The Chomper

Monday, December 2, 2013

Wadena-Deer Creek Dennis Kaatz Invitational

1. Pequot Lakes/Pine River-Backus 211.0
2. Perham 180.0
3. Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale 157.0
4. Thief River Falls 145.0
5. Badger/Greenbush-Middle River 140.0
6. United North Central 132.5
7. Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 83.0
8. Staples-Motley 76.5
9. Wadena-Deer Creek 34.0

106 Pounds
Championship
Anthony Kern (BHV) Fall Darion Anderson (PLPRB) 1:01
Third Place
Eric Lisson (STM) Dec. Ben Johnson (UNC) 6-4
Fifth Place
Owen Novacek (BGMR) Dec. Cade Lundeen (TRF) 9-3

113 Pounds
Championship
Anthony Phillipson (PLPRB) Dec. Nash Sovde (BGMR) 6-0
Third Place
Jose Funes (LPGE) Fall Blake Gerard (STM) 1:38
Fifth Place
Patrick Johnson (PER) Dec. Cody Sele (TRF) 10-8 OT

120 Pounds
Championship
Wyatt Becker (BGMR) Dec. Justin Gordon (BHV) 4-0
Third Place
Miguel Ambriz (LPGE) Dec. Spencer Richards (PLPRB) 9-3
Fifth Place
Ben Nelson (PER) Dec. Josh Bernier (TRF) 9-4

126 Pounds
Championship
Stephen Holecek (TRF) Dec. Nick Kaml (BGMR) 3-0
Third Place
Chase Curtis (PER) Dec. Marshal Willis (BHV) 6-2
Fifth Place
Brandon Mager (PLPRB) Dec. Lee Hotakainen (WDC) 6-5

138 Pounds
Championship
Triston Rubner (PLPRB) Dec. Austin Hjelle (TRF) 8-6 OT
Third Place
Trevor Underberg (BGMR) Dec. Jake Swedsrud (STM) 10-3
Fifth Place
Tyler Fudge (PER) Fall Thomas Pesta (LPGE) 2:23

152 Pounds
Championship
Collin Neitzke (PER) Maj. Dec. Ethan Kimber (BHV) 14-5
Third Place
Sam Tellers (UNC) Brandon Waage (BGMR) Dec. Sam Tellers (UNC) 6-0
Fifth Place
Dillon Nichols (PLPRB) Dec. Jeremy Miller (STM) 5-3 OT

170 Pounds
Championship
Dylan Huttunen (UNC) Ossie Miller (PLPRB) Dec. Dylan Huttunen (UNC) 12-7
Third Place
Nick Bennett (BHV) Fall Cole Schmitz (PER) 4:28
Fifth Place
Gunner Gust (BGMR) Maj. Dec. Nolan Dyrdal (TRF) 11-1

182 Pounds
Championship
William Parks (PER) Fall Hayden Truax (BHV) 1:12
Third Place
Justin Mackenthun (PLPRB) Fall Daron Sikorski (BGMR) 1:18
Fifth Place
Drew Peterson (STM) DefaultNathanael Holecek (TRF)

195 Pounds
Championship
Tristan Palmer (UNC) Maj. Dec. Jesse Klatt (PER) 14-0
Third Place
Chris Foster (PLPRB) Dec. Charlie Nienaber (BHV) 10-4
Fifth Place
Keegan Cavallero (LPGE) Fall Ely Novacek (BGMR) 2:16

220 Pounds
Championship
Taylor Carlson (UNC) Default Dillon Card (BHV)
Third Place
Tyshaun Brown (TRF) Fall Beau Blumer (BGMR) 2:36
Fifth Place
Caleb Monson (WDC) Dec. Cadel Roeder (PLPRB) 13-6

285 Pounds
Championship
Chris Kurera (TRF) Jared Adkins (PLPRB) Dec. Chris Kurera (TRF) 5-3
Third Place
Jesse Bucholz (PER) Fall Douglas Peterson (BGMR) 1:43
Fifth Place
Dalton Baker (BHV) Fall Landon Oshie (UNC) :23 By: Todd Bergeron

STORM SURGE PAST GATORS

The Stephen-Argyle Storm saw that the Gators were in a ThanksGIVING mood and took advantage of 25 Gator turnovers in route to a 61-36 victory over the Gators. Much like their first game the Gators kept the game close throughout the first half as they used strong defense to cause 25 Storm turnovers. The second half however, saw the younger Gators wear down against the senior led Storm team and a 7 point game at halftime turned into a 25 point thumping.

