Bulldogs Repeat as Northeast Conference Wrestling Champions

The Milbank Bulldogs earned its second consecutive Northeast Conference wrestling title in front of its home crowd Saturday, December 18, at the Milbank Armory. Milbank edged out Webster Area by 5.5 points to secure the back-to-back tournament title.

“The guys wrestled hard and were aggressive all day,” stated Bulldog head wrestling coach Jeremy Tostenson. “We had 12 pins as a team on the day, so those bonus points where big. I am really proud of our guys with the way we competed to repeat as NEC champs.”

Alec Bien led the squad with a victory by fall in the championship match at his 132 pound weight class. He was the lone grappler to be crowned an individual NEC champ as well. Six other wrestlers battled for individual titles, but were not able to secure the final win. Earning second place were Jordan Pollock, Jake Anderson, Taran Mogard, Chris Loutsch, Koben Huber and Tanner Kettwig.

Six other grapplers placed third or fourth in the tournament. Landing in third place were Tyler Krause, Toby Schneck, Isaac Fischer and Cole Dockter while Eli Fischer and Jose Chen finished fourth. Just one Milbank wrestler was unable to place in the event.

“The best word to describe our guys is grinders,” noted Tostenson. “We have a team full of grinders and that all starts with our work in the practice room.”

Tostenson also would like to thank the many people that were involved in running the conference tournament and making it a success. “It takes many hands to run a tournament,” he expressed. “A huge thank you to Jason Kettwig, Joel Foster and Josh Schmeichel for their diligence and problem solving with the Track Wrestling issues. Without them we would have been wrestling until midnight. They ran the tournament the old fashioned way – with paper and pencil.”

Milbank Area will compete in the Floyd Farrand Invitational at Sioux Falls Lincoln High School Monday and Tuesday, December 28 and 29.

Following are the complete results from the tournament:
Team scores – Milbank, 159; Webster Area, 153.5; Sisseton, 141; Deuel, 100; Clark-Willow Lake, 79; Britton-Hecla, 57; Groton, 32.
106 – Eli Fischer received a first round bye; lost by fall to Sterling Rausch, Webster Area; won by fall over Schyuler McElhone, Clark-Willow Lake; fell 9-4 to Logan Eide, Deuel. Fourth place finish.
113 – Tyler Krause had a first round bye; lost by fall to Hunter Kloos, Deuel, 1:37; consolation semi-final bye; won by fall over Evan Stromsness, Clark-Willow Lake, 1:00. Third place finish.
120 – Toby Schneck had a first round bye; lost by fall to Colbey Lehrke, Sisseton, 1:17; consolation semi-final bye; third place match bye. Third place finish.
126 – Jordan Pollock had a first round bye; won by fall over Jackson Stoltenburg, Deuel, 3:34; lost by fall to Trevor Pray, Groton. Second place finish.
132 – Alec Bien had a first round bye; won by fall over Landon Werdel, Clark-Willow Lake; won by fall over Christian Kirk, Sisseton. NEC champion.
138 – Isaac Fischer had a first round bye; fell 10-8 to Cade Shoemaker, Webster Area; consolation semi-final bye; third place match bye. Third place finish.
145 – Jake Anderson had a first round bye; won by fall over Logan Grimm, Sisseton; fell 3-0 to Jess Karber, Clark-Willow Lake. Second place finish.
152 – Cole Dockter had a first round bye; lost 5-2 to Zach Rucktaeschel, Webster Area; won by fall over Kyle Kudray, Deuel; won by fall over Jonathon Mundt, Britton-Hecla. Third place finish.
160 – Jose Chen had a first round bye; lost by fall to Kelby Hawkins, Webster Area; consolation semi-final bye; lost by fall to Caleb Orris, Clark-Willow Lake. Fourth place finish.
170 – Taran Mogard had a bye in the first two rounds; lost by fall to Justin Brockel, Sisseton. Second place finish.
182 – Chris Loutsch had a first round bye; won by fall over Jordyn Temple, Clark-Willow Lake; lost by fall to Logan Richie, Webster Area. Second place finish.
195 – Koben Huber had a first round bye; won by fall over Layne Stromsness, Clark-Willow Lake; lost by fall to Colton Koslowski, Webster Area. Second place finish.
220 – Ben Nelson lost by fall to Brady Kirk, Sisseton; