LA CROSSE, Wis. – The Bemidji High School wrestling teams acquitted themselves well at a national event on Friday and Saturday.
Facing teams from across the country at The Clash Duals in La Crosse, Wis., the Lumberjack girls took first in the Consolation 2 bracket, finishing 4-2 overall. The BHS boys took third in the Silver bracket, going 3-3 overall and 1-2 in bracket competition.
The Jacks girls competed in dual meets against Joliet Township (Ill.), Raccoon River-Northwest (Iowa), Minooka (Ill.), Hastings, Muskego-Norway (Wis.) and Mora. They also wrestled an exhibition match against St. Michael-Albertville, winning 60-12.
In pool play, Bemidji defeated Joliet Township 45-27, lost to Raccoon River-Northwest 45-21, lost to Minooka 38-33 and beat Hastings 42-33. That seeded them into the Consolation 2 bracket, where they topped Muskego-Norway 60-18 and Mora 48-30 to win the bracket championship.
The Lumberjacks had multiple wrestlers go undefeated across the weekend. Kylie Donat went 6-0 at 142 pounds, picking up her 50th career win in the process. Maya Schmidt went 7-0 at 190, and Leah Willard was a perfect 6-0 at 170.
Kiera Hagman (4-1, 112); Brooklyn Nielsen (4-1, 118); Taylor Merschman (3-1, 106) and Chloe Knott (3-1, 136) all finished with just one loss.
On the boys side, Bemidji went 2-1 in pool play, defeating Washington (Ill.) 30-24 and Muskego (Wis.) 31-27 before falling to Zumbrota-Mazeppa 39-16.
In the Silver bracket competition, the Lumberjacks defeated Saint Pius X (Mo.) 33-29 before losing 47-12 to Bettendorf (Iowa). They finished with a loss to Staley (Mo.) by a score of 38-25.
Individually, Parker Orvik went undefeated at 285 pounds with a 6-0 record. Gabe Morin (121), Nick Strand (139) and Alec Newby (152) each went 5-1. Orvik was named to the all-tournament team at heavyweight.
Full results for the
and
tournaments can be found at trackwrestling.com.