'Everyone wants to see Jamestown': Wrestling kicks off its season
Dec. 4—JAMESTOWN — Saturday morning, Jamestown High School senior wrestler, Sam Schlepuetz, woke up ready to spend some time on the mat.
"I wasn't really nervous or anything like that, I was just happy to get out and wrestle again," Schlepuetz said. "Everyone wants to see Jamestown wrestle."
Schlepuetz and the Blue Jays boys and girls wrestling teams kicked off their competitive season Saturday at their annual Knights of Columbus Tournament.
The Blue Jay boys took first place out of the 13 competing teams. Jamestown scored a whopping 182 points while Valley City, the tourney runner-up scored 139. Conference action for the Jays is slated to begin on Thursday with a dual at Bismarck High. The match is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.
"Overall everyone did pretty well," Schlepuetz said. "Everyone won the matches that they needed to win to help the team and get individual placements for themselves."
Schlepuetz won the 138-pound bracket on Saturday where he wound up with a pin of Valley City's Tucker Johnson at the 2:52 mark of the first-place match.
"Yeah — that match was all right," Schlepuetz said with a smile. "I just want to keep driving and keep putting in good matches so I can eventually place at State for sure."
Schlepuetz wasn't the only one in his family to earn top honors as his brother Lucas also ended up in the championship round, despite being put through the ringer earlier in the day.
"(After that) I told him good job," Schlepuetz said. "That kid he had was pretty big so I told him to just keep pushing and keep working.
Clearly, Schlepuetz's advice worked.
Lucas wound up forcing a pin of Kane Mathiason of Fargo Davies in the 132-pound championship.
"I am proud of him and I am proud of our team for sticking together and cheering each other on," Schlepuetz said.
Jack Schauer, Pete Rasmussen, Colton Mewes, Jackson Walters also cleaned up at their weights. In his first tournament since sixth grade, Ethan Gall placed second in the 220 division while Dalton Darby was named the runner-up in the heavyweight. Adyn Eckart finished third at 160 and Eric Chea placed fourth at 152. Grady Anderson and AJ Matzke also placed in the top five.
The awards didn't stop with the guys this year.
The Blue Jay girls team placed second out of nine teams with 99 points. West Fargo Sheyenne won the affair with 106 team points. The girls will be traveling with the guys to Bismarck on Thursday. The dual between the Blue Jay and Demon girls' teams is scheduled for 6 p.m.
"I joined because of my family's love of wrestling," Jamestown sophomore Neveah Romfo said. "My stepbrother wrestled for years. Also, Paris Eslick, who graduated and got second at the state tournament last year, wanted me to do it so that's why I did it."
Romfo wound up placing sixth in the 135-pound division. All told the Blue Jays had 16 girls place in the top eight of each division. 2021 state placer, Hannah Sjostrom, led the way for the Jays, earning a first-place finish in the 190-pound bracket. The senior won by fall over Des Lacs-Burlington's Leah Burdett with 0:54 off the clock.
"I like to defy the odds and be different sometimes," eighth-grader Maddie Ede said. "That's why I am in wrestling because a lot of people see it as a 'boys sport.' It's a lot of fun."
Ede ended up placing fifth in the 250-pound bracket while her teammate, Alee Meza won the 250-pound title with a fall over Carrington's Ashley Lindberg in the final round of the night.
"There are a lot more girls in (wrestling) this year," Romfo said. "Girls are seeing their friends getting involved and having fun. There's no drama on our team so when you have this environment where everyone is very happy, proud of each other and cheering each other on — it really motivates you to keep going.
"It's my first tournament ever so I think I did pretty well," she said.
Knights of Columbus Invite
Team results
Boys
1. Jamestown 182; 2. Valley City 139; 3. Fargo Davies 123; 4. Des Lacs-Burlington 97.5; 5. Turtle Mountain 49; 6. Bismarck High 40.5; 7. Grand Forks Red River 37; 8. Fargo South 32; 9. Devils Lake 29; 10. Legacy 27; 11. Century 16; 12. Grand Forks Central 9; 13. Mandan 0.
Girls
1. West Fargo Sheyenne 106; 2. Jamestown 99; 3. Carrington 97; 4. Des Lacs-Burlington 77; 5. Grand Forks 76.5; 6. Turtle Mountain 67; 7. Valley City 54; 8. Devils Lake 11; 9. Fargo 0.
