Burros 2nd, taking 10 to state meet

With a 2nd place team finish in the Region 2 meet Saturday at Walhalla, Hillsboro qualified 10 wrestlers for the state individual tournament.

Action started yesterday (Thursday) in Bismarck where the Burros were also entered in the team dual meet.

Their goals — a top 5 team finish in the individual contest, a “fun, competitive” showing in the dual contest and “more than one” state champion. 

The momentum was building for the Burros as they pushed hard for a region title in the dual contest and individual competition. They settled for 2nd in both — but not without a fight.

“We wanted to win the region title and we just about did,” said coach Eric Ptacek. “But we needed to get more guys in the finals.”

Central Cass used a strong semifinal round — producing eight finalists — to claim the team title with 211 points. Hillsboro was second with 199.5 followed by both North Border and Carrington at 171.

The second place trophy was the Burros highest team finish in the region since 2002. The team also qualified 10 wrestlers last season and competed in the team dual competition, where they failed to place. Five individuals placed in the top eight last season. Three of them are back for another run at the title match.

Qualifiers for the Burros include:

• Senior Anthony Von Ruden, 135 lbs., region champ and No. 1 seed at state with a record of 32-5 (placed 5th in 2007)

• Junior Andrew Grothmann, 189, region champ and No. 1 seed, undefeated in 40 matches (placed 2nd in 2007)

• Junior Jake McLean, 160 lbs., region champ and No. 2 seed, 35-3 (placed 5th in 2007)

• Sophomore Tanner Boeddeker, 145, region champ and No. 4 seed, 30-8

• Freshman Tyler Anderson, 119,  region runner-up, 29-13

• Freshman Oakly Zink, 103, 3rd region, 21-18

• Freshman Alex McLean, 140, 3rd region, 30-13

• Junior Christian Von Ruden, 152, 4th region, 25-18

• Sophomore Garrett Burg, 171, 4th region, 24-19

• Junior Randy Doeden, 215, 4th region, 3-18

Another seven wrestlers will fill out the line-up for the dual portion of the state meet — Colby Tapson, 112, 8th grade; Lee Mooney, 125, freshman; Josh Riendeau, 130, freshman; Nick Halvorson, 140, Dylan Bowen, 135-140; and Bryce Willison, 171, 7th.

“All four champions had a great day,” Ptacek said of the region meet. “They were all seeded No. 1 and they all wrestled like they were No. 1. Tyler Anderson wrestled one heck of a finals match and came up one point short of a region title against a senior.”

Rookie 215-pounder Randy Doeden surprised coach Ptacek. “He took another big step by qualifying for the state tourney. He has worked his tail off and he improves every time he steps on the mat. His win to qualify for state was really awesome.”

Doeden, a junior at Central Valley, wrestles for the Burros as part of a co-op with the neighboring school district.

With an eye on milestones, Grothmann needs just three pins to tie the school’s season record of 33 set by two-time state champion Bryan Mueller. If he “wins out the season,” Ptacek noted that Grothmann will also have the best season record ever tallied by a Hillsboro wrestler.

Jake McLean “will be hunting” for his 100th career win at the state meet, Ptacek added. The junior had 96 career wins after regionals.

Hillsboro enters the state meet with a dual record of 16-9. They were scheduled to face Region 4 champs Hettinger in the opening round Thursday afternoon.

“We are very capable of knocking off Hettinger,”  predicted coach Mark McLean. “They have a good team but if we can get the pins out of our dominant wrestlers and get the wins from what could be close ones, we could come out with a big win.”

Ptacek predicts Hillsboro fans could welcome home more than one state champion this year.

Five Burro wrestlers have claimed a total of six state Class B crowns since the sport started in Hillsboro in 1976 — Mark McLean, heavyweight, 1982; Joel Vettel, 145 lbs., 1989; Bryan Mueller, 160, 1996 and 171 in 1997; Chris Mueller, 135, 1998;  and Dustin Nagel, 145, 2005.

As a team, the Burros best finish at state was 3rd in 1996 on the strength of four placewinners.