Killdeer No. 1 seed Jerad Lee-Gay shocked in opening round
FARGO — Oakes sophomore Caden Coleman was just another kid with a 26-13 record going against a top-seeded wrestler with a 34-1 mark. It was not just another match, though.By: Jeff Kolpack and The Press Staff, The Dickinson Press
- Caden Coleman beats Jerad Lee-Gay
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FARGO — Oakes sophomore Caden Coleman was just another kid with a 26-13 record going against a top-seeded wrestler with a 34-1 mark. It was not just another match, though.
The Tornado whipped up the stunner of the day in the Class B state wrestling tournament at the Fargodome. He pinned No. 1-seeded Killdeer junior Jerad Lee-Gay at 112 pounds in the first round, getting the stick with 35 seconds left in the match.
“I’ve seen him wrestle before and he looks good,” Coleman said. “But I guess I went out there and worked harder and was stronger.”
He was up 12-2 when he pinned Lee-Gay. Coleman followed that with a 7-4 win over Grafton’s Jaron Lunday in the quarterfinals and is the only unseeded wrestler left in a Class B winners’ bracket.
The loss snapped Lee-Gay’s 34-match win streak.
“You’d like to have a reason,” Killdeer head coach Shane Olson said. “I don’t know what happened to tell you the truth. It’s disappointing. He was about as stunned as we were.”
While Lee-Gay fell into the consolation round, five Killdeer juniors reached the semifinals.
Logan Schaper (119), Hunter Fredericks (125), River Voigt (145), Lane Oversen (152) and Grady Houghton (189) are all one win away from their respective state championship matches.
Voigt, a No. 2 seed, pinned his way to the 145-pound semifinals, taking down Hillsboro’s Josh Riendeau in 1:36 and Harvey’s Devin Arnold in 4:33. He faces Carrington’s Brandon Gussiaas, the No. 6 seed, today in the semifinals.
Schaper reached the semifinals of the 119-pound bracket with a pin of Carrington’s Jon Bakke in 1:16 in the opening round and a 7-1 decision over Hettinger sophomore Codi Tomac in the quarterfinals. Schaper, the No. 3 seed, faces Region 4 rival and No. 2-seeded Cody Neumiller of New Salem, a returning champion, in today’s semifinals.
“He (Schaper) ended up catching us for five (points) right in the first period and we battled back, but it’s too much to overcome against a kid like that,” Hettinger head coach Randy Burwick said.
Fredericks got into the 125-pound semifinals with a pin of Napoleon’s Trenten Jangula in 5:32 and a 12-4 major decision against Harvey’s Quinten Koble. The No. 4-seed Fredericks will face top-seeded Deven Loepp of Oakes in today’s semifinals.
Oversen made it to the 152-pound semifinals with a 5:15 pin of Rugby’s Zach Berube and a 5-0 decision over Stanley-Powers Lake’s Abraham Roehrich. Oversen takes on top-seeded Michael Nord of Lisbon in today’s semifinals.
Houghton pinned his way to the 189-pound semifinals, beating LaMoure’s Damon Schwarz in 1:02 and Hillsboro’s Alex McLean in 1:51. Houghton, the No. 5 seed, faces No. 1-seeded Jared Vandal of Rolla-Rock Lake-St. John today.
“We’ve got some big-name kids to try and knock off, but hopefully we can get one or two kids in the finals,” Olson said.
No. 1-seeded junior Sean Elkins of Hettinger coasted into the 140-pound semifinals with a pin of Grafton’s Andrew Delacruz (2:41) and a 17-1 technical fall over Killdeer junior Camren Decouteau in the quarterfinals.
Elkins faces No. 5 seed Garrett Thompson of Rugby in today’s semifinals.
“He’s looking pretty solid right now,” Burwick said. “He’s just doing the things he needs to do and staying within himself.”
Hettinger’s Christian Hughes, the No. 7 seed at 130 pounds, pinned Dylan Stewart of Rolla-Rock Lake-St. John in 3:19 in his opening-round match but lost to Napoleon’s Ryan Becker via a 10-4 decision in the quarterfinals.
Killdeer senior Anthony Dukart reached the 160-pound quarterfinals after pinning Rugby’s Mike Ostrem in 3:22 in the opening round, but the No. 6 seed lost to No. 3 seed Steven Weigel of Napoleon via a 10-8 decision in overtime in the quarterfinals.
Beulah-Hazen junior Isaiah Krebs scored a 49-second pin over May-Port-CG’s Seth Wilson in the opening round at 171, but lost to Watford City’s Kalin Mogen by a 2-1 decision in the quarterfinals.
Watford City senior Brady Lund, a one-time state champion and two-time runner-up, got into the semifinals at 140 with a pin and a major decision.
Beulah-Hazen sophomore Hunter Eslinger, the top seed at 103 pounds, moved on to the semifinals after scoring second-period pins over Kenmare’s Tanner Egeberg (2:59) and Central Cass’ Nathan Volk (2:43). He faces Harvey’s Carson Koble in the semifinals.
Killdeer still has shot at team title
Killdeer is still in the hunt for the team title after Day 1.
South Border leads with 66 points, followed by Oakes (62.5), Lisbon (60) and Killdeer (58).
Olson said the consolation rounds now become extremely important.
“The only way we’re going to stay in there is to get some points from those kids who are non-placers,” Olson said.
Perhaps the most intriguing storyline of today will again revolve around Lee-Gay, who would face No. 2 seed Jace Berg of Lisbon in the second consolation round if he can beat Watford City’s Jake Scott in the first round.
If Lee-Gay and Berg end up wrestling, the winner will set up a big point boost for his team while the loser’s tournament will be over.
“It’s crazy,” Olson said. “… The loser doesn’t place at state this year.”
Velva takes care of Cowboys in dual quarterfinals
Velva nixed Killdeer’s hopes of making a title run in the state dual tournament quarterfinals. The Region 3 champions clipped the Cowboys 39-32, sending them to the consolation semifinals.
“We were hoping to get six (points) at a couple of different matches,” Olson said. “One or two matches is all it would have taken to make a difference.”
Velva had five pins that totaled 30 of its points. The Aggies sealed the win on Jed Jespersen’s pin over Killdeer eighth-grader T.J. Moore in 2:43 at heavyweight.
Killdeer trailed 39-14 and was mathematically defeated before winning the three matches via pin to tighten the final score.
“(Jesperson) is a five seed and our guy is unseeded, so we were hoping to stay off our back,” Olson said. “That was our game plan there and some of the other weight classes before that.”
Chris Aarhus of the Minot Daily News contributed to this story.
Tags: killdeer cowboys, hettinger black devils, sports, preps, wrestling
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