Several Local State Qualifiers From Boys District Wrestling

The fifth district wrestling championships took place last week at West Side high school in Dayton.  All three local schools had wrestlers competing for a chance to claim a district title and qualify for the state tournament.  Each school had wrestlers place well in districts and qualify for state.  We will break down what happened with each school and wrestler that competed.

North Gem

The Cowboys had five wrestlers participating in districts.  Four out of the five wrestlers won at least one match.  The lone freshman on the team Jaxyn Welker in his first year of wrestling put forth a good effort but went 0-2 and failed to qualify for state.  At 138lbs Luke Rindlisbaker lost his first match in the quarter finals by a very close decision.  From there Rindlisbaker won his first match in the consolation bracket by fall before getting pinned in the next round by another local wrestler.  Rindlisbaker finishes his career putting up a great effort but failing to qualify for state.  At 157lbs Craig Yost competed for the Cowboys.  Yost is the newcomer to the team joining up partway through the season.  Yost started off strong, winning his first match by fall and getting to the semi final match.  Yost lost that semi final match and was sent to the consolation bracket.  Yost won his first match in the consolation bracket which placed him in the third place match against another one of our local wrestlers.  That match was a thrilling one to watch as the two wrestlers really battled hard.  In the end Yost was pinned and finished in fourth place and fell short of qualifying for state.  At 165lbs Haydn Frandsen also got off to a good start by winning his first match by fall and making it to the semi final match.  Like Yost, Frandsen ended up losing that match and went to the consolation side of the bracket.  Frandsen cruised to the win in his first match on the consolation side and made it to the third place match.  That third place match was a good battle that Frandsen ended up coming out on top winning third place but just coming up short of qualifying for state.  The final wrestler for the Cowboys was Lukky Welker at 150lbs.  Welker followed the same path as Frandsen winning his first match then losing in the semi finals.  Welker then made his way to the third place match which he did win.  In Welker's case he did not face the second place wrestler on the championship side of the bracket so he was allowed to challenge for second place.  A win in that match would qualify him for state and give him the runner up spot at districts.  In a very exciting match Welker came out with the victory by close decision and punched his ticket to state. 

Grace

The Grizzlies also had five wrestlers compete at districts last week.  All five wrestlers would eventually qualify for the state tournament but it was closer than expected for some.  One of those wrestlers that had to rely on some luck to qualify for state was Carter Kimball at 132lbs.  Kimball was the favorite to win districts and did easily make it to the championship match.  In that championship match Kimball suffered an unfortunate injury.  He finished the match but the injury hindered his ability to wrestle at his best and he ended up losing the match dropping him to second place.  Since he did not wrestle the third place finisher in the championship side of the bracket the third place wrestler could challenge him for second place and a spot at state.  Due to his injury Kimball was unable to defend his second place spot and had to forfeit the match.  Fortunately for Kimball he had done enough during the rest of the season that he was awarded a wildcard spot late Sunday night giving him a chance to compete at state.  At 138lbs Brett Hobbs would also need some help to qualify for state.  Hobbs won his first match before losing in the semi finals.  Hobbs, then on the consolation side of the bracket, won his next two matches and secured the third place position on the podium.  Hobbs was allowed to challenge for second place but came up a little short in that match losing in a close decision.  Hobbs was then forced to wait until late Sunday as well before finding out that he did earn a wildcard spot for the state tournament.  At 126lbs Cael Newby earned byes to the semi final match.  Newby won his semi final match making it to the championship match.  In that championship match Newby fell, putting him in second place.  Newby was then challenged by the third place wrestler.  Newby dominated that match, securing his spot in the state championship tournament and finishing in second place at districts.  Next up for the Grizzlies was Jack Eddins at 144lbs.  Eddins was also considered one of the favorites to get to the championship match at districts and qualify for state.  Eddins won his first match and entered the semifinals.  The semi final match was one of the most competitive matches of the day.  After three full rounds Eddins and his opponent from Aberdeen were tied, sending them to overtime.  In the extra time Eddins earned the takedown and won by sudden victory.  Eddins then faced the top seed in the district for the championship where Eddins was beaten.  Eddins finished in second place and qualified for state.  The last wrestler for the Grizzlies was Mack Jorgensen at 165lbs.  Jorgensen won his first two matches by pinning his opponents and qualified for the district championship.  In the championship match Jorgensen was on the defense for most of the match trailing in points.  In the closing seconds of the second round Jorgensen was able to reverse his opponent and win with a pin.  Jorgensen won the district title and qualified for state.

Soda Springs

The Cardinals brought the largest number of wrestlers to the district tournament of any of the local schools competing with thirteen wrestlers. Owen Miller, Kage Johnson, Troy Krupp, and Kage Kirby all fought hard but failed to place and qualify for state. At 165lbs Kaiden Kimball lost the semi final match to the eventual district champion sending him to the consolation side of the bracket.  Kimball won his first match there making it to the third place match.  Kimball lost that third place match finishing in fourth place and missing out on going to state.  At 175lbs Carson Cook followed a similar path.  After winning his first match Cook lost in the semi finals and was sent to the consolation bracket.  In the consolation bracket Cook competed in the third place match but he too came up short finishing in fourth place and missing out on state.  Simon Krupp competed at 106lbs.  With only two wrestlers competing at that weight in the district Krupp automatically qualified for state and entered the district championship match.  Krupp battled hard but fell in that match placing second in the district.  At 120lbs the Cardinals had two wrestlers competing Conner Lee and Jace Garbett.  Garbett lost his semi final match, eventually landing in the third place match.  Garbett won that third place match and waited to see if he could challenge for second place.  Meanwhile Lee won his semi final match earning a spot in the district championship.  Lee ended up getting pinned in the championship putting him in second place.  With Lee losing the championship it allowed Garbett to challenge Lee for the second place spot and the right to go to state.  The two teammates faced off with Lee coming out on top and earning the spot to state while Garbett's season came to an end.  At 126lbs Ryker Hemmert started off with a win before losing in the semi finals.  Now on the consolation side of the bracket Hemmert made it to the third place match.  Hemmert ended up winning that match and then challenged for second place.  Unfortunately Hemmert did not win the challenge and would have to settle for third.  However Hemmert was among those wrestlers that learned Sunday night that he did qualify for state with a wildcard.  At 157lbs Zayden Garbett followed a similar path as Hemmert.  After making it to the semi finals match Garbett lost and eventually ended up in the third place match.  That third place match was competitive but Garbett came out on top and secured the third place position.  Garbett was not able to challenge for second place but like Hemmert did qualify for state by way of wildcard.  The last two wrestlers for Soda Springs had somewhat short days in terms of number of matches.  At 190lbs Elijah Dilworth earned byes to the semi final match.  Dilworth won that match going to the championship match.  Dilworth easily took care of business, winning the district title and qualifying for state.  The final wrestler for the Cardinals was Cole Garbett at 215lbs.  Garbett also had byes up to the semi final match.  Garbett quickly won that match in under a minute and headed to the championship match.  Garbett took a little longer in the championship match to win going into the second period.  Garbett won the district title and qualified for state.

There you have it.  Twelve total local wrestlers have qualified for state.  The state championships will take place Friday and Saturday and the ICCU Arena in Pocatello so head on over and support a great group of young men.