Grapplers complete successful dual season at home
Grapplers complete successful dual season at home
On Friday and Saturday the New Town Eagles competed in the 21-team East /West Tournament in New Salem. Nine of the top 10 teams were there and most likely 18 of the top 20. New Town finished in 11th place and had five place winners.
Oakes placed first with 205 points followed by Lisbon 196, Central Cass 160.5, Carrington 155.5, Watford City 130, Hillsboro 108.5, South Border 107.5, Napoleon 106, Rolla- Rock Lake 93, Beulah- Hazen 85, New Town 82, Harvey 75, New Salem 68.5, Hettinger 61, Killdeer 54, LaMoure 52, Minot Ryan 31.5, Des Lacs/Burlington 30, Beach 26, Kenmare-Tioga 24 and Bowman 17.
Placing for the Eagles were Jess Hall second, Billy Hall third, Justin Grinnell fourth, Jeremy Grinnell fifth and Eric Danks sixth.
“This tourney is about as tough as the state tournament,” said head coach Terry Mathson. “I expect these wrestlers who placed here will do about the same or better in state. We had some bad calls against us. Jeremy and Billy should have been in the finals, but couldn’t get the right calls at the right time. It does look like we could have an interesting state tournament.”
On Jan. 23 the wrestling team fell to eighth-ranked Velva-Garrison-Max, 57- 22. The 4-2 Eagles won four of 10 matches and gave up four forfeits. “We had Jess Hall and Justin Grinnell out of the lineup recuperating from injuries,” Mathson said. “VGM has a solid lineup, they’re a very good team. You have to be at full strength to even have a chance for a close score.”
The Thursday dual with Stanley was cancelled because of inclement weather.
On Jan. 24 the Eagles competed in the seven-team Rolla Round Robin Tournament. A shorthanded New Town squad finished fourth in the team standings and placed four in the top three. Eric Danks was the lone individual champion for the Eagles. Danks won five matches on the day to raise his season record to 22-4. Jess Bear and Jeremy Grinnell placed second, Alex Monk, McCrae Danks and Jace Uran , Slade Stringer fourth, and Ivan Wilson fifth. Again, Jess Hall and Justin Grinnell were out of the lineup and Billy Hall failed to make weight.
