Wrestlers Ready To Hit The Mat
The Stanley Blue Jays wrestlers will hit the mat for the first time on Thursday, Dec. 5 as they host Williams County and Grenora with action starting at 5:00 p.m. They will follow that up this weekend at the Velva Tournament on Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7.
Numbers are up again this year, in part due to the co-op with New Town. There are 33 on the boys’ team and 14 on the girls’ team rosters as they start the season. That compares to around 40 last year at the start of the season. That increase also comes with the number of sixth through eighth graders that are part of the roster.
With the numbers that high, head coach Wade Skaar says they should be able to fill a full squad again this year with the boys’ team, especially after the Christmas break when wrestlers are able to hit their desired weight class.
The Blue Jays see seven wrestlers return this year after qualifying for the state tournament last year. That includes junior Cohen Bell, who placed second at state last year; senior Trey Bohmbach, who placed third; senior Griffin Wilhelmi, who placed sixth; eighth grader Regan Gustafson, who placed sixth. Freshman Colter Fladeland and eighth grader Dane Dunham qualified last year with the Blue Jays and junior Louden Haugen qualified last year for New Town.
Also on the team are sophomores Brayden Fritel, Gage Mudderman, Kane Reep, Denim Dunham, Levi Uran and Roman O’Brien; freshmen Gage Brugh, Thosten Lidstrom and Gary Danks; eighth graders Chase Brown, Kade Lambert, Ace Johnson, Jake Germundson and Utah Youngbird; seventh graders Dane Lund, Levi Nichols, Trent Bohrer, Rayne Damm, Asher Batteiger, Coda Fladeland, Trey Smith and Anthony Nardacci; and sixth graders Briggs Lund, Cooper Skarsgard, Hunter Maurer and Kingston Perdue.
While the team has a lot of youth, Skaar is excited as he looks to the season. He says that they will be solid as individuals and he looks for the team to be better after Christmas when they are able to get to the desired weights. They have strong competitors returning at both the lower and upper weights, with the middle weights maybe not as experienced but also solid.
The girls’ team brings back two state qualifiers in Kimber Fritel and Aubree Bunner, who wrestled for New Town last year. Also on the roster are River DeTienne, Molly Danks, Ava Wade, McKenna Jones, Amanda Aguilar, Ava Brugh, Alyssa Quesada, Charlyn Hannon, Inaani Wilson, McKenzie Bohrer, Kilah Hager and Rio DeTienne. Those numbers are up from five on the roster last year.
The girls will see more tournaments this year as more schools are hosting tournaments to give girls the opportunity to compete. There are not as many full teams for duals, so these tournaments are important. Last year’s rule change means that girls can only wrestle with girls teams and not on the boys teams.
It may be early, but Skaar expects to see several wrestlers heading to the State Tournament. He expects that both Cohen Bell and Trey Bohmbach should make finals, while he expects Regan Gustafson and Louden Haugen to be high placers. He expects that Colter Fladeland and Griffin Wilhelmi will improve on their finishes from last year. He also points out that other wrestlers including Kane Reep, Chase Brown and Levi Uran will be in the mix this year. In fact, he says that he fells like nearly anyone on the team can qualify for the tournament with a shot to place.
Looking at their sub-region, Skaar said that he looks for Velva to be at the top, but it will be a race for second place in team competition. He says that he sees Stanley, Kenmare and Williams County all in the mix for that place to advance to state.
As for the girls, he expects Kimber Fritel and Aubree Bunner to return to the girls’ state tournament, along with the potential for others including McKenna Jones, Kilah Hager and Ava Brugh to make it.
This year’s team is coached by Wade Skaar, Bryan Bohrer, Dusty Fladeland, Keyton Meiers, Kyle DeTienne, Rocky Fladeland and Kerrington Lee. Two coaches, Darby Haugen and Dennis Bunner, come from the New Town program.