Tanglin' Tangen

• Pat Tangen

Photo by Dave Samson/Forum Communications Co. Dickinson senior Pat Tangen, left, battles against Minot’s Anthony Pitner in their 145-pound semifinal match on Friday night during the Class A state wrestling tournament at the Fargodome. Tangen won and will be in the championship match today.

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• State Wrestling Tournament Scoreboard

FARGO — Pat Tangen is exactly where he wanted to be at the end of the season.

The Dickinson High senior is in the 145-pound championship match at the Class A state wrestling tournament.

Tangen, the No. 3 seed, dispatched of No. 7 Anthony Pitner of Minot with an 8-5 decision in the semifinals Friday night.

“Pat went out and wrestled well,” Dickinson head coach Cody Wolf said. “Pat wrestled the way that Pat knows how to wrestle.”

Now, Tangen faces No. 1 seed Drew Spaulding of Bismarck High in today’s championship. Spaulding is 3-0 against Tangen this season.

“He’s a senior, and the underdog,” Tangen said. “Go out and give yourself 6 more minutes, 6 more minutes to wrestle. It doesn’t matter if you win or you lose, that’s what you have left. He’s got that going for him. He doesn’t have anything to lose.”

Dickinson’s other semifinalist, senior Ryan Yates, lost a close match to Mandan’s Taylor Hellman by a 4-2 decision.

Hellman caught Yates with a takedown in a third period and held on for a victory.

“It was going to come down to whoever got the (last) takedown,” Wolf said.

Dickinson senior Adam Grimsley (189) and junior Ryder Peterson (135) assured themselves a place in the top eight after consolation-round pins.

Grimsley pinned Bismarck Century’s Austin Were in 3:49 and Peterson pinned Wahpeton’s Ethan Meide in 4:13.

Bryton Brien won his 119-pound consolation first-round match, beating Jamestown’s Mitch Ova with a 10-1 decision. But, No. 5 seed Cody Haugen of Minot stopped Brien with a 13-4 major decision in the next round.

Mark Dolechek earned a 5-3 sudden-victory decision against Devils Lake’s Tommy Good at 140 before falling to Fargo South’s Darren Crissler, 7-4.

No. 5 seed Dane Fischer of Bismarck St. Mary’s ended Dickinson 125-pound junior Alec Lindsey’s run with a 5-4 consolation round decision.

Dickinson wrestlers Matthew Berg (130), Jeremiah Bernston (135), Tyrell Anderson (152), Jade Dirk (171) all lost in their first consolation match.

“We didn’t have nearly the consolation rounds that we wanted,” Wolf said. “Some of them had spots where I think we could have came out on top and we came up a little bit short. We’re coming out of here with four places for sure.”

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