, Beulah-Hazen, in 1:31 and then took fourth place when he was pinned by Christian Hughes, Hettinger, in 2:23.
138: Gus Nelson pinned Curtis Summers, Beach, in 2:59 in his opening match and was then pinned by Hunter Fredericks, Killdeer, in 3:03 in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Nelson was pinned by Jacob Reisenauer, in 3:05. In the fifth place match, Nelson defaulted because of an injury to Curtis Summer, Beach.
145: Trevor Kalberer received a first round bye and then pinned Evan Reich, Beulah-Hazen, in 0:18 in the semifinals. In the title match, Kalberer was decisioned 8-6 by Rodney Vanhoff, Hettinger.
152: Austin Garmann received a first round bye and was then pinned by River Voigt, Killdeer, in 5:00 in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Garmann received a bye before being pinned in 4:45 in the third place match by Jeff Abrahamson, Hettinger.
160: Joe Nelson opened the tournament with a 2-0 overtime win over Colby Steeke, Hettinger, and then was pinned by Taylor Heins, New Salem-Almont, in 0:40 in the semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, Nelson received a bye and was then decisioned 8-1 by Garett Tabor, Killdeer, in the third place match.
170: Keegan Thompson opened the tournament with a pin over Riley Rohde, Killdeer, in 1:27 and then lost by technical fall, 17-2, to Isaiah Krebs, Beulah-Hazen, in the semifinals. Thompson received a bye in the consolation semifinals and was then decisioned, 13-0, in the third place match by Mathew Gerving, Beach.
182: Josh Rockeman was pinned by Isaac Ripplinger, Beulah-Hazen, in 1:14 in the quarterfinals and then received a bye in the first round of the consolations. Rockeman was then pinned by Gauge Harrison, Standing Rock, in 0:48 in the consolation semifinals. In the fifth place match, Rockeman was pinned in 1:39 by Isaac Ripplinger, Beulah-Hazen.