This past weekend the Blue Dragons wrestling team attended the Elk Point-Jefferson Invitational. The team scored 91.5 points to finish in 9th place. Tri-Valley finished in first place with 187 points followed by the host team in second with 161 points.
I continue to see marked improvement from our young wrestlers. I think they are starting to understand how our practice efforts carry over to the competition of our schedule. This tournament was very balanced and offered some tough competition. They battled very strong even in the matches that were lost. There efforts will eventually begin to pay off and that will be fun to watch. I am excited for what is in store for them.
Our older team members continue to to work into mid-season form both in technique and conditioning. They wrestled some great competition this weekend and saw some mixed results. As we near the midpoint in our season, they will need to continue the improvement in all areas of the sport. During the next month, I would anticipate everything coming together as we push towards the post-season.
Individual results are below:
113 - Thomas Howe wrestled a strong tournament during the day, but came up short in the finals. Thomas wrestles his best when he takes control of the action instead of countering the action. He looked as good as he has all season and has this weekend to build from.
* won by fall over Justin Joines (SC Heelan) 0:22
* won by major decision over John Lemer (Can) 12 - 3
* won by fall over Alex Caba (BH) 1:29
* lost by decision to Jared Hueser (EPJ) 5 - 4
* Second place finish
120 - Tyler Willems wrestled well throughout the day to earn a fourth place finish. He avenged an early tournament loss to get into the consolation finals. As Tyler works harder to improve from all positions, he will continue to surprise some people in our area.
* lost by fall to Ben Graber (SBL) 1:35
* won by fall over Tristen Kieftler (BH) 0:37
* won by fall over Jose Montes (WS) 1:03
* won by decision over Ben Graber (SBL) 9 - 6
* lost by fall to Wes Dvorak (Parks) 2:50
* Fourth place finish
126 - Brady Schleuter continues to improve with the mat time he is getting. As he develops more confidence in his ability, he will begin to knock people off. He also needs to improve his technique from all positions, but understands that and is will to work to improve.
* lost by fall to Colton McCrystal (SBL) 1:39
* won by fall over Cody Chester (WS) 2:26
* lost by fall to Ryley Ostbye (Can) 2:03
132 - Anthony Beck was able to win a match before being eliminated from the tournament. Anthony's ability is fairly "raw" and as he works to improve his results should improve as well. He does some things fairly well, but has to work to overcome his flaws. When this happens, he will start beating a lot of people.
* lost by fall to Nick Weis (EPJ) 3:32
* won by fall over Nick Bousquet (SC Heelan) 1:53
* lost by fall to Cole Oltmans (AW) 2:27
152 - Sean McPadden moved down a weight class this week to see some mixed results. He was just a matter of a couple finished moves from moving into the semifinals. I think Sean will see marked improvement as he adjusts to this weight class. By cleaning up some of his technique, he will score more points in those crucial situations. I anticipate him winning some big matches during the remainder of the season.
* won by decision in overtime over Hesston Erickson (Ber) 6 - 4
* lost by decision to Brett Tomoson (SBL) 6 - 4
* lost by decision to Dillon Stadlman (Parks) 5 - 0
160 - Adrian Mendoza saw his first action of the season at the varsity ranks. He joined the team late, but has brought a high paced practice effort with him. He works very hard in practice. This will benefit his technique, but also his partners' as they work with him. When he cleans up some mistakes, he should contribute nicely to our lineup.
* lost by major decision to Miles Semmler (Parks) 11 - 0
* lost by fall to Josh King (SBL) 2:28
182 - Blake Severson has moved down into this position. With the return of Brady Bonte to the lineup, Blake has worked hard to be a contributor to the team at this weight class. He is very deceiving when he walks onto the mat. As he cleans up some mistakes in his technique, he will be fun to watch improve from tournament to tournament. Blake should be fairly competitive at this weight class.
* lost by fall to Adam Ivarson (Ber) 3:33
* won by fall over Christian Brobst (SC Heelan) 0:22
* lost by fall to Taylor James (AW) 0:58
* lost by fall to Adam Ivarson (Ber) 0:58
* Sixth place finish
195 - Brady Bonte wrestled well over the weekend. He continues to work out the "rust" after missing some of the early practices with an injury. He has been working hard to improve on his takedowns. By expanding his technique from the neutral position, he will be very difficult to beat. In the finals, he was able to knock off an undefeated wrestler from Akron-Westfield with solid position and wrestling smart.
* won by fall over Andrew Teply (EPJ) 2:30
* won by fall over Tanner Broughton (Can) 2:47
* won by decision over Chet Willer (AW) 4 - 3
* First place finish
220 - Matt Bankes started the day off well, but it quickly turned on him. Some times this sport can be brutal to you. Matt will need to regroup, solidify his technique in practice, and forget about this weekend. When he does this, he will be able to refocus on the goals he has for the season.
* won by technical fall over Tyler Nguyen (SBL) 18 - 3
* lost by fall to Tanner Ovre (Can) 4:40
* lost by decision to Omar Marquez (SC Heelan) 3 - 1
* lost by fall to Tyler Nguyen (SBL) 0:34
* Sixth place finish
The Blue Dragons continue action after Christmas by competing in the Floyd Farrand Invitational at Sioux Falls Lincoln High School on December 29th and 30th. We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
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