ST. PAUL – Four Bemidji High School boys wrestlers have a chance to bring home medals heading into the second day of the Class 3A Individual State Tournament.
Nick Strand (113 pounds), Gavin Osborn (120), Dane Jorgensen (152) and Seth Newby (160) all won wrestleback matches on Friday night at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Strand started his day with an 8-5 decision win over St. Thomas Academy’s Thomas Holmquist, then fell to Wayzata’s Luke Koenen by a 9-5 decision before pinning Owatonna’s Donovan Sorenson in 42 seconds. Strand starts his day-two action against Apple Valley’s Austin Laudenbach.
Jorgensen cruised in his first match of the day to a fall victory (4:52) over Faribault’s Hunter Conrad. He then lost a narrow 3-1 decision to Wayzata’s Charles Petit before handling Waconia’s Alex Torres 17-5 in his wrestleback match. Jorgensen will square off against Stillwater’s Otto Hanlon on Saturday.
Newby also won his first match of the day, pinning Farmington’s Edon Davis in 3:52 before falling to Mounds View’s Apollo Ashby by a 6-3 decision in the 160-pound quarterfinals. Newby rolled over Faribault’s Eliott Viland by fall (0:43) in his wrestleback, setting up a Saturday bout against Eden Prairie’s Jacory Bates.
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Osborn made the most of his second chance on Friday night. After falling to St. Michael-Albertville’s Mason Mills 8-0 in the opening round, he beat White Bear Lake’s Isaac Kolstad by a 5-4 decision, earning another match against Park’s Zack Carr on Saturday.
Four BHS wrestlers saw their seasons end on Friday. Coy Olsen (170) dropped a 5-2 decision contest against Anoka’s Ian Wittek in his wrestleback opportunity. He pinned Mounds View’s Ethan Swenson in 2:18 before losing to Wayzata’s Adam Cherne by decision (5-1) in the quarterfinals.
Parker Orvik (220) came up on the wrong end of a 16-12 decision against STMA’s Myles Dehmer. He earned a wrestleback opportunity after falling to top-seeded Alex Riley of Waconia by technical fall (22-7, 4:30) in the opening round.
Gabe Morin (106) and Hunter Heim (126) didn’t earn wrestlebacks after first-round losses. The opening-round victors that lose quarterfinal matches replace their first-round opponents in wrestlebacks.
Morin went the distance in a 4-2 decision against Coon Rapids’ Jack Bridenstine, while Waconia’s Maverick Mueller edged out Heim by a 3-1 decision.
BHS will have 11 wrestlers in action starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 4, back in St. Paul. Makaya Gotchie (107), Brenalen Fredricksen-Holm (114), Tori Bahr (126), Imrie Mistic (132), Elizabeth Oster (165), Maya Schmidt (185) and Brie Leeper (235) will hit the mat for the first time this weekend in the individual girls competition.
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