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The optimism Joey Good showed on the eve of the Eastern Dakota Conference wrestling tournament when he predicted a top-five team finish did not come to fruition. But, don’t think Good and his teammates are disappointed by any means.
Devils Lake finished ninth in the team standings after scoring 94 points in the meet held on Saturday at the Devils Lake Sports Center. In the process DLHS qualified seven wrestlers for the state tournament which gets under way on Thursday at the Bismarck Civic Center.
West Fargo amassed 289.5 points to win the tournament for the third consecutive year. The point total by the Packers, who crowned six individual champions, was the most-ever in the EDC tournament.
“Our team goal is always to be EDC champions and state champions,” said West Fargo coach Kayle Dangerud, who was chosen as the league’s coach of the year.
Good, along with teammate Austin Schall, advanced to the championship bout in their respective weight classes.
For Good, his appearance came after a pair of brilliant performances in each of his first two matches of Saturday’s tournament. Schall, meanwhile, had to rely on a late rally in his semifinal match to secure his spot in the championship.
Good opened the tournament with a bye in the first round at 120 pounds and wasted little time in pinning Fargo North’s Anthony Coronato in just 40 seconds. That offensive-minded attack by Good continued into his next match when it took the sophomore just 54 seconds to pin Dillon Finich of Fargo Davies and assure himself of a berth in the conference title bout.
Good could not duplicate the success of his first two matches as West Fargo’s Trevor Kringlie earned a technical fall with just 12.9 seconds remaining in the match when the Packer junior extended his lead in the match to 19-4.
Schall, meanwhile, dropped a 7-3 decision to Anjelo Shepherd of West Fargo in the championship at 138 pounds.
Schall had advanced to the title match after a thrilling 7-3 victory over Valley City’s Shane Undem in the semifinals. Schall and Undem were tied 3-3 midway through the second period and Schall had several chances to take the lead heading into the final period, but he was unable to finish several shots aimed at the legs of Undem.
“(Undem) did a great job of hand control and kept his legs out of my reach,” Schall said.
Schall began the final period in the down position and managed a reversal midway through the period to take a 5-3 lead and then added a two-point nearfall to increase his lead to 7-3 and Undem was unable to generate any other offense before the final buzzer sounded.
Jacob Lagasse, the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 285 pounds, was pinned in his semifinal match and had to settle for third place in the tournament.
“I made one dumb mistake ... and it cost me,” said Lagasse of his loss to Fargo South’s Josh Schlicht in the semifinal round where the Bruin pinned Lagasse in just 56 seconds.
Lagasse came back to defeat West Fargo’s Zach Eider 8-3 to earn his third-place finish in the meet.
“I just have to get back in the (wrestling) room and work hard and proved that I am better than what I showed (Saturday),” Lagasse said as he prepares for his final state tournament appearance.
Jacob Clouse finished fourth at 126 pounds, while Damond Brokke (145) and Leon Dubois (195) both placed fifth at their respective weight classes. Tommy Good also secured his trip to Bismarck with an eighth-place finish at 152 pounds.
It was the first varsity action for Dubois, who was a late replacement for senior standout Chris Sommer, whose season ended earlier in the week when he was diagnosed with a staph infection.
Dubois and Brokke also play hockey at Devils Lake High School.
“The team standings will become more important when I get a chance to put a full team together,” first-year Devils Lake coach Justin Beckstrand said. “Right now it is more about qualifying as many for state as we can ... and we have a couple of first-year guys going and that is an achievement in and of itself.”
Valley City’s Brandon Larson, who won the EDC title at 195 pounds with a pin of West Fargo’s Drew Johnson, was selected as the EDC’s senior athlete of the year.
Team Standings
1. West Fargo 289.5. 2. Fargo Davies 181. 3. Grand Forks Red River 145. 4. Valley City 141.5. 5. Fargo North 141. 6. Wahpeton 137. 7. Fargo South 121.5. 8. Grand Forks Central 104. 9. Devils Lake 94.
The optimism Joey Good showed on the eve of the Eastern Dakota Conference wrestling tournament when he predicted a top-five team finish did not come to fruition. But, don’t think Good and his teammates are disappointed by any means.
Devils Lake finished ninth in the team standings after scoring 94 points in the meet held on Saturday at the Devils Lake Sports Center. In the process DLHS qualified seven wrestlers for the state tournament which gets under way on Thursday at the Bismarck Civic Center.
West Fargo amassed 289.5 points to win the tournament for the third consecutive year. The point total by the Packers, who crowned six individual champions, was the most-ever in the EDC tournament.
