December 18, 2013

Wrestlers pick up three dual wins

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

Watford City’s varsity wrestling team went a perfect 3-0 in their dual competitions this past week improving their team record to 4-1 on the season and 3-0 against Region IV competition.
The Wolves’ next action will be on Friday and Saturday at the Dickinson Classic.
The Wolves kicked off their week by hosting the Williston Coyotes on Tuesday, Dec. 10, during “Parents’ Night.” Mitch Greenwood, Wolves’ head coach, jockeyed around this lineup for the dual to create what he thought would be favorable match-ups. And the strategy worked as the Wolves collected four pins from Dakota Garmann, Logan Gumke, Coleton Jore, and Keegan Thompson, with Watford City picking up a 40-30 win over the Coyotes.
“Logan Gumke has been a rock in our lineup this season,” stated Greenwood. “He has made weight at 126 for every dual this season and has willingly bumped up to 132 for all five of those matches in order to help out our team. Not only is he willing to wrestle bigger opponents, he’s 5-0 in those duals this year.”
Gumke was in some early trouble in the dual as he was taken down to his back in the first period, which put him in a 5-0 hole. After fighting off of his back, he turned up the pace and wore down his opponent enough to pick up a late second period pin.
Watford City 40, Williston 30
106: Liam Shannon pinned by Austin Luther, 1:00.
113: Braedon Gumke won by forfeit.
120: Jade Hepper major decision over Roy Isom, 15-6.
126: Dakota Garmann pinned Gage Vega, 1:47.
132: Logan Gumke pinned Hayden Rossol, 3:21.
138: Williston won by forfeit.
145: Coleton Jore pinned Tyler Norpel, 2:46.
152: Clay Jorgenson decisioned by Rowan Horswill, 4-3 (2OT).
160: Dakota Neether pinned by Brett Doeden, 1:57.
170: Keegan Thompson pinned Ahren Gwynn, 1:49.
182: Double forfeit
195: Hunter Olson pinned by Coy Turnquist, 1:31.
220: Logan Fettig decisioned by Bret Sandberg, 6-1.
285: Jake Belland won by forfeit.
Bowman Triangular
On Friday night, the Wolves traveled to Bowman for a Region IV Triangular dual event featuring Bowman County, Beulah/Hazen, and Watford City. Last season these three teams finished second, third, and fourth in the region dual standings, and none of their duals were separated by more than seven points. With all three of the teams having a large portion of their line-up returning from a year ago, the event was an indication of how the Region IV dual standings could shake out at the end of the season, as all of these teams are hoping to end up in one of the top two spots, which would mean a trip to the Class B State Dual Tournament.
The triangular kicked off with the Wolves taking on host team, Bowman County. The Wolves and Bulldogs traded a pair of decisions to start the dual, and then traded a pair of forfeits at the next two weights to make it 9-9 after four weight classes. The next three weight classes all went in favor of the Wolves, but there would be no bonus points scored.
The Wolves got a decision from Logan Gumke at 132, Clay Jorgenson got a takedown in sudden-death overtime for a 3-1 win, and Coleton Jore came out on top of a 14-12 decision at 145 pounds.  The Bulldogs also had a team point deducted due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty following the 138-pound match. The three wins and penalty point gave the Wolves an 18-8 lead at the halfway point in the dual.
The second half of the dual started out all Bowman County as the Bulldogs collected a quick pin at 152 pounds and received a forfeit at 160. Those wins put Bowman County back ahead 20-18. Senior, Dakota Neether, bumped up to 170 pounds for the Wolves and collected a pin to put the Wolves back on top by four and Keegan Thompson came out on top of a wild 18-15 decision to add three more points to make it 27-20. A forfeit at 195 pounds for the Wolves gave them a 13-point advantage with just two matches to go, which meant the Wolves had mathematically sealed the win.
The Wolves traded pins in the final two bouts to make the final score 39-26 in favor of Watford City.  
The Beulah/Hazen Miners awaited Watford City in the second round of the triangular dual event. Beulah/Hazen’s lineup was riddled with open weight classes due to injuries and other circumstances that left many starters out of action.
In all, the Wolves received forfeits at five weight classes, while giving the Miners a forfeit at one as well. Eight matches were contested in all, and the Wolves managed to come away with victories in five of them. Coleton Jore and Keegan Thompson each picked up pins in the dual, while Clay Jorgenson and Jade Hepper won a pair of tightly contested decisions. Logan Gumke picked up the fifth win for Watford City by way of medical default as his opponent suffered a hand injury halfway through the match.
These five wins, combined with five forfeits gave the Wolves a 54-24 victory.
Watford City 39, Bowman County 26
106: Braedon Gumke decisioned by Alex Madrigal, 9-3.
