Local Wrestlers Qualify For State

Last week was the district tournaments for both the boys and girls wrestling teams in our area.  The boys district tournament took place on Thursday in Grace and included the six teams that are part of the 3A fifth district.  Those teams included Soda Springs, Grace, North Gem, Aberdeen, West Side, and Malad.  Several of our local boys wrestlers were in contention for podium spots with a few earning number one seeds and favored to win their weight class.  The two wrestlers that most locals were interested in watching were top seeded Carter Kimball at 138 lbs. and top seeded Elijah Dilworth at 190 lbs.  Both wrestlers have been dominant this season with Kimball boasting a 48-3 record and Dilworth standing at 43-1.  However they would not be the only two wrestlers to shine during last week's district tournament. 

Cael Newby from Grace is this years district champion at 144 lbs.

The North Gem Cowboys entered the tournament with their three wrestlers that had been working hard all season.  Landon Hayes and Jaxyn Welker were each in very competitive brackets.  Unfortunately neither wrestler was able to pick up a win and went two and out in the tournament.  The third Cowboy in the tournament was Haydn Frandsen at 165 lbs.  Frandsen picked up a win in his first match which sent him to the semi final where he faced Troy Krupp from Soda Springs.  Frandsen was able to grab the win over Krupp making it to the championship match.  In the championship match Frandsen fell to the top seeded Malad wrestler.  Frandsen finished with second place while also qualifying for the state tournament.

The Soda Springs Cardinals had nine wrestlers enter the district tournament.  Seven out of the nine finished in the top four in their respective brackets.  Unfortunately the two wrestlers that did not finish in the top four, ending their careers, were seniors Ryker Hemmert and Troy Krupp.  At 165 lbs. Kaiden Kimball finished in fourth place as did Jace Garbett at 138 lbs.  Beau Jensen ended the tournament in third place in the 120 lb. bracket.  Despite their solid finishes none of those three wrestlers wound up qualifying for state.  JT Cutler at 126 lbs. battled his way to the third place match.  Despite his best efforts Cutler wound up losing that match to Jayden Lunt from Grace.  This left Cutler in fourth place.  Despite his fourth place finish Cutler did grab one of the wildcard spots and will wrestle at state.  Carson Cook at 215 lbs. took a similar path only he was able to win this third place match.  Even with a third place finish Cook did not automatically qualify for state.  Cook too had to rely on earning a wildcard spot which he did and will also wrestle at state.  Kellen Garbett at 132 lbs. picked up a win in the semi finals sending him to the championship.  Garbett ended up losing by fall in the second round of that match but secured second place and a trip to state.  Finally Elijah Dilworth at 190 lbs. automatically qualified for the semi finals where he dominated his opponent winning by technical fall then repeated that same result in the championship winning his fourth straight district title and earning the number one seed at this weekend's upcoming state tournament.  

Elijah Dilworth from Soda Springs is a four time district champion this year at 190 lbs.

 The Grace Grizzlies entered the district tournament with eight wrestlers.  Of those eight wrestlers six finished in the top four of their respective brackets.  The two Grizzly wrestlers that failed to finish in the top four were Mark Hulse and Jackson Juncker.  Both wrestlers put up good fights but were quickly eliminated from the tournament.  Douglas Robbins at 150 lbs. lost in the semi finals but was able to battle back to the third place match.  Unfortunately Robbins was defeated in that match finishing in fourth and missing out on qualifying for state.  Fellow freshman teammate Tate Stoddard at 144 lbs. lost his first match of the day forcing him to battle all the way back winning his next two matches and qualifying for the third place match.  Stoddard also came up short in his third place match but he was lucky enough to earn a wildcard and will be participating in the state tournament.  Jayden Lunt at 126 lbs. was able to make it to the semi final match before he suffered his first loss of the day.  Lunt then fought his way back to the third place match where he defeated Cutler from Soda Springs.  Lunt finished with a third place finish and was also lucky enough to earn a wildcard spot at state.  The Grizzlies final three wrestlers were Mack Jorgensen at 285 lbs., Cael Newby at 144 lbs., and Carter Kimball at 138 lbs.  All three wrestlers were able to run through their competition going perfect on the day.  All three Grizzlies finished the district tournament with first place finishes and state qualifications.   

Mack Jorgensen from Grace is this years district champion at 285 lbs.

After the boys districts had all wrapped up it was the girls turn.  Girls district is a much larger competition.  The girls do not separate based on school size and also combine both the fifth and sixth districts.  This put girls from thirty different schools vying for district titles and state qualifications.  The girls district tournament also was spread out over two days and took place at Preston High School last Friday and Saturday.

The Lady Cardinals entered the tournament with six girls.  Although they put up their best effort most of the Lady Cardinals were eliminated from contention after just two or three matches.  The eliminated girls included Mattysen Hopkins, Addika Oliver, Kaylin Richard, Laryah Dilworth and Mialexys Gonzales.  The lone bright spot for the Lady Cardinals was freshman Brooklyn Dodge.  Dodge picked up wins in both the quarter and semi finals and qualified for the championship.  Dodge wrestling at 140 lbs. wound up falling in the championship but still grabbed second place and earning a spot at the state tournament. 

The Lady Grizzlies had five girls take part in districts with all five earning placings with four of them qualifying for state.  Adeline Clark at 100 lbs. ended her district tournament in sixth place and was the lone Lady Grizzly to miss out on state.  Holland Ball at 135 lbs. ended up finishing in fifth place with a 3-2 record in the tournament and will wrestle in the state tournament.  The older Ball sister Hayden wrestled in the 115 lb. bracket.  Hayden fought her way to the third place match but lost that match ending her tournament with a fourth place finish and a trip to state.  Senior Skyla Cloud at 155 lbs. also made her way to the third place match.  Unlike Ball, Cloud was able to win her third place match and earn a spot in the state tournament.  Lastly Bella Eddins at 125 lbs. rolled through her first three opponents qualifying for the championship match.  In that championship match Eddins was unable to get the upper hand over a wrestler from South Fremont and finished in second place but will wrestle at state this weekend.  

There will be fifteen total wrestlers from Caribou County competing this weekend in the state tournament.  The tournament is in the Ford Idaho Center this year.  If you can make the trip go cheer them on as they will do their best as they represent their schools.  In next week's edition we will have all of the results from the state tournament.