Top finishers
Boys
106
1st Place — Jack Schauer of Jamestown
2nd Place — Wesley Fisk of Devils Lake
3rd Place — Chase Coghlan of Valley City
4th Place — Talen Tuchscherer of Fargo Davies
5th Place — Rylan Samuelson of Devils Lake
6th Place — Brody Ray of Grand Forks Red River
113
1st Place — Cole Sauvageau of Fargo Davies
2nd Place — Gabe Flores of Grand Forks Central
3rd Place — Elijah Knopik of Bismarck High
120
1st Place — Koltyn Grebel of Valley City
2nd Place — Colton Ireland of Bismarck High
3rd Place — Cormac Doty of Grand Forks Red River
4th Place — Nolan Mack of Fargo Davies
5th Place — Aj Matzke of Jamestown
126
1st Place — Pete Rasmussen of Jamestown
2nd Place — Breyden Buee of Des Lacs — Burlington
3rd Place — Braeden Halverson of Bismarck High
4th Place — Jimmy Shar of Bismarck Legacy
5th Place — Luke Conroy of Fargo Davies
6th Place — Ben Trottier of Turtle Mountain
7th Place — Gerardo Sanchez of Devils Lake
132
1st Place — Lucas Schlepuetz of Jamestown
2nd Place — Kane Mathiason of Fargo Davies
3rd Place — Ray Trottier of Turtle Mountain
4th Place — Wyatt Wortman of Bismarck High
5th Place — Kaidan Smith of Des Lacs — Burlington
6th Place — Kaden Lende of Fargo South
7th Place — Jason Feist of Bismarck High
8th Place — Miles Larson of Grand Forks Red River
138
1st Place — Sam Schlepuetz of Jamestown
2nd Place — Tucker Johnson of Valley City
3rd Place — Tony Lagman of Bismarck High
4th Place — Logan Mertens of Bismarck High
5th Place — Timothy Lentz of Fargo South
6th Place — Kolten Tesch of Fargo Davies
7th Place — Michael Nelson of Devils Lake
8th Place — Jacob Syster of Fargo South
145
1st Place — Koye Grebel of Valley City
2nd Place — Wyatt Kosidowski of Fargo Davies
3rd Place — Grady Anderson of Jamestown
4th Place — Tanner Swanson of Grand Forks Red River
5th Place — Stephen Leonard of Turtle Mountain
6th Place — Ethan Charboneau of Turtle Mountain
152
1st Place — Cale Ibach of Des Lacs — Burlington
2nd Place — Espen Kunze of Valley City
3rd Place — Colin Parisien of Turtle Mountain
4th Place — Eric Chea of Jamestown
5th Place — Harrison Schwartz of Des Lacs — Burlington
6th Place — Braiden Brockman of Fargo South
7th Place — Erik Emerson of Fargo South
160
1st Place — Gunner Rakness of Des Lacs — Burlington
2nd Place — Alex Rogelstad of Valley City
3rd Place — Adyn Eckart of Jamestown
4th Place — Kenny Smith of Des Lacs — Burlington
5th Place — Caden Eckroth of Bismarck Legacy
6th Place — Max Martens of Grand Forks Red River
7th Place — Harley Crist of Devils Lake
8th Place — Chandler Bercier of Turtle Mountain
170
1st Place — Colton Mewes of Jamestown
2nd Place — Carter Miller of Des Lacs — Burlington
3rd Place — Malachi Werremeyer of Fargo Davies
4th Place — Jerys Burckhard of Bismarck Century
5th Place — Lawson Wagner of Fargo Davies
6th Place — Izac Turner of Bismarck High
182
1st Place — Jackson Walters of Jamestown
2nd Place — Eli Christopherson of Fargo Davies
3rd Place — Chayton Senn of Fargo Davies
4th Place — Isaiah Schuldheisz of Valley City
5th Place — Conner Moraghan of Fargo South
6th Place — Aiden Pelayo of Grand Forks Red River
7th Place — Jamari Humphrey of Fargo South
195
1st Place — Johnathan Smith of Des Lacs — Burlington
2nd Place — Zach Lilly of Fargo Davies
3rd Place — Matt Rothenberger of Grand Forks Central
4th Place — Keyoun Martin of Turtle Mountain
5th Place — Landry Wesson of Bismarck Century
220
1st Place — Broden Muske of Valley City
2nd Place — Ethan Gall of Jamestown
3rd Place — Kolby Erhardt of Bismarck Legacy
4th Place — Kameron Lund of Bismarck Legacy
5th Place — John Bjerke of Grand Forks Red River
