Youth must lead for DHS wrestling team
A good way to describe the Dickinson High wrestling team, co-head coach Pete Dobitz said, is half and half.By: Dustin Monke, The Dickinson Press
- Devin Berger
A good way to describe the Dickinson High wrestling team, co-head coach Pete Dobitz said, is half and half.
The Midgets’ wrestling room is half experienced wrestlers — many with state tournament experience — and half newcomers either to the varsity team or the school itself.
The one unifying factor for the team, however, is its youth.
Dickinson has just three seniors this season, though that doesn’t seem to bother the team one bit.
“We’re such a talented team and we don’t even realize that there’s (three) seniors,” said Devin Berger, a junior who placed fourth in the Class A state tournament at 120 pounds last season. “Everyone is wrestling good.”
Dickinson returns 11 state qualifiers from last season, including Berger and 113-pound sophomore Austin Hutzenbiler. He placed eighth in Class A at 106 pounds last season.
Hutzenbiler is excited about what the Midgets could be able to do thanks to their newfound depth and battles in nearly every weight class.
“With all the new numbers, we’re going to have a full lineup and that’s going to help us a lot more than having open spots,” Hutzenbiler said. “I feel we’re going to be a lot better this year.”
Among the returning state qualifiers are seniors Jacob Shypkowski (160) and Michael Dobitz (160), juniors Dillon Clark (145), Michael Cherwinski (152), Clayton Tangen (152) and Chris Sickler (heavyweight). Sophomore Jacob Brooke (170) and freshmen Jaret Lee (106) and Ashton Schatz (220) all saw the state tournament for the first time last season. Junior Matt Berg (145) qualified for state as a freshman in 2011.
Dickinson lost 138-pound state runner-up Alec Lindsey, as well as state qualifiers Bryton Brien and Ryder Peterson. Both wrestlers moved away from Dickinson with their families.
There are only a handful of weight classes where the Midgets have question marks, including 182 and 195.
“We’ve been like that for a couple years, where depth in the middle is pretty good,” Dobitz said. “Now we’ve developed and picked some boys up so we have depth on the bottom. We’re always a little thin on the top. We do have some bodies who can fill up there, but they’re young kids.”
Dobitz is in his first year as a head coach after leading the junior varsity and junior high teams for nearly a decade. He shares head coach chair with Cody Wolf, who helmed the Midgets from 2006 to 2011 and stepped back to become an assistant last season while Bruce Heppner was head coach.
Dobitz said he has been impressed with what some of the Midgets’ newcomers are showing in practice.
“We’re seeing some good stuff there and they’re bringing some different styles to the room, which helps out too,” Dobitz said.
Junior Aaron Bernal, who moved to Dickinson from Nebraska, is a newcomer to watch. The 170-pounder defeated Shypkowski by a 13-7 decision in the Orange and Black Dual on Tuesday. Jackson Wells, a 145-pound freshman who came from Idaho, earned a 49-second pin in his match.
“We’re seeing some good stuff there and they’re bringing some different styles to the room, which helps out too,” Dobitz said.
Also back into the fold is 138-pound senior Collin Thielen, who sat out his junior season with a fractured right ankle.
Thielen said while he is one of only three seniors, the Midgets are confident in their juniors and underclassmen because of the experience they’ve had.
“Most of the juniors have been wrestling (varsity) for three, maybe even for years now,” Thielen said. “They have a lot of experience. My goal for the team is to actually make it to state for the dual tournament.”
The Midgets kick off the season with a West Region dual against Minot High at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the DHS gymnasium.
“That’ll be a good start to the season,” Dobitz said. “It’s always one of those duals where we don’t know anything about them really and they don’t know anything about us, so you’ve got to feel each other out a little bit. Hopefully that experience we have with those experienced guys will come through.”
Dickinson Midgets
Head coaches: Pete Dobitz (first season) and Cody Wolf (sixth season)
Assistant coaches: Casey Cook, Jordan Ewen, Jacob Nelson, Adam Orton
Last season: Missed Class A state dual tournament, 15 individual state qualifiers, 3 state placers.
Returners: Devin Berger, Jr., 126, 4th place at state; Austin Hutzenbiler, So. 113, 8th place at state; Michael Dobitz, Sr., 160, state qualifier; Jacob Shypkowski, Sr., 160, state qualifier; Collin Thielen, Sr., 138 (missed 2011-12 season with injury); Michael Cherwinski, Jr., 152, state qualifier; Matt Berg, Jr., 145, 2011 state qualifier, Dillon Clark, Jr., 145, state qualifier; Chris Sickler, Jr., HWT, state qualifier; Clayton Tangen, Jr., 152, state qualifier; Jacob Brooke, So., 170, state qualifier; Jaret Lee, Fr., 106, state qualifier; Ashton Schatz, Fr., 220, state qualifier.
Newcomers: Aaron Bernal, Jr., 170;; Antonio Burkey, Jr., 113; Richard Saunders, Jr., 132; David Couillard, Jr., 152; David Davis, So., 120; Alex Korth, So., 126; Austan Lindorg, So., 195; Dual Keck, Fr., 220; Rafael Lopez, Fr., 182; Justin Meyer, Fr., 182; David Ramsey, Fr., 195; Jackson Wells, Fr., 145; Jory Deaton, Fr., 132; Cade Haugen, 8th, 113; Thomas Irwin, 8th, 126;
Lost: Alec Lindsey, 138 (state runner-up) Jade Dirk, 170 (graduated); Thomas McCarty, 182 (graduated); Ryder Peterson, 145 (state qualifier, transferred to Sidney, Mont.); Bryton Brien, 126 (state qualifier, transferred to Hettinger-Scranton); Jace Dukart, 160 (state qualifier, did not return to team).
Tags: dickinson midgets, sports, sports, wrestling, preps, midgets
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