Simley Wins Rotary for Wounded Marine

Simley wins Rotary for wounded Marine
By STEVE THOMAS, Bismarck Tribune

“Kyle “was the simple message on the socks of the Simley High School wrestling team this weekend. And it was Kyle Anderson that they carried in their hearts that fueled the Minnesota wrestlers’ drive to the top in the Rotary Wrestling Tournament.

Seth Anderson, one of Simley’s two individual champions, said the team’s entire tournament effort was dedicated to Kyle Anderson. Kyle Anderson, a 2003 state champion at 160 pounds for the Spartans, suffered a head wound in October while serving with the Marines in Iraq. He remains hospitalized in the Twin Cities.

“We wanted to bring the team trophy home for one of my best friends, Kyle Anderson, “said Seth Anderson, who is not related to the injured Marine. “He got hurt over in Iraq … and has been hospitalized ever since. We plan to bring the trophy to his room. “

The Spartans clinched the championship trophy for the second straight year with a heroic effort in Saturday morning’s three rounds of wrestlebacks. Simley went 10-3 with three pins over that span to turn a 6.5-point deficit into an 188-167.5 lead going into the placement matches.

All told, Simley placed 10 men en route to 204 points. Seth Anderson and 140-pounder Brandon Murphy were individual champions. The Spartans filled in behind them with two runners-up, a third, two fourths, a fifth, a sixth and a seventh.

“We lost a tremendous amount of good kids, “Seth Anderson said as he recalled last year’s Rotary champions. “Six seniors graduated, and four of them were state placewinners. … Sidney is a strong team, a tough team. They came back with six state champions and we have one — Mitch Millner. But Kyle (Anderson) was our motivating factor.”

Sidney, which went 3-4 in Saturday’s early wrestlebacks, had a tournament-best three champions and five other placers. Two Eagles placed second, one third, one seventh and one eighth. That left the Eagles 13.5 points off Simley’s pace with 190.5.

Ryan Hecker (125), Doug Copeland (135) and Gresh Melby (160) won titles for Sidney.

Bismarck with 160.5, West Fargo with 156.5 and Napoleon with 152.5 completed the top five. Detroit Lakes, Minn., (105.5), Fargo North (104) and Chaska, Minn. (103) also cracked the 100-point barrier in the 27-team tourney.

Napoleon, the North Dakota state champion the past three seasons, was the only Class B team in the field. The Imperials placed seven men, led by 189-pound runner-up Kevin McCleary.

Barry McCleary, the Napoleon coach, said the Rotary is a can’t-miss. “When you walk into the Rotary you have to turn it up a notch, and my kids did. I’m really proud of them, “the coach said.

Simley, located in Inver Grove Heights, and Sidney were the only teams with multiple champions. The other individual titlists were Wahpeton’s Justin Solberg (103), Aberdeen’s Corbin Surat (112), Dawson County’s Joe Carlson (119), Bismarck’s Scott Glasser (145), Fargo South’s Grant Mehring (152), Fargo North’s Heath Lynnes (171), Rapid City Stevens’ Chris Moran (189), Detroit Lakes’ Brent Eidenschink (215) and St. Mary’s Brett Mathern (275).

Glasser was voted the outstanding wrestler by tournament coaches after marching to the 145-pound championship with two pins and two technical falls. He disposed of Millner in 4:50 in the finals.

Melby, Moran, Surat and Anderson were all repeat champions. Jake Mellmer of Dickinson (130) and T.J. Sailer of Bismarck (125) lost in the finals while shooting for repeat Rotary championships.

* NOTES: Solberg, Lynnes, Eidenschink and Mathern were the only wrestlers to survive the tournament unbeaten. Sixteen carried perfect records into the Rotary. … Minnesota teams have won six of the last seven Rotary championships. Prior to Simley’s back-to-back titles, Frazee took honors in 2003 and 2002. Bismarck was the champion in 2001, following two successive triumphs by Frazee.

Team Scores

1. Inver Grove Heights (Minn.) Simley 204. 2. Sidney (Mont.) 190.5. 3. Bismarck 160.5. 4. West Fargo 156.5. 5. Napoleon 152.5. 6. Detroit Lakes (Minn.) 105.5. 7. Fargo North 104. 8. Chaska (Minn.) 103. 9. Fargo South 96. 10. Mandan 87.5.

11. Aberdeen (S.D.) 83. 12. (tie) Rapid City (S.D.) Stevens and Dickinson, both 79. 14. Glendive (Mont.) Dawson County 71.5. 15. Rapid City (S.D.) Central 65. 16. Wahpeton 62.5. 17. Minot 55. 18. (tie) Turtle Mountain and Williston, both 54. 20. (tie) Bismarck Century and Grand Forks Central, both 50.

22. Grand Forks Red River 42.5. 23. Beulah 38.5. 24. Bismarck St. Mary’s 38. 25. Valley City 34. 26. Spearfish (S.D.) 30. 27. Jamestown 26.5.

Individual Results

103 Pounds

Championship: Justin Solberg, Wahpeton, pinned Jesse Obergfell, Sidney, 2:54.

Third place: Kyle Williams, G.F. Central, def. Pat Smith, Chaska, major dec., 10-0. Fifth place: Trevor Johnson, Bismarck, def. Cameron Ramberg, West Fargo, 7-4. Seventh place: Evan Gross, Napoleon, def. Ben Maliske, Beulah, major dec., 14-2.

112 Pounds

Championship: Corbin Surat, Aberdeen, def. Daron Hohbein, Mandan, 5-2.

Third place: Jake Tabbert, Simley, def. Eric Nelson, R.C. Central, 13-8. Fifth place: Dustin Lindgren, Turtle Mountain, pinned Steve Klamm, Red River, 4:46. Seventh place: Evan Forde, Fargo South, def. Tony Owens, West Fargo, major dec., 10-2.

119 Pounds

Championship: Joe Carlson, Dawson County, pinned Tyler Steinwand, Mandan, 5:09.

Third place: Matt Lund, Bismarck, def. Ryan Baxter, R.C. Stevens, 7-5. Fifth place: Adam Paulson, Fargo North, def. Joe Trottier, Turtle Mountain, 9-4. Seventh place: Kurt Knutson, Simley, def. Travis Krebs, Beulah, 8-5.

125 Pounds

Championship: Ryan Hecker, Sidney, def. T.J. Sailer, Bismarck, 3-1, OT.

Third place: Jared Noel, West Fargo, def. Justin Horne, Detroit Lakes, major dec., 19-4. Fifth place: Justin Weigel, Napoleon, pinned Justin Lehmann, Wahpeton, 5:02. Seventh place: Shawn Duvall, Minot, def. Aaron Roness, Williston, 6-2.

130 Pounds

Championship: Seth Anderson, Simley, def. Jake Mellmer, Dickinson, 5-2.

Third place: Byron Kuylen, Sidney, pinned Nick Gagnon, Chaska, 2:50. Fifth place: Andrey Patselov, Fargo North, def. Anthony Cross, Napoleon, 7-1. Seventh place: Jordan Eslinger, Beulah, pinned Davis Haas, Jamestown, 1:20.

135 Pounds

Championship: Doug Copeland, Sidney, def. Lane Lunde, West Fargo, 2-1.

Third place: Shad Tappe, Detroit Lakes, def. Luke Mellmer, Dickinson, 7-6. Fifth place: Alex Watrud, Simley, def. Brian Coburn, Spearfish, default. Seventh place: Josiah Simburger, Mandan, def. Tyler Tennant, Dawson County, 10-6.

140 Pounds

Championship: Brandon Murphy, Simley, def. Derek Fritz, Sidney, 4-1.

Third place: Tyler Johnson, Bismarck, def. David Pitner, Minot, 10-6. Fifth place: Eric Dragseth, Dickinson, def. Caleb Warner, Fargo South, 5-0. Seventh place: Laramie Lunday, Turtle Mountain, def. Nick Johnson, Aberdeen, 5-3.

145 Pounds

Championship: Scott Glasser, Bismarck, pinned Mitch Millner, Simley, 4:50.

Third place: John Basting, Red River, def. Matt Dow, Dawson County, tech. fall, 17-1. Fifth place: Nate Lynnes, West Fargo, def. Ryan Hall, R.C. Stevens, 4-0. Seventh place: Shawn Sneva, Williston, def. Casey Hanson, Fargo North, default.

152 Pounds

Championship: Grant Mehring, Fargo South, def. Brock Tidstrom, Chaska, 5-2.

Third place: Mike Griffin, Detroit Lakes, def. Adam Lynnes, West Fargo, 11-9. Fifth place: Adam Bierschenk, Spearfish, def. Eric Lipp, Aberdeen, 1-0. Seventh place: Matt Bentz, Dickinson, def. Dan Collins, Sidney, 3-2.

160 Pounds

Championship: Gresh Melby, Sidney, pinned Ben Talkington, Chaska, 5:45.

Third place: Chris Lundberg, West Fargo, def. Jordan Dewald, Napoleon, 1-1, 2 OT. Fifth place: Marshall Lynnes, Fargo North, def. Nate Duval, Simley, 8-5. Seventh place: Nick Van Dyke, Fargo South, def. Mark Longanilla, Williston, 5-3.

171 Pounds

Championship: Heath Lynnes, Fargo North, def. Brandon Carrigan, Century, 7-2.

Third place: Tom Hansen, G.F. Central, def. Cullen Berg, Simley, 8-2. Fifth place: Kurt Wiedrich, Williston, def. Kelly Coghlan, Valley City, 3-1, OT. Seventh place: Matt Rowe, Jamestown, def. Ezra Koch, Mandan, 3-1.

189 Pounds

Championship: Chris Moran, R.C. Stevens, def. Kevin McCleary, Napoleon, 5-3.

Third place: Gabe Strube, Minot, pinned Adam Hunter, Simley, 2:02. Fifth place: Arren St. Vincent, Turtle Mountain, def. Brandon Pfeifle, R.C. Central, 7-2. Seventh place: Nick Pates, Fargo South, def. Zach Bales, Fargo North, 11-10.

215 Pounds

Championship: Brent Eidenschink, Detroit Lakes, def. Teddy Finneman, Bismarck, 9-2.

Third place: Scott Johnson, West Fargo, def. Kevin Martian, Mandan, 8-1. Fifth place: Kriss McCleary, Napoleon, pinned Dustin Jeschke, Aberdeen, 1:21. Seventh place: Trevor Getchell, Sidney, pinned James Hansen, R.C. Central, 2:30.

275 Pounds

Championship: Brett Mathern, St. Mary’s, def. Bill Lundblad, Simley, 2-1, 2 OT.

Third place: Moses Timali, Bismarck, def. Jason Becker, Napoleon, 5-2. Fifth place: Matt Johnson, Century, def. Kyle White, R.C. Central, 4-2. Seventh place: Jake Madrinich, Chaska, def. Jeremy Tullar, Aberdeen, 2-1.

AWARDS

Outstanding wrestler: Scott Glasser, 145, Bismarck.

Pinner: Kriss McCleary, 215, Napoleon, four pins in 6:25.

Quick pin: Justin Weigel, 125, Napoleon, :21.