Burros avenge loss

Just as predicted.

Burro wrestling coach Eric Ptacek wrestled the match on paper and his team won 38-33. The Burros wrestled the Central Cass Squirrels on the mat and the home team won 39-33 — just like their coach predicted.

The Region 2 dual victory avenged a 33-30 Burro loss to the Squirrels earlier this season at the Carrington tournament.

Wrestling at the Hillsboro Events Center, the scrappy Squirrels pulled out to a 33-12 lead before the Burros battled back with five consecutive wins — three pins, a decision and a forfeit in Hillsboro’s favor.
In the final match of the evening, Burro sophomore Garrett Burg brought the crowd to their feet when he pinned Jack Wilcox in 58 seconds and broke a 33-33 tie.

Another big win for the Burros came at 119 when Tyler Anderson posted a 12-7 decision over CC’s Cody Schultz, a junior who finished 4th at state last season.

Hillsboro’s 125-pounder, Josh Riendeau gave the Burro fans a thrill and the Central Cass fans a scare when he took state runner-up Ryan Heisler straight to his back with an impressive lateral throw. Even though Riendeau eventually lost by a pin, he left the mat smiling.

“I thought the boys really stepped it up a notch against Central Cass and had a very exciting win,” Ptacek said. “Tyler and Alex (McLean) were big turning matches. Both boys upset kids that had beaten them before, which gave the team a spark when we needed one.”

“We got the pins we needed where we needed them,” added coach Mark McLean.

Now 13-8 in dual action this season, the Burros also picked up a trophy at the Lisbon KQLX individual tourney Jan.18-19. Hillsboro finished 4th behind Lisbon, Wahpeton and Oakes in the 19-team contest.

“We wrestled fairly well in Lisbon,” Ptacek said. “We knew it would be tough to get ahead of Lisbon, Oakes and Wahpeton. We had some good wins against higher ranked kids and we lost a few heartbreakers at the end.”

“I think the younger guys are learning how to win the close ones.”

Two Burros — both juniors — claimed championships — 160-pounder Jake McLean and undefeated 189-pounder Andrew Grothmann.

Grothmann pinned his way through his bracket, spending less than five minutes total on the mat in four matches.

“Andrew was unchallenged,” said coach Mark McLean. “His final match (a 3-minute pin) was the toughest. His opponent (Tyler Meidinger from South Border) gave Andrew a little trouble, but in the end, he fell — like everyone before him.”

Grothmann is now 28-0 with 20 pins while McLean is 27-1 with 16 pins.

Two Burros earned 3rd place finishes — senior Anthony Von Ruden at 140 and sophomore Tanner Boeddeker at 145. Two more placed 6th — Garrett Burg, a sophomore at 171 and Christian Von Ruden, a junior at 145. Freshmen Tyler Anderson (119) and Alex McLean (135) both placed 8th at Lisbon.

The Burros left this morning (Friday) for New Salem’s East-West tournament, often billed as a mini-state tournament because of the number and far-reaching geography of the teams participating. In the past 30 years, the team champions at East-West have won the state team title 22 times.

The 22 teams competing today and tomorrow are Lisbon, Oakes, Napoleon, Carrington, Hettinger, Hillsboro, Watford City, Rolla-Rock Lake-St. John, New Town, Beach, Beulah, Bowman, Central Cass, Des Lacs-Burlington, Harvey, Kenmare-Tioga, Killdeer, LaMoure, Minot Bishop Ryan, Standing Rock and New Salem. The individual competitors include seven defending state champions, five returning state-runners-up and 39 other returning state placewinners.