Champion Wrestlers at Roseau Team Tournament Our young Gators competed close to home on a cold Saturday entering 53 wrestlers at Roseau. Our neighboring town tournament provided good challenges for us through Individual competition and Teams. Our young wrestlers were up and ready to take on the day’s trials.
Individual Tournament
We had 17 taking 1st place as individuals. Listed below are the placings for all of our Gators: Briggs Berger-3rd, Croix Babcock-4th, Gianna Kjos-1st, Jaxx Frislie- 4th, Bauer Langass-1st, Blayke Fillmore – 2nd, Isaak Evans – 3rd, Iver Walsh-2nd, Jesa Frislie-1st, Kader Sovde – 2nd, Rhett Holmes-?, Thayer Wahl-2nd, Bodhi Fillmore – 2nd, Grant Eppers-1st, Ignatius Cudnik-2nd, James Evans – 3rd, Julius Jenson-1st, June Frislie-2nd, Xavier Cudnik-1st, Jack Berger-4th, Bennett Didrikson-4th, Branson Schneider –1st, Carter Johnson-2nd, Derek Dvergsten – 1st, Emery Walsh-4th, Kein Kjos-2nd, Kolbe Cudnik-1st, Kolten Haugard-?, Levi Hapka-1st, Matthew Walsh – 1st, Weston Sovde – 1st, Decland Moore – ?, Bennett Motzo-?, Greyson Spindler – ?, Henry Pulk – 2nd, John Pulk – 2nd, Remmik Wiskow-2nd, Titan Bulow-?, Akker Wiskow –3rd, Avani Washington-3rd, Bennitt Berg – 1st, Caleb Bergsnev – 1st, Carter Kjos-4th, Chesley Spindler-1st, Dominic Berg – 2nd, Jace Frislie – 1st, Mia Kjos-2nd, Colton Larson – 3rd, Duke Wergin-4th, Easton Berg – 1st, Emerson Jenson-2nd, Emily Pulk – 1st and Treston Willberg-?.
Team Tournament
After Individuals were completed, the grinding Team Tournament began with 8 Teams entered, two of them were Gator A and Gator B. The other Teams were BCLB (Black Duck/Cass Lake/Bena), Crookston, RLCC (Red Lake County Central), two Bemidji Teams-A and B, and Roseau. Bemidji’s A Team was seeded first and Gator A Team was seeded 2nd while Bemidji B Team was 7th and our B Team was 8th. The battle began when first round our B Team wrestled Bemidji A and their B Team took on our A Team. Our B Team did an impressive job of wrestling against top seeded Bemidji A ending with a loss 54-30. Next, our Gators scored 44-36 against BCLB, then winning against Crookston 46-29. They had a fantastic showing of power being 11 of these 15 wrestlers had never wrestled on Team before.
The real Gator power burst from our A Team right from the first dual with a nice 60-23 score over the Bemidji B Team. Next, meeting a scrappy RLCC Team, we won 52-31 which set us up against the Bemidji A Lumber Jacks. We knew we had to go hard against this Team who had previously won other tournaments, most of them bigger than this Roseau event. We came out clawing and snapping our jaws and they came at us with their sharpened double edged chopping axe. After the first three matches, we were under the water 12-0. Four more matches later, we were still down 24-12. From here on, our clawing was more vicious than their sharp heavy axe and the fun began. They didn’t have their full Team line-up and had to forfeit two spots. The next 8 matches had some tough competition with narrow wins. When Team competition begins, there is a whole new spirit bringing grit to the challenges. With the remaining 8 matches was when we needed to send out our big hammers to take care of business. And turning up the heat, it happened again where we changed the score from 12-24 on up to 48-27 where our wrestlers excelled to the very end. Even if they would have had their full Team there, it would have been anyone’s guess. Our determined young wrestlers earned the Team Title and we may live in small frost bitten towns and still known proudly as the Gators.
“A” Team: Row 1: Caleb “Beef” Bergsnev, Easton “Ripper” Berg, Jace “Grizzly” Frislie, Emily “Spider” Pulk, Dominic “Dynamite” Berg, Bennett “Spike” Berg; Row 2: Greyson “Spinner” Spindler, Weston “Western” Sovde, Colton “Slim” Larson, Avani Washington, Derek “Pipes” Dvergsten, Branson “Bouncer” Schneider; Row 3: Kader “Gator” Sovde, Matthew “Q-tip” Walsh, Remmik “Driller” Wiskow, Kein “Chopo” Kjos; Row 4: Coaches Joey “Skinny” Wiskow, Ronnie “Rocky” Mooney, and Aric “Scars” Berg.
“B” Team: Row 1: Carter “Stretch” Kjos, Henry “Hulk” Pulk, John “Hammer” Pulk, Miss Mia Kjos, Chesley “Twister” Spindler; Row 2: Akker “Bull” Wiskow, Bennett “Splash” Didrikson, Carter Johnson, Bodie “Fillbilly” Fillmore; Row 3: Coach Lance “Sparky” Hapka, Levi “Turbo” Hapka, Iver “Smirk” Walsh, Grant “Leopard” Eppers, Croix Babcock, Coach Tony “Bubbles” Jenson.
