Brady Bonte maneuvering for position against Tyler Figge (CL-GLR)

Well Blue Dragons fans, I think this weekend we saw a bit of promise for our team.  We went to Elk Point to compete in the 14 team tournament that hosted many rated wrestlers.  I really believe we showed that we are headed in the right direction to meet our goals at the end of the year.  Our young guys continue to wrestle hard despite giving up quite a bit of size.  Even though their match results aren't what they would like, I am pleased with their "battle" mentality.  The day will come when they will be winning matches once they have grown into their weight classes.  Although we didn't have any individual champions, our team wrestled well and represented our program nicely.  Our four runner-up finishers all lost to wrestlers rated in the top 3 of their weight class.  Driving themselves to improve from those loses will benefit them as our season progresses.  Canton finished in first place with 193.5 points followed by Winner (178), Tri-Valley (169), Bon Homme (165.5), Elk Point-Jefferson (128), and Garretson (122).  Our next competition will be another huge test for our squad.  The Floyd Farrand wrestling tournament held at Sioux Falls Lincoln High School is on December 28th and 29th.  It begins at 11:00 am each day and features many highly rated Class A and Class B schools.  Featured schools include Sturgis, Watertown, Vermillion, Wagner, Canton, Howard, and Harrisburg.  This tournament will wrap up our first half of the season.  It will be nice to see how we stack up against the tough competition that it brings.  If we continue to work hard in the practice room, I would expect us to show great improvement at this tournament giving us some momentum into our second half of the year.  Below are the individual results from the Elk Point-Jefferson tournament.

103 - Thomas Howe

* lost by technical fall to Jordan Bremer (WC) 15 - 0

* lost by fall to Alex McClaury (EPJ) 4:58

112 - Colby Pierret

* lost by major decision to Nick Weis (EPJ) 14 - 0

* lost by fall to Colby Schoellerman (BER) 4:37

119 - Cody Bonte

* lost by decision in overtime to Casey Schoellerman (BER) 8 - 6

* lost by decision to Jake Mize (WC) 5 - 1

135 - Tanner Donelan

* won by fall over Houston Scheer (WC) 1:06

* won by fall over Jesse Vander Streek (CL-GLR) 4:28

* won by major decision over Caleb Heiberger (TV) 11 - 2

* lost by fall to Jeremiah Peterson (CAN) 3:18     2nd Place

140 - Scott Howe

* won by major decision over Andrew Waterman (WS) 12 - 2

* won by fall over Blase Vanecek (BH) 5:07

* lost by major decision to Logan Dolen (CAN) 13 - 4     2nd Place

145 - Isaac Lukes

* won by fall over Jon Hasenbank (EPJ) 3:00

* lost by major decision to Nathan Kloucek (BH) 11 - 1

* won by fall over Gustavo Viruete (WS) 1:48

* lost by fall to John Estep (CL-GLR) 3:13

152 - Ben Westhoff

* won by fall over Taylor James (Akr-W) 5:00

* lost by major decision to Gavin Lee (EPJ) 14 - 2

* won by major decision over Jon Kleinschmit (CRO) 15 - 2

* won by fall over Skylar Sanford (WC) 4:22

* lost by major decision to Jesse Peterson (CAN) 13 - 1

* lost by injury default to Taylor Novotny (WIN)     6th Place

160 - Zach Lukes

* won by fall over Daniel Bietelsbacher (Akr-W) 2:41

* won by decision over Blake Burnham (WIN) 5 - 2

* lost by decision to Luke O'Hara (TV) 3 - 2     2nd Place

171 - Brady Bonte

* won by major decision over Tyler Figge (CL-GLR) 11 - 0

* won by decision over Jared McCoy (WC) 7 - 6

* lost by decision to Ted Wonnenberg (WIN) 7 - 1     2nd Place

189 - Ethan Storment

* won by fall over Jacob Naasz (WIN) 1:01

* lost by fall to Terron Geerdes (CL-GLR) 5:46

* won by fall over Ethan Sundleaf (EPJ) 1:15

* won by fall over Jacob Naasz (WIN) 2:29     3rd Place

The coaches and wrestlers would like to thank all the parents and fans that have been traveling to our various events.  We appreciate your support and wish you all a wonderful Christmas season.