McKenzie County Farmer - Sports

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

In spite of only competing in seven of the 14 weight classes, Watford City varsity wrestlers did very well this past weekend at the Sidney Invitational scoring 104 points for a seventh place finish.
Forsyth, Mont., won the Sidney Invitational with 151 points followed by Williston with 127 points, Glasgow with 123 points, Glendive with 118, and Sidney with 117 points.
This Friday, the Wolves will wrestle the No. 1 team in the state, the Carrington Cardinals at Carrington. The match starts at 7:30 p.m. and will be contested at the same time that North Border/Cavalier wrestles Velva. Only high school wrestlers will be making the trip to Carrington, as the junior high has a tournament in Bismarck on Saturday. The Wolves varsity will have open weight classes at 103, 112, 215 and 285 pounds.
On Saturday, the Wolves team will take part in a 10-team tournament.  The tournament will start at 10 a.m. (CT) and continue throughout the day with only minimal breaks. The other teams that are scheduled to attend are Carrington, North Border, Harvey, New Salem, Minot Ryan, Rugby, Oakes JV, Beulah and Velva.

Sidney Tournament
Jake Scott, 119 pounds, finished in sixth place. In his first match, he was pinned in 1:55 by Logan Schaper of Killdeer. In wrestleback action, Scott  pinned Ian Rasor, Wolf Point, in 41 seconds, and then pinned Hunter Fritz, Beulah in 1:15. Scott was then pinned in 1:40 by Jaco Bethea, Glasgow, in the fifth place match.
At 130 pounds, the Wolves had the services of Isaac Laris, a transfer from Twin Falls, Idaho. Laris is a very small 130-pounder who wrestled in the aaaa State Tournament last year in Idaho at 112 pounds. Laris, who was not seeded in the tournament and finished in fourth place, had a 3-2 overtime decision over Marty Etchemendy, Miles City, in this first match. He was then pinned in 2:32 by Kirby Kain, Williston, who took second in State last season. In the wrestlebacks, Laris, earned a 6-3 decision over Jared Rogers, Glasgow,  coming up with a five-point move late in the third period. He then lost by fall to Etchemendy in the third place match.
Wrestling at 135 pounds, Brady Lund, who was last year’s state runner-up, won his first two matches by pins. He pinned Overbryan Grimes, Glendive, in 23 seconds, and pinned Travis Keoning, Baker, in 54 seconds. In the finals, Lund had a tough and exciting match against Eddie Maisey, Williston, who was a state runner-up in Class A last year. Lund scored a takedown in overtime to win the match after going 3-3 in regulation time. Lund was the only Watford City wrestler to claim a championship at Sidney.
Jake Thomas made it to the final match at 140 pounds with pins over Skilur Diley, Killdeer, in 1:13 and Cole Bilbrey, Glasgow, in 1:49. In the semifinals, Thomas won a 10-4 decision over Brennan Gorder, Sidney, who finished second in the Montana State Meet the last three seasons. In the finals, Thomas met up with Luke Zeiger, Glasgow, and was defeated 9-3. Zeiger is a two-time Montana State Champion and only a junior.
Clay Billing, coming off of a broken leg from football, took sixth place for the Wolves at 145 pounds. Billing lost to Jayme Kelly, Sidney, by fall in 2:39 in first round action. In the wrestlebacks, he was decisioned 17-1 by Markus Noeske, Williston,  and 12-4 by Taylor Meland, Minot.
Karson Knudtson, 160 pounds, opened the tournament pinning Anthony Dukart, Killdeer, in 5:47 and then was decisioned 13-5 by Marcus Bauman, Minot, in the semifinals. In the wrestlebacks, Knudtson decisioned Daryl Fulton, Forsyth, 6-4 and then decisioned Lane Overson, Killdeer, 6-2 to finish third in the meet.
Nolan Kalberer also wrestled at 160 pounds and lost his first round match to Daryl Fulton, Forsyth, 5-3. In the wrestlebacks, Kalberer decisioned Anthony Dukart, Killdeer, 15-11 and then was pinned by Lane Overson, Killdeer, in 3:20. In a rematch of the first day, Kalberer lost again to Forsyth’s Fulton for a sixth place finish.
At 171 pounds, Kalin Mogen won his first match pinning Eli Bachmeir, Glendive, in 2:58. He then lost to Kyle Fulton, Forsyth, in 3:45 in the semifinals. In the wrestlebacks, Mogen pinned Layne Johnson, Miles City, in 3:56 and then decisioned Isiah Krebs, Beulah, 8-4 to finish third in the tournament.
In junior varsity action, Gus Nelson and Trevor Kalberer met each other in the finals at 135 pounds with Kalberer coming away with a 11-4 decision. Nelson won three matches and lost only to Kalberer while Kalberer won all four of his matches.
Joe Nelson competed at 130 pounds, winning one match and losing two. Both of Nelson’s losses were by two points coming near the end of the match.
Junior High Tournament
In junior high action in Williston, the following wrestlers competed along with their record and place. No opponents names or scores are available.
Jacob Rogness, 0-2, third place; Lane Wold, 0-3, fourth place; Jade Hepper, 2-1, second place; Dakota Garmann, 0-3, fourth place; Omar Laris, 2-1, second place; Kye Bolken, 1-1, second place; Logan Gumke, 1-1, second place; Coleton Jore, 2-0, first place; Clay Jorgenson, 2-1, second place; Keegan Thompson, 2-0, first place; and Logan Fettig, 1-1, second place.