January 13, 2015

Wrestlers place 10 at Hettinger Tournament

By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor

The Watford City wrestling team competed in two events this past week as they competed against Stanley and Minot Bishop Ryan on Thursday, and then competed over the weekend at the Hettinger Tournament.
In Thursday’s triangular, the Wolves started out very hot in their first matchup against the Blue Jays from Stanley winning the first six contested matches and nine of the 11 total matches to take a 46-16 win.
Individual winners for the Wolves were Liam Shannon, Cameron Taylor, Dakota Garmann, Jade Hepper, Logan Gumke, Coleton Jore, Clay Jorgenson, Connor Dennis, and Jake Belland.
In the second dual of the evening, the Wolves squared off against Minot Bishop Ryan with the Lions coming away with a 48-27 win.
The Lions jumped out to a 15-0 lead before Logan Gumke got the Wolves on the board with a pin. Clay Jorgenson was the next winner for the Wolves at 152 pounds as he avenged an early season loss to Ryan’s Konner Beeter. Austin Huseby added six more points with a pin over Jesse VerBruggen, and Jake Belland made short work of Colton Quakkelaar picking up a pin of his own in just 19 seconds. Liam Shannon wrestled a back and forth battle against Conner LeDoux, before hitting a move late in the third period that would put LeDoux on his back and resulted in a pin during the final match of the dual.
Watford City 46, Stanley 16
106; Liam Shannon dec. Kaydin Meiers, 10-4.
113: Cameron Taylor pinned Dakota Mosser.
120: Dakota Garmann pinned Trevor Harstad.
126: Jade Hepper pinned Keith Braddock.
132: Logan Gumke dec. Gaige Reep, 11-2.
138: Double Forfeit
145: Coleton Jore pinned Colton Rudolph.
152: Stanley won by forfeit.
160: Clay Jorgenson pinned Remington Nohr.
170: Austin Huseby decisioned by Tibbs Moore, 11-3.
182: Connor Dennis pinned Nicolas Curren.
195: Double Forfeit
220: Jade Belland dec. Alex Kucera, 5-3.
285: Jackson Faller pinned by Garrett Hoelscher.

Bishop Ryan 48, Watford City 27
113: Cameron Taylor pinned by Kaleb Beeter.
120: Dakota Garmann decisioned by Wyatt Ledoux, 4-0.
126- Ryan won by forfeit.
132: Logan Gumke pinned Merrick McMahon.
138: Ryan won by forfeit
145: Cole Jore decisioned by Carson Schell, 7-3.
152: Clay Jorgenson dec. Konner Beeter, 7-3.
160: Ryan won by forfeit.
170: Connor Dennis pinned by Corbin Manley.
182: Austin Huseby pinned Jesse VerBruggen.
195: Ryan won by forfeit.
220: - Jake Belland pinned Colton Quakkelaar.
285: Jackson Faller pinned by Nathan Lee.
106: Liam Shannon pinned Conner Ledoux.


