Killdeer’s working for a title

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The Killdeer wrestling team hasn’t had to shy away from many defeats this season and with almost the full roster back, the team is excited.

The Cowboys host Beach, Bowman County and Standing Rock at the Killdeer Multiple on Friday.

“I think everybody’s kind of excited and working each day to get better as an individual,” Killdeer head coach Shane Olson said. “Then they know by doing that, the team will get better.”

Killdeer is coming off a fifth-place finish at the East-West Invitational in New Salem this past weekend. Though the Cowboys didn’t win, Olson said he’s seeing improvement from week to week.

“Mostly, we are just finally getting all of our kids healthy and back on the mat again,” he said. “They are gaining experience each tournament to get caught up to where we should have been awhile ago.”

The Cowboys have six wrestlers ranked in the top three in the state in Class B. Lane Oversen has a perfect 31-0 record this season at 182 pounds. Olson said Oversen brings consist points to the top part of the lineup.

“He’s just real consistent putting up points for us,” Olson said. “He’s put in a lot of work from the off-season, which has helped him too. He’s already wrestled and beat the top five or six guys in the state.”

The Cowboys have three second-ranked wrestlers in Logan Schaper (126), Hunter Fredericks (138) and River Voigt (152). Jared Lee-Gay (132) and T.J. Moore (285) are ranked third in the state.

One wrestler coming back to mat in time for the Region 4 tournament that Killdeer hosts Feb. 11 is Grady Houghton. The senior, who was the 189-pound state runner-up last season, has been out all season after tearing the ACL in his knee during in football season.

How eager is Houghton to get back on the mat?

“I’m ecstatic,” he said. “I don’t really know if I’m doing it for myself, but more so for my team.”

Seeing the wrestling team doing well makes Houghton’s job of getting back on the mat that much easier.

“Our wrestling team has nine seniors and we’ve been wrestling together since the first grade,” he said “That makes it a lot easier.”

The Cowboys treated the East-West Invitational as a practice run to the state tournament.

“We just consider it as almost like a practice state tournament,” Olson said.

Tags: high school wrestling, killdeer cowboys, sports, wrestling