Senior Jess Kruid works for the fall against Daniel Summers of Kingsbury County

     Well Blue Dragons fans, there is always that uncertainty about how the team will look when you take the mat for the first time in a season.  After Tuesday night, I would say this year's team started off pretty well.  Although our night ended with a 1 - 2 record, we had our opportunities to win each of the duals we lost.  Our lack of depth hurt us some as we forfeited 2 weights all night.  When you have to give 12 points to teams like Tri-Valley and Flandreau, it becomes a tough battle.  We really stressed going out to start our season on a positive note.  We gave the pre-season #1 ranked team all they wanted only losing to Tri-Valley by a score of 30 - 29.  Before our matches, we were able to talk about each member of the team needing to give a little extra to overcome the forfeits that we had to give.  I believe they did that and more and in doing so we had the chance to win those matches even without a full squad.  Many of our wrestlers were willing to sacrifice for the team throughout the night.  They moved up into heavier wrestlers to allow the team to fill extra weight classes and give us the chance to get the wins.  Their sacrifice really showed how our individual sport works as a team sport.  Without that willingness to help the team, our duals may not have been as close as they were.  With the start we had, this year's team has lots of potential as we continue to work hard to improve throughout the season.  High points on individual performances for the night were the following individuals all going unbeaten: Jess Kruid, Tanner Donelan, Scott Howe, Zach Lukes, Brady Bonte, Cody Bonte, and Sam Powell.

Results of each dual are below:

Garretson 54     Kingsbury County 15

103 - Thomas Howe wins by decision over Austin Gilbertson 9-8

112 - Colby Pierret lost by decision to Sarara Mix 7-2

119 - Sam Powell wins by forfeit

125 - Cody Bonte wins by fall over Gunnar Gilbertson 2:00

130 - Garretson forfeit to Lance Rademaker

135 - Tanner Donelan wins by forfeit

140 - Scott Howe wins by decision over YuYa Mix 8-1

145 - Isaac Lukes wins by decision over Nick Tesch 6-2

152 - Dylan Severson lost by fall to Clint McKee 1:05

160 - Jess Kruid wins by fall over Daniel Summers 1:26

171 - Brady Bonte wins by decision over Eugene Martin 6-3

189 - Zach Lukes wins by fall over Evan Larson 3:45

215 - Ethan Storment wins by fall over Trent McKee 1:46

285 - Matthew Bankes wins by fall over Anthony Halverson 3:19

Garretson 37     Flandreau 42

103 - Thomas Howe lost by fall to Jace Christiansen 2:00

112 - Colby Pierret lost by fall to Cody Reed 1:47

119 - Cody Bonte wins by fall over Jake Scofield 3:11

125 - Garretson forfeits to Tate Lacey

130 - Garretson forfeits to Jared Sutton

135 - Tanner Donelan wins by fall over Dakota Peterson 0:28

140 - Scott Howe wins by fall over Carter Ziebarth 1:05

145 - Isaac Lukes lost by fall to Kyle Scofield 3:10

152 - Dylan Severson lost by fall to Mike Jopson 1:25

160 - Jess Kruid wins by fall over Ben Christiansen 5:13

171 - Brady Bonte wins by decision over Trevor Dietrich 4-3

189 - Zach Lukes wins by major decision over Sheldon Johnson 17-4

215 - Ethan Storment wins by fall over Jesse Simon 0:55

285 - Matthew Bankes lost by fall to Jordan Rusk 0:18

Garretson 29     Tri-Valley 30

103 - Thomas Howe lost by major decision to Ryan Schuman 12-4

112 - Garretson forfeits to Austin Oyen

119 - Colby Pierret wins by decision over Walker Waterbury 7-0

125 - Cody Bonte wins by technical fall over Riley Page 15-0

130 - Both teams forfeit

135 - Tanner Donelan wins by major decision over Zach Schuman 10-0

140 - Scott Howe wins by decision over Caleb Heiberger 7-3

145 - Isaac Lukes wins by forfeit

152 - Dylan Severson lost by fall to Garret Heiberger 0:19

160 - Ben Westhoff lost by major decision to Luke O'Hara 10-2

171 - Brady Bonte wins by major decision over Thad Johnson 10-0

189 - Zach Lukes wins by major decision over Nathan Gruis 11-0

215 - Matthew Bankes lost by fall to Nate Kirby 0:35

285 - Ethan Storment lost by major decision to Eric Gruis 13-4

The team's next action will be on Saturday, the 5th, in Flandreau.  Wrestling begins at 10:00 and the tournament will run straight through the day.  We will see good competition again this week with teams from Howard, Elk Point/Jefferson, Pipestone, and host Flandreau leading the way.  This tournament is usually a good early season test to see how we stand up to good wrestlers from a variety of teams.  We hope to place as many wrestlers as possible in the medal round.

On Tuesday, December 8th, we will host Elk Point/Jefferson in a single dual.  Coach Swatek's brother, Dan, is the head coach for EPJ.  The two teams have worked for a few years on the idea of wrestling each other and it finally worked into the schedule.  We will be doing something unique for this two team dual.  Our youth wrestlers will wrestle exhibition matches against the youth wrestlers from EPJ.  The action will begin at 5:30.  The junior varsity and varsity matches will begin approximately at 6:15.

We would like to say "thanks" to all the fans that made it over to Tri-Valley the other night.  Your support is greatly appreciated.  We also would like to welcome everyone to our first home event of the year on the 8th.