The Gators were led in scoring by Darius Watson who had 8 points. Watson’s ball handling and court savvy kept the Gators close in the first half. Aaron Dostal chipped in 7 points and ripped down 12 rebounds. Logan Dvergsten and Ben Lieberg each scored 6 points. The Storm had 2 players land in double figures. Owen Ellefson pumped in 19 and Lance Yutrzenka scored 12

Despite the lopsided loss the Gators showed grit and determination throughout the game. The younger Gators also showed marked improvement over game one. The Gator coaching staff hopes the team can continue to show progress. The task ahead does not get any easier. After taking two days off for Thanksgiving the Gators will mix in 4 practices before the schedule really heats up. The Gators will be at home next Thursday against a strong and well coached Kittson Count Bearcat team. On Friday the Gators will travel to Clearbrook to take on the Clearbrook-Gonvick Bears and will play the Bears again on Monday (December 9th) in the opening round of the NCTC Holiday Tournament. BGMR hopes that Bear season is open as the Gators plan to do some hunting. By Kent Christian

Becker Takes Title, Waage Wins 100^th

By: Ryan Bergeron

Making the long trek to Wadena on November 30, the 2013-14 Gator wrestlers looked to start their season off on the right track at WDC Dennis Kaatz Invitational. Many Gators, both in the Varsity and JV tournaments, wrestled hard and received valuable mat time to start the year. Junior Wyatt Becker led the way, taking home the lone tourney title, and junior Brandon Waage picked up career victory 100 during a rollercoaster day of wrestling, one eventually seeing the Gators finish fifth overall.

Coach Bergeron commented on his team’s opening action of the year, “The Gators entered a tough tournament with a young line up and will continue to show improvement with hard work in the practice room and some tough upcoming competition before the holidays.”

The Gators advanced three wrestlers to the finals, including Nash Sovde (113), Becker (120), and Nick Kaml (126). The second finalist and only Gator champion, Becker, advanced to the finals after a 7-3 victory, and took home the title to finish a solid day, winning by a 4-0 score over Bertha-Hewitt-Verndale’s, Justin Gordon. Nash picked up a late third period pin to advance to the championship against Pequot Lakes-Pine River Backus’ Anthony Phillipson (ranked #4 in Class AA at 106). Sovde gave a valiant and respectable performance, but lost by a 6-0 score to finish second. The last Gator finalist, Kaml, wrestled tough throughout the day, picking up a third period pin and 5-0 victory to advance to the finals versus Thief River Falls’ Stephen Holecek (ranked #5 in Class AA at 126). In a match pitting two evenly matched wrestlers, Nick fell behind early and Holecek hung on for the slim 3-0 victory; Kaml finished second.

The Gator also had a couple wrestles come back from tough losses to finish third, including Trevor Undeberg (138) and Waage (152). After losing an opening round match to the eventual champion, Undeberg continued to wrestle hard and rattled off three straight victories to take home his third place finish. Following a high-scoring and tough loss in the semifinals, Waage looked to stay focused to still achieve another goal, a career victory 100. He did just that, picking up two more victories to accomplish it. Congrats to Brandon on a great accomplishment and here’s to many more victories to come.

The Gators had several other wrestlers pick up victories during the day. Taking home fourth place finishes included Daron Sikorski (182), Beau Blumer (220), and Doug Peterson (285). Owen Novacek (106) and Gunner Gust (170) took home fifth place finishes, and, rounding out the placing, Ely Novacek (195) finished sixth. Seth Dostal (132) and Cody Olson (160) also wrestled hard for the Gators but didn’t place.

The Gator JV also competed and, overall finished 19-11 on the weekend and all wrestlers picked up at least one victory. Bryce Bergeron and Ethan Novacek went undefeated, 3-0, for the JV. Also competing hard for the JV included Brandon Pries (2-1), Trinity Clark (2-1), Adam Lorenson (2-1), Devin Pries (2-1), Dayton Bishop (2-1), Avery Augustson (1-2), Isaac Dostal (1-2), and Elias Jacobson (1-2).

The Gators, both Varsity and JV, had rollercoaster weekends, evidenced by their 40-32 overall record, but will look to get back to the practice room and continue to work hard, improve, and increase their conditioning as they kick off hopefully a memorable season. The next action for the Gators takes place on Thursday, December 5 against the rival, Roseau Rams. Come on out “Gator Nation” to Roseau to support the Gators as they look to start a new chapter on the right page. GO Gators!!