113: Dakota Garmann decisioned Tyler Longland, 13-12.
120: Bowman won by forfeit.
126: Jade Hepper won by forfeit
132: Logan Gumke decisioned Brayden Jorgenson, 7-2.
138: Clay Jorgenson decisioned Tel Lardy, 3-1 (OT).
145: Coleton Jore, decisioned Curtis Summers, 14-12.
152: Carlton Turnquist pinned by Sterling Lee, 0:42.
160: Bowman won by forfeit.
170: Dakota Neether pinned Jordan Houle, 3:01.
182: Keegan Thompson decisioned Michael Longland, 18-15.
195: Hunter Olson won by forfeit.
220: Logan Fettig pinned by Jacob Hildebrandt, 0:45.
285: Jake Belland pinned Macormick Stuber, 3:20.
Watford City 54, Beulah/Hazen 24
106: Braedon Gumke pinned by Jeremy Leintz, 4:56.
113: Dakota Garmann won by forfei.t
120: Antonio Garcia won by forfeit.
126: Jade Hepper decisioned Tyler Erickson, 10-5.
132: Logan Gumke injury default over Tyrell Mellmer, 2:00.
138: Beulah won by forfeit.
145: Clay Jorgenson decisioned Damian Eslinger, 8-6.
152: Coleton Jore pinned Scott Weinand, 3:06.
160: Hunter Thompson won by forfeit.
170: Dakota Neether won by forfeit.
182: Keegan Thompson pinned Justice Roundy, 2:44.
195: Hunter Olson pinned by Evan Mellmer, 0:53.
220: Logan Fettig pinned by Isaac Ripplinger, 1:25.
285: Jake Belland won by forfeit.
Bowman Rotary Tournament
Three Watford City wrestlers made their way to the championship matches during the Bowman Rotary Tournament on Saturday.
Logan Gumke, the top-seeded wrestler at 126 pounds, claimed a 3-0 win in a rematch from the night before over Bowman County’s Brayden Jorgensen to claim a spot in the championship match, while Clay Jorgenson took a different route to get there at 138 pounds. Jorgenson, who was the sixth seed in this tournament, picked up a 10-1 win in the first round over Dickinson’s Tom Irwin, a Class A State qualifier from a year ago. Then Jorgenson collected a very big win over regional opponent, Josh Snyder of Beulah/Hazen. Snyder placed at the Class B State Tournament a season ago and was ranked ahead of Jorgenson in the most recent Region IV Coaches Poll. Keegan Thompson was in a 5-man Round Robin Bracket at 170 pounds. He collected a first round technical fall, a second round pin, and received a medical default to start the tournament 3-0 prior to a final round meeting with Cody Beyers from Baker, Mont., who had also gone 3-0 defeating the same wrestlers as Thompson.
Aside from the three finalists, the Wolves wrestling team had a tough go of it on Saturday.
“We had some other wrestlers that didn’t fare so well today,” stated Greenwood. “A few of our lineup are kind of banged up right now and a few were fighting flu-like symptoms. And some just did not perform up to what we have come to expect from them.”
According to Greenwood, after a less than stellar week of practice, it showed on the mats.
“We’ve been hitting on all cylinders lately, but Saturday was definitely a step backward,” stated Greenwood. “I hope this is a wake-up call for the team. We cannot afford to get complacent and be satisfied with what we’ve been able to accomplish lately. We need to get back to work and keep improving.”
In the finals, Gumke cashed in on a pair of takedowns from the front-headlock position against Killdeer’s Cole Dukart to earn a 5-2 decision victory, which was his first varsity tournament championship.
“I was so happy for Logan,” stated Greenwood. “He’s been working very hard and really deserved this win. He’s gotten very close to winning a number of tournaments over the past two years and has come up just short. Now he’s got the monkey off his back!”
But Clay Jorgenson ran into a buzz saw against Hettinger’s Trevor Abrahamson. Abrahamson jumped out to a quick five-point lead in the first period and never looked back, cruising to a 10-1 major decision victory.
Like Jorgenson, Keegan Thompson got off to a rough start in his finals match against Cody Beyers, a Montana State Qualifier. Beyers secured a quick takedown and a 3-point nearfall, but Thompson fought off his back and got a reversal to cut the lead to 5-2 after one period of action. In the second period, Thompson picked up the pin and won the 170-pound championship, and improved to 10-0 on the season.
Bowman Rotary Tournament
Team Scores: 1. Hettinger 140.5; 2. Baker, Mont. 113.0; 3. Killdeer 100; 4. Bowman 78; 5. Beulah/Hazen 77; 6. Watford City 65.5; 7. Dickinson JV  59; 8. Standing Rock 28.
126: Logan Gumke, 1st
132: Clay Jorgenson, 2nd
170: Keegan Thompson, 1st
195: Hunter Olson, 3rd
Junior Varsity
98: Jack Heen, 3rd
98: Jake Leppell, 4th
113: Liam Shannon, 2nd
138: Carlton Turnquist, 4th
285: Jackson Faller, 1st
Junior Varsity Tournament
The Bowman Rotary also featured a junior varsity tournament with the Wolves’ 7th and 8th graders competing.
Jackson Faller went 2-0 on the day with two pins and claimed the heavyweight division championship, while Liam Shannon also collected two pins to help him earn a runner-up finish at the 106/113-pound division. Jack Heen also picked up two wins and finished in third place.
 

WATFORD CITY WEATHER