Sports News

Wrestling to win.

Burro wrestlers discovered the winning formula Saturday, claiming the team title at the 16th annual Hillsboro Dual Invitational.

After five years of dominance by Barnesville, the tournament trophy was returned to Hillsboro. Like the snow piling up outside the Hillsboro Events Center, the Burros buried the Vikings 51-21 in the final dual of the nine-hour day.

“We left no doubt that we were the better team, winning 10 of the 12 matches wrestled and giving up two forfeits,” said Hillsboro coach Eric Ptacek. 

The win wasn’t a real surprise for Ptacek. “I knew going in that we were definitely capable of winning this tournament — if we put it all together. Once the first round was over the guys really picked it up and wrestled as seasoned veterans. They wrestled every match to win instead of not to lose,” the coach added.

Coach Mark McLean noted, “Once the boys got their blood flowing and realized what they were there for, they wrestled like they couldn’t be stopped.”

The Burros started the day with a 43-35 win over Region 2 foe North Border. Next they added two convincing win over Minnesota teams Pelican Rapids 54-29 and Lake Park- Audubon 70-12. Hillsboro bested another Region 2 opponent Cavalier, 53-21 before taking on Barnesville.

“They wrestled as a team,” McLean said. “I was very pleased with how they supported and encouraged each other.”

Six Burro wrestlers were undefeated on the day — freshmen Tyler Anderson,  119 lbs.; Josh Reindeau, 125 and Alex McLean, 135; sophomore Tanner Boeddeker, 145; and juniors Jake McLean, 160 and Andrew Grothmann, 189.

Reindeau rattled off four pins in 4:20 (just eight seconds shy of the Pinner’s Award) and collected his fifth win off a forfeit. Jake McLean, Anderson and Boeddeker also nailed four pins in their five matches.

Coach Ptacek pointed to the performance of sophomore Garrett Burg at 171 pounds. “He surprised me the most, losing a very close decision to defending state champ Mitch Ford of Cavalier and then beating Barnesville’s Brady Jorud in three overtimes. It was a huge win for the team and Garrett,” Ptacek said.

“All of our guys performed well,” he added. “Six guys were undefeated and three went 4-1 on the day — senior Anthony Von Ruden, junior Christian Von Rude and freshman Oakly Zink.”

Ptacek also credited a couple young wrestlers for their contribution for the team.

“Eighth grader Colby Tapson and seventh grader Brice Willison showed some Burro pride this week by stepping into the lineup and filling holes at 112 and 215. The young men were a bit undersized but did a great job of trying to keep the dual score in our favor.”

Coach McLean said he was impressed with Thomas Johnson. The sophomore is back out for wrestling for the first time in several years. “He wrestled with heart. After taking a few years off, he is a little rusty on his moves but I am impressed with how quickly things are coming back to him. He works very hard.”

McLean said last year the Burros had a varsity roster that listed half the team as still in junior high. The experience gained by those young wrestlers — now veterans — is proving the winning formula for the Burros.

“These wrestlers have worked at this game for so long and taken a lot of beatings from older more experienced wrestlers. It’s time for all their work and persistence to pay off,” McLean said. “I’m excited about the future.”

The wins Saturday “give us tons of confidence” going into Carrington’s dual tournament Friday and Saturday (tonight and tomorrow), Ptacek said.

The Burros face defending state champions Napoleon and Class A Williston on Friday night. Napoleon  holds an unofficial state record for consecutive dual wins — 63 over five  seasons. On Saturday, Hillsboro faces Oakes, Central Cass, North Border and Carrington.

The Burros lost to Carrington Nov. 29 in Hillsboro, 40-34.

Hillsboro has been plagued by the flu bug the past week but Ptacek expected the troops to be “feeling better” by the weekend. Senior 140-pounder Anthony Von Ruden will be out until Tuesday, recovering from a mild concussion he suffered in his final match Saturday.

The Burros dual Lisbon at home Tuesday and Grand Forks Red River at home Friday. Lisbon is the #1 preseason pick by Class B coaches and Red River is ranked 3rd in Class A. Both duals start at 6:30 p.m. at the Hillsboro Events Center.