6th Place — Evan Schmit of Bismarck Century
7th Place — Cam Ahlers of Fargo Davies
8th Place — Marcus Heiser of Devils Lake
285
1st Place — Dylan Carlquist of Fargo Davies
2nd Place — Dalton Darby of Jamestown
3rd Place — Gabriel Parisien of Turtle Mountain
4th Place — Nathan Robbins of Des Lacs — Burlington
Girls
105
1st Place — Natalie Carlson of West Fargo Sheyenne
2nd Place — Kaylee Ledoux of Turtle Mountain Community High School
3rd Place — Kenzie Jost of Carrington
4th Place — Josie Legge of Valley City
115
1st Place — Gabby Hannig of Valley City
2nd Place — Kylie Skadberg of Carrington
3rd Place — Zakai Freidig of West Fargo Sheyenne
4th Place — Kasia Schonert of Grand Forks Knightriders
5th Place — Juliet Davis of Carrington
120
1st Place — Mercedes Lura of Carrington
2nd Place — Olivia Johs of West Fargo Sheyenne
3rd Place — Jersey Short of Turtle Mountain Community High School
4th Place — Chaynee Marcellais of Turtle Mountain Community High School
5th Place — Miah Torres of Jamestown
6th Place — Paige Studdard of Carrington
7th Place — Kamey Leedom of West Fargo Sheyenne
125
1st Place — Shayla DeBlaere of West Fargo Sheyenne
2nd Place — Kashtyn Bredahl of Des Lacs — Burlington
3rd Place — Leah Torres of Jamestown
4th Place — Deegan Kirschenmann of Valley City
5th Place — Journey Peltier of Carrington
130
1st Place — Kaylee Kurz of Grand Forks Knightriders
2nd Place — Mackenzie Stoddartt of Jamestown
3rd Place — Brynlee Hartsoch of West Fargo Sheyenne
4th Place — Annamarie Bracken of Jamestown
135
1st Place — Allyssa Johnson of Grand Forks Knightriders
2nd Place — Lindsey Anderson of West Fargo Sheyenne
3rd Place — Chea Baugh of Jamestown
4th Place — Mylee Christianson of Valley City
5th Place — Tyndale Archer of West Fargo Sheyenne
6th Place — Nevaeh Romfo of Jamestown
7th Place — Emri Weckerly of Jamestown
140
1st Place — Khendra Garcia of Carrington
2nd Place — Quesha Medina of Turtle Mountain Community High School
3rd Place — Alyssa Whaley of West Fargo Sheyenne
4th Place — Madalina Ciubotareanu of Carrington
145
1st Place — Trisa Schroeder of Carrington
2nd Place — Kennedy Wendel of Carrington
3rd Place — Aleina Billings of Des Lacs — Burlington
4th Place — Adella Heberlie of Des Lacs — Burlington
5th Place — Alaina Burdett of Des Lacs — Burlington
155A
1st Place — Victoria Pasterz of Des Lacs — Burlington
2nd Place — Gabby Romans of Jamestown
3rd Place — Samantha Hotten of West Fargo Sheyenne
4th Place — Mary Peltier of Turtle Mountain Community High School
5th Place — Alexis Erickson of Jamestown
155B
1st Place — Emily Novak of Grand Forks Knightriders
2nd Place — Karlee Lesmann of Carrington
3rd Place — Ashlyn Lee of Jamestown
4th Place — Aubrey Babcock of Jamestown
5th Place — Nevaeh Sorensen of Carrington
170
1st Place — Emma Buee of Des Lacs — Burlington
2nd Place — Madison Champagne of Turtle Mountain Community High School
3rd Place — Mya Sanchez of West Fargo Sheyenne
4th Place — Kendra Green of Valley City
5th Place — Charlee Leedahl of West Fargo Sheyenne
6th Place — Grace Undem of Valley City
190
1st Place — Hannah Sjostrom of Jamestown
2nd Place — Leah Burdett of Des Lacs — Burlington
3rd Place — Ella McMullin of Grand Forks Knightriders
4th Place — Isabelle Berg of Devils Lake
5th Place — Brooke Bundy of Valley City
6th Place — Hope Miller of Jamestown
7th Place — Mireya Sanchez of West Fargo Sheyenne
8th Place — Grace Bercier of Jamestown
250
1st Place — Aleeona Meza of Jamestown
2nd Place — Ashley Lindberg of Carrington
3rd Place — Amariona Rout of Grand Forks Knightriders
4th Place — Kathryn Sullivan of Grand Forks Knightriders
5th Place — Maddie Ede of Jamestown