Hettinger Tournament
On Friday the Wolves traveled to Hettinger to take part in a two-day tournament featuring 14 teams from North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.
In all, 10 wrestlers from Watford City competed in the varsity portion of the event, while three others competed in the junior varsity division. All 10 of the varsity competitors finished in the top six of their respective weight classes.
Liam Shannon won two of his five pool play matches to finish fourth, and then won a loser-out match to advance to the fifth place match where he was defeated. He finished 3-4 overall in the event and placed 6th in the tournament.
CJ Thacker finished second in his pool after posting a 2-2 record. He was then defeated in the semifinal match by Hettinger’s Cale Schalesky, and dropped to 2-4 overall for the tournament after losing 9-7 in the third place match against New Salem’s Josh Irwin.
Dakota Garmann was 2-0 in the event before withdrawing from competition due to an injury. However, the two wins were enough to propel him to a second place finish in his pool which earned him a fourth place finish by default in the tournament.
Jade Hepper started hot going 3-0 on the first day of the event, but dropped three in a row on the second day to finish in fourth place overall. His weight division featured six wrestlers ranked in the top five of their respective states.
Logan Gumke also had a very strong weight class with five wrestlers ranked in the top seven of their respective states. Gumke was 2-0 on the first day including a pin over Rowdy Cranston from Moorcroft, Wyo., who is the second-ranked wrestler in the state of Wyoming. Gumke dropped a nail-biter on the second day  of the tournament to Hettinger’s Alec Andress, who scored five points in the closing second of the match to come from behind and win 9-8. Gumke then wrestled Linton’s Kyle Moch in the semifinals and was defeated 19-5. In his final bout of the day, Gumke controlled Bowman County’s Tyler Longland to win 6-3 and finish third overall.
At 145 pounds, Coleton Jore cruised through his pool going 4-0 with four pins. In the semifinal round, he defeated Hettinger’s Logan Lachowitzer 9-2 to advance to the championship match of the tournament against Linton’s Rylan Jacob, who he had previously beaten in pool play. Jacob made some adjustments in the final round, and was able to defeat Jore, 14-7, in the championship bout. Jore finished 5-1 overall
Clay Jorgenson was the only other Watford City wrestler to advance to the championship match of the tournament. Like Jore, he was perfect in his pool play going 5-0, including two pins and a technical fall. In the semifinal round, Jorgenson upended regional opponent Ethan Anderson from Hettinger, sending him to the championship bout. In the finals, Jorgenson took on Toby Reynolds of Moorcroft, Wyo., the number one-ranked wrestler in the state of Wyoming and a state runner-up last season at 138 pounds. The accolades did not phase Jorgenson, however, as he completely dominated Reynolds as he won the match, 12-6, scoring six takedowns in the match. Jorgenson finished the event 7-0 as the 152-pound Champion.
“Clay was on top of his game this weekend,” stated Mitch Greenwood, Wolves’ head coach. “This might have been the best that I have ever seen him wrestle. If he can find a way to consistently wrestle at the level that he did in the finals this weekend, he’s going to be a handful for anyone to beat.”
Connor Dennis was another wrestler who had a fine tournament for the Wolves. Dennis started out 1-2 on the first day of the event, but the one win he did post came against an opponent he had lost to earlier this season. On the second day of the tournament, he dropped his first bout and then came back to win his next two matches by pin. In his fifth place matchup, Dennis pinned his opponent who had pinned him earlier in the tournament.
“Connor is getting better every single time that he competes.” stated Greenwood. “He continually surprises us as a coaching staff by what he is able to learn at practice and in his matches and then implements that into his next matches.”
Jake Belland, competing at 220 pounds, was 3-2 overall for the tournament. He finished in third place with both of his losses coming to the champion and runner-up of the event.
Jackson Faller rounded out the varsity competitors as he manned the heavyweight division for the Wolves. Faller got off to a rough start in the tournament going 0-3 on the first day, but bounced back in the second day with a pin in the consolation semifinal round to advance to the fifth place match. In his final bout of the event, he was pinned by Bowman County’s Jason Schade.
The 10 top six finishes by the Wolves was enough to push them into a third place finish out of the 14 teams in the event. Moorcroft, Wyo., the two-time defending Wyoming state champions, won the team championship with Hettinger finishing in second place.
The Wolves will be back in action this coming weekend as they travel to Rugby for the Panthers Invitational Tournament. The tournament will feature a combination of more than 20 Class A and B teams from North Dakota.
Watford City’s next home action will be on Jan. 23, when the Wolves host a triangular against Beulah/Hazen and Bowman County on Friday, Jan. 23. The Wolves will then host the “Levi Wisness Classic” tournament on Saturday, Jan. 24.
The Wolves currently have four wrestlers ranked in the top eight in the latest North Dakota State Class B wrestling poll. Jade Hepper is ranked No. 2 at 126 pounds, while Logan Gumke is ranked No. 5 at 132 pounds. Coleton Jore is ranked No. 7 at 145 pounds, and Clay Jorgenson is ranked No. 8 at 152 pounds.

Region IV Coaches Poll
106: 1. Jeremy Leintz, Beulah/Hazen; 2. Kyle Burwick, Hettinger; 3. Alex Madrigal, Bowman County; 4. Chauncey Dittus, New Salem.
113: 1. Cale Schalesky, Hettinger; 2. Tayt Wolding, New Salem; 3. CJ Thacker, Watford City; 4. Ryan Walker, Killdeer.
120: 1. Chauncey Hughes, Hettinger; 2. Dakota Garmann, Watford City; 3. Clay Mattern, Bowman County; 4. Shad Agard, Standing Rock.
126: 1. Jade Hepper, Watford City; 2. Tyler Keener, Standing Rock; 3. Hunter Fritz, Beulah/Hazen; 4. Cole Schmaltz, Bowman County.
132: 1. Logan Gumke, Watford City; 2. Alex Andress, Hettinger; 3. Tyler Longland, Bowman County; 4. Ethan Lagge, Beulah/Hazen.
138: 1. Brendon Harrison, Standing Rock; 2. Josh Snyder, Beulah/Hazen; 3. Matt Carlson, Bowman County; 4. Cole Dukart, Killdeer.
145: 1. Cullen Seeger, New Salem; 2. Tanner Rohde, Killdeer; 3. Coleton Jore, Watford City; 4. Brayden Jorgenson,Bowman County.
152: 1. David Arthur, Killdeer; 2. Clay Jorgenson, Watford City; 3. Tyrel Mellmer, Beulah/Hazen; 4. Tel Lardy, Bowman County.
160: 1. Derek Tabor, Killdeer; 2. Troy Steele, Bowman County; 3. Ethan Anderson, Hettinger; 4. Shane Forster, New Salem.
170: 1. Kobe Murphy, Standing Rock; 2. Dane Larsen, Killdeer; 3. Sterling Lee, Bowman County; 4. Isaac Anderson, Hettinger.
182: 1. Dillon Jepson, Killdeer; 2. Justice Roundy, Beulah/Hazen; 3. Andrew Sulzman, Hettinger; 4. Colby McGrath,New Salem.
195: 1. Jacob Schalesky, Hettinger; 2. Daniel Arthur, Killdeer; 3. Evan Reich, Beulah/Hazen; 4. William Jones, Standing Rock
220: 1. Colbey Steeke, Hettinger; 2. Isaac Ripplinger, Beulah/Hazen; 3. Jake Belland, Watford City; 4. Skyler Doll, New Salem.
285: 1. Denzel Sanders, Beulah/Hazen; 2. Steven Harrison, Standing Rock; 3. Jason Schade, Bowman County; 4. Paul Abrahamson, Hettinger .

WATFORD CITY WEATHER