Jaylee Jetty takes her opponent down during in the state wrestling tournament on Friday, Feb. 20. (Photo by Mojo Hill)
FARGO — Six Devils Lake girls at the state wrestling tournament were still alive going into Friday.
While Jaylee Jetty was the only Firebird to continue advancing, it was a successful showing overall with eight girls at state and one on the podium.
“Extremely happy,” Devils Lake head coach Fields Olson said. “The girls that we have coming back next year, now they’ve gotten a taste of the state tournament, kind of an idea of what type of atmosphere it is, the grind of the state tournament. And, to me, that’s just added value.”
Second-round wrestle backs
Among the six Devils Lake girls still in the bracket, five had their tournaments end with losses in the second consolation round — which was the first round held on Friday.
“A lot of it was, this was their first experience at the state tournament,” Olson said. “So going even into the second day, like I told them last night, that’s an accomplishment in itself. We had a lot of momentum. I wish we would have had another round of wrestle backs last night, because, of course, they kind of go back, they relax, they come down, and then we’ve got to start all over the next day. But that’s wrestling.”
No. 11 seed Jetty advanced in the 170 weight class with a win by forfeit over No. 4 seed Deysi Krisher (Des Lacs-Burlington).
Third-round wrestle backs
Jetty matched up with No. 10 seed Aleah Martin (Turtle Mountain) in the next consolation round.
She won by decision, 11-4. The match was scoreless after the first period, but Jetty went ahead 2-0 with a near fall in the second.
In the third period, Jetty had a takedown and a near fall back-to-back. Martin got all four of her points on single scores in the third period. It wasn’t nearly enough to keep up with Jetty, who outscored Martin 9-4 in the final two minutes.
“She picked up a big win against Turtle Mountain, who we battled back and forth with all year,” Olson said. “After that, the pressure was kind of off, and she could just wrestle a good match and grind out six minutes.”
Consolation semifinals
Once she reached the penultimate consolation round, Jetty lost by pin in 16 seconds to No. 3 seed Kolby McElwain.
But her day wasn’t over. She made it to the placing rounds, getting to wrestle one last match in the fifth-place contest.
Fifth-place match
Jetty fell to No. 6 seed Brennida Myers (Bismarck Century) in a rematch of her first-round contest.
After losing a 6-0 decision to Myers the previous time, Jetty grinded through a 1-0 defeat in the fifth-place match. The lone point came from an escape with 1:46 left in the third period. Jetty otherwise wrestled her opponent evenly.
Jetty finished sixth in the 170 weight class. She’s the first Firebird girl to place since Izzy Berg two years ago.
“We were on the bubble last year; she lost out in the blood round,” Olson said. “It is what it is. But she wrestled very smart.”
The Devils Lake girls left the state tournament feeling content in the continued strides they made for the program this season.