“Our team goal is always to be EDC champions and state champions,” said West Fargo coach Kayle Dangerud, who was chosen as the league’s coach of the year.
Good, along with teammate Austin Schall, advanced to the championship bout in their respective weight classes.
For Good, his appearance came after a pair of brilliant performances in each of his first two matches of Saturday’s tournament. Schall, meanwhile, had to rely on a late rally in his semifinal match to secure his spot in the championship.
Good opened the tournament with a bye in the first round at 120 pounds and wasted little time in pinning Fargo North’s Anthony Coronato in just 40 seconds. That offensive-minded attack by Good continued into his next match when it took the sophomore just 54 seconds to pin Dillon Finich of Fargo Davies and assure himself of a berth in the conference title bout.
Good could not duplicate the success of his first two matches as West Fargo’s Trevor Kringlie earned a technical fall with just 12.9 seconds remaining in the match when the Packer junior extended his lead in the match to 19-4.
Schall, meanwhile, dropped a 7-3 decision to Anjelo Shepherd of West Fargo in the championship at 138 pounds.
Schall had advanced to the title match after a thrilling 7-3 victory over Valley City’s Shane Undem in the semifinals. Schall and Undem were tied 3-3 midway through the second period and Schall had several chances to take the lead heading into the final period, but he was unable to finish several shots aimed at the legs of Undem.
“(Undem) did a great job of hand control and kept his legs out of my reach,” Schall said.
Schall began the final period in the down position and managed a reversal midway through the period to take a 5-3 lead and then added a two-point nearfall to increase his lead to 7-3 and Undem was unable to generate any other offense before the final buzzer sounded.
Jacob Lagasse, the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 285 pounds, was pinned in his semifinal match and had to settle for third place in the tournament.
“I made one dumb mistake ... and it cost me,” said Lagasse of his loss to Fargo South’s Josh Schlicht in the semifinal round where the Bruin pinned Lagasse in just 56 seconds.
Lagasse came back to defeat West Fargo’s Zach Eider 8-3 to earn his third-place finish in the meet.
“I just have to get back in the (wrestling) room and work hard and proved that I am better than what I showed (Saturday),” Lagasse said as he prepares for his final state tournament appearance.
Jacob Clouse finished fourth at 126 pounds, while Damond Brokke (145) and Leon Dubois (195) both placed fifth at their respective weight classes. Tommy Good also secured his trip to Bismarck with an eighth-place finish at 152 pounds.
It was the first varsity action for Dubois, who was a late replacement for senior standout Chris Sommer, whose season ended earlier in the week when he was diagnosed with a staph infection.
Dubois and Brokke also play hockey at Devils Lake High School.
“The team standings will become more important when I get a chance to put a full team together,” first-year Devils Lake coach Justin Beckstrand said. “Right now it is more about qualifying as many for state as we can ... and we have a couple of first-year guys going and that is an achievement in and of itself.”
Valley City’s Brandon Larson, who won the EDC title at 195 pounds with a pin of West Fargo’s Drew Johnson, was selected as the EDC’s senior athlete of the year.
Team Standings
1. West Fargo 289.5. 2. Fargo Davies 181. 3. Grand Forks Red River 145. 4. Valley City 141.5. 5. Fargo North 141. 6. Wahpeton 137. 7. Fargo South 121.5. 8. Grand Forks Central 104. 9. Devils Lake 94.
Championship Matches
106: Tom Walton (FN) dec. Marlo Bell (FS) 8-3. 113: Jordan Shearer (WF) maj. dec. Kalik Battle (GFC) 12-0. 120: Trevor Kringlie (WF) tech. fall Joey Good (DL) 19-4. 126: Kollin Kragner (WF) tech. fall Mark Miller (VC) 16-0. 132: Cole Mehring (FD) dec. Weston Dobler (WF) 4-3. 138: Anjelo Shepherd (WF) dec. Austin Schaal (DL) 6-3. 145: Billy Rerick (GFRR) dec. Reed Beckman (VC) 9-6. 152: Michael Lehmann (Wahp.) dec. Bryce Fish (GFC) 9-5. 160: T.J. Poole (GFC) dec. Andy Walton (FN) 3-1. 170: Miles Scholl (WF) maj. dec. Zander Mairs (FD) 14-4. 182: Preston Lehmann (WF) pinned Jared Bertsch (GFRR) 1:10. 195: Brandon Larson (VC) pinned Drew Johnson (WF) 1:46. 220: Darrek Crissler (FD) injury def. over Brady Beckman (VC). 285: Bryan Bjerk (GFRR) pinned Josh Schlicht (FS) 3:03.
