Midgets’ Lindsey falls in title match

• Alec Lindsey

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson senior Alec Lindsey, right, tries to escape Bismarck High senior Ryan Blees in the 138-pound Class A state championship match. Blees won by pin in 4 minutes, 13 seconds.

Talk about it

More...

• State Wrestling Scoreboard

BISMARCK — The upset train that Alec Lindsey was riding for a majority of the tournament came to an end against defending state champion Ryan Blees of Bismarck High.

Lindsey ended his high school wrestling career with a runner-up finish at 138 pounds at the Class A state wrestling tournament on Saturday at the Bismarck Civic Center.

“I just wanted to go out there and wrestle with a solid defense,” Lindsey said. “He’s just really quick on his shot and he changed a lot of stuff from the last time we wrestled. He caught me off guard on a lot of different things.”

Lindsey knew coming in that his match would be difficult. Blees pinned him in 4 minutes, 13 seconds.

“I’m definitely not hanging my head about how I did here,” Lindsey said. “Even getting pinned in the finals wasn’t the best for me, but I went out there and did my best.”

The senior from South Heart High School, who was seeded No. 6 in the tournament, reeled off wins against No. 3 seed Austin Schall in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed Anjelo Shepherd in the semifinals.

Dickinson head coach Bruce Heppner said the run wasn’t only a good way for Lindsey to end his career on, but also sends a quality message to the team’s younger wrestlers.

“It shows to the boys that Alec came in as a sixth seed and he wasn’t expected to make it very far,” Heppner said. “He just battled in every match and into the finals. Being a sixth seed in the finals is big, it’s good for Alec.”

Dickinson came away with three placers. Sophomore Devin Berger (120) was fourth and freshman Austin Hutzenbiler (106) took eighth.

“The biggest thing is that these guys came here last year and none of them were placers,” Heppner said. “For all three of them to go home with hardware shows the hard work they put in all season.”

West Fargo won the state tournament with 223 points and Bismarck High was runner-up with 191.5. Bismarck Century rounded out the top three with 125 points.

Berger was matched up with Jaden Horsted of Jamestown. The two West Region opponents had met twice with Berger winning both matches. However, Morsted’s lone win in the series came when it mattered most.

“He’s a good kid,” Berger said. “It definitely could have gone either way, because we are in tuned with each other now.”

This likely won’t be the last meeting between the two wrestlers either, as Berger is a sophomore and Morsted is a junior.

“He’s a junior, so I’m sure I’ll see him next year,” Berger said.

Hutzenbiler grabbed an eighth-place finish. The freshman lost in a 2-1 decision to West Fargo’s Jesse Shearer.

“Austin is only a freshman and he has a few years ahead of him,” Heppner said.

The majority of the wrestlers that came into the state tournament for the Midgets left the Civic Center with wins and that’s a key for Heppner, who was in his first year as head coach.

“I’ve been the telling the guys all weekend as they took their losses or got beat out of the tournament,” Heppner said. “I asked ‘Where were we at last year? We weren’t here.’ They’re here and experienced to come back for next year.”

Tags: dickinson midgets, alec lindsey, sports, midgets, preps, wrestling