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Three Honker wrestlers off to state...

All three Honker wrestlers who are headed to the North Dakota Class B Wrestling Tournament this weekend, have been injured at one time or another through the season.

2/13/18 (Tue)

State bound . . . Honker wrestlers, from left, Skylar Ford, Josh Baumann, and Colter France will compete in the State Class B Wrestling Tournament beginning Thursday in Fargo. Photo by Andrea Topolski

By Marvin Baker

All three Honker wrestlers who are headed to the North Dakota Class B Wrestling Tournament this weekend, have been injured at one time or another through the season.

But now, their head coach Danny Mogren says all three are healthy, they’re healed and there was no sign of any of them hurting in the Region 3 tournament last weekend in Des Lacs/Burlington.

Josh Baumann, 220 pounds

Baumann, a 220-pounder from Lignite, picked a good time to wrestle at his best.

Baumann took a bye to open the tournament and blasted through his two opponents to claim first place in his weight division.

In the semis, the 25-12 Baumann took on Jack Wilhelmi of Stanley, controlling the match from the beginning and earning a 13-0, major decision.

That put Baumann in the championship match, a place he has been before, but hadn’t taken the top prize in tournament competition.

That got changed on Saturday. Zachary Schultz of Williams County was no match for Baumann as he pinned his 20-16 opponent in 2:28 earning him a trip to the State Class B.

Also for his effort, Baumann accumulated 23 team points for the Honkers.

Baumann, a senior, goes into the tournament as the No. 7 seed. He will be paired against Hunter Greenmyr of Oakes, a 15-17 sophomore.

Back in December, Baumann had a back injury and didn’t compete in the Linton Invitational.

“Josh had a good tournament,” Mogren said. “He looks good and is ready to go. He’s seeded seventh at state, but he’s in a good spot.”

Colter France, 170 pounds

France has had some ups and downs this season and sat out for a stretch with a knee injury.

But he wrestled well in Des Lacs, finishing fourth-place in the region which qualified him for the state tournament.

His first match was a 10-5 decision over Cole Schneibel of Rugby. He then took on 30-6 Coy Spooner of DLB who beat him in a pin at 3:35.

France, at 20-18, came back in the consolation semis to beat Trystin Horning of Northern Lights, pinning him in 3:16.

That set up the third-place match against JJ Johannson of Minot Ryan. Unfortunately, the 41-13 Johannson beat France in a 13-1, major decision, sending both wrestlers to Fargo.

France, a senior, will wrestle 35-9 Levi Schwab of Lisbon, a junior.

Skylar Ford, 138 pounds

Entering the Region 3 as the No. 5 seed, Ford worked his way through to qualify for the big dance.

The 13-8 sophomore, started his Region 3 tournament with a 15-6, major decision over Aaron Dean of Velva.

He later received a bye and went on to pin Logan Sharpless of Minot Ryan in 2:33 to set up the third-place match and a state qualifying match.

Once again, it was Ford and Dean and it seemed the Velva grappler had Ford’s number, taking him out in a pin at 2:07.

France picked up 12 team points for the Honkers.

Despite the loss, the match sends Ford to Fargo where he’ll take on Hunter Schwab, a 27-7 sophomore from Lisbon.

Ford started the season strong, but injured his shoulder and missed several matches before back into the action several weeks ago.

“I expected these guys could go to state,” Mogren said. “They had to wrestle well to get there and they did.”

The Honker trio departs Kenmare this morning for Fargo where they’ll get in a couple of practices before competition begins on Friday.

Region 3 competitors

Zane Miller, 195 pounds, narrowly missed going to state, which Mogren said was a heartbreaker since Miller has made enormous improvements throughout the season.

Miller had a good tournament, just as the three state qualifiers, but just missed his opportunity by three points.

He started out pinning Cole Berg of MonDak in 4:50, was decisioned by Wyatt Hanson of Velva and lost a tough, 7-4 decision to Noah Swegarden of Stanley, setting up the fifth-place match.

Once again it was Berg, and this time Miller nailed him to the mat in 1:51 to claim fifth place in Region 3.

Andrew Christensen, at 113, earned 10 team points, Jaxson Holter at 106 pounds, picked up 8 team points and Payton Witt, 145, earned 6 team points.

Christensen finished fifth, while Holter and Witt both finished in sixth place.

Diontrea Anderson 120 pounds, Xylis Holter 126 pounds, Nicholia Topolski 132 pounds and Micheal Schlosser 152 pounds, also competed in the Region 3 tournament last weekend but didn’t place in their weight divisions.

Region 3 Coach of the Year

At the conclusion of the tournament, Mogren was chosen by his peers as Region 3 Coach of the Year. He is currently in his 14th year of coaching and was a standout wrestlers, and state qualifier, for the Honkers when he was in high school in the 1990s... Read EVERY WORD on EVERY PAGE of The Kenmare News by subscribing--online or in print!