Midgets dispatch Blue Jays in dual, 43-31

• Thomas McCarty

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson senior Thomas McCarty, top, puts Jamestown senior Pat Lane in a headlock while attempting to pin him Friday as an official looks on during a West Region dual at the Dickinson High School gymnasium.

Talk about it

The Dickinson High wrestling team was coming off a tough loss on Thursday, but this time they didn’t leave anything up to chance.

The Midgets won six of the first eight matches en route to a 43-31 win over Jamestown in a West Region dual on Friday at Dickinson High School gymnasium.

“They came out on fire and wrestled tough,” Dickinson head coach Bruce Heppner said. “That’s the type of guys they are and they wrestled well.”

The final home dual of the season marked strong wins for all three seniors on the team. Alec Lindsey at 138 pounds and Thomas McCarty (195) each grabbed pins, while Jade Dirk (182) notched a major decision in the team’s final dual of the season.

“It was one of those last-time deals, where you put it all on the line,” McCarty said. “You should every match, but today we definitely did.”

McCarty and Dirk each moved up a weight class to keep the team from forfeiting any weights.

“My first thought moving up a weight class was ‘dang it,’ but my second thought was ‘it’s for the team,’” McCarty said. “I figured I’m going to go out there and wrestle as well as I can and get a win.”

The 120-pound match was the face-off that Jamestown head coach Greg White said was worth the price of admission. Dickinson’s No. 3-ranked sophomore Devin Berger pinned No. 4-ranked junior Jaden Horsted.

“Those two will meet again,” White said. “The outcome could be the same or the outcome could be just the opposite. Those two are really close and it’s going to be exciting whenever those two step onto the mat.”

Horsted took a 4-3 advantage in the third period, but Berger scored on a reversal and turned it into a pin at 4 minutes, 15 seconds.

“It’s was a great feeling when I pinned him,” Berger said. “He’s a good kid and being the No. 4-ranked kid, you always know it’s going to be a close match.”

Dickinson’s match that made everyone smile was heavyweight Ashton Schatz, just an eighth-grader, pinning junior Mark Reynolds at 3:59 seconds over for his first varsity win.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I just won this,’” Schatz said. “I wasn’t expecting to win and that was quite an accomplishment for my first varsity win.”

The Midgets haven’t had a wrestler at heavyweight all season and Heppner said Schatz is wrestling solid.

“We’ve been open at heavyweight all year and he’s been practicing with us through junior high,” Heppner said. “He’s only a 220-pounder and he’s going to have a shot doing something at heavyweight.”

Dickinson’s other wrestlers that came away with pin over the Blue Jays were Austin Hutzenbiler (113) and Bryton Brien (126).

The Midgets scored crucial points with Michael Cherwinski’s 4-0 decision over Caleb Ellingson at 160.

The Blue Jays had four other wrestlers ranked in the top 10 in Class A. All four — Paxton Mewes (106), Zane Braun (152), Eathan Gumke (170) and Nate Purcell (220) —came away with pins.

“I didn’t anticipate all of them to handle everybody that easily,” White said. “That is a bright spot.”

The Midgets now travels to Jamestown for the West Region tournament on Feb. 11. Heppner said his team is right where they want to be.

“We had a good week in Belle Fourche last weekend and that continued through tonight,” he said. “We’ll just keep plugging away one week and get as many in state tournament as we can.”

106: Paxton Mewes, J, pin. Jaret Lee 4:49. 113: Austin Hutzenbiler, D, pin. Jason Johnson 1:10. 120: Devin Berger, D, pin. Jaden Horsted 4:15. 126: Bryton Brien, D, pin. Keith Shahin 3:40. 132: Mitch Ova, J, dec. Dillon Clark 5-1. 138: Alec Lindsey, D, pin. Brandyn Harr 1:04. 145: Ryan Hillerud, J, maj. dec. Clayton Tangen 15-7. 152: Zane Braun, J, pin. Michael Dobitz 1:08. 160: Michael Cherwinski, D, dec. Caleb Ellingson 4-0. 170: Eathan Gumke, J, pin. Jace Dukart 2:22. 182: Jade Dirk, D, maj. dec. Reece Waldie 15-7. 195: Thomas McCarty, D, pin. Pat Lane 3:21. 220: Nate Purcell, J, pin. Chris Sickler :48. HWT: Ashton Schatz, D, pin. Mark Reynolds 3:59.

Tags: dickinson midgets, jamestown blue jays, sports, preps, midgets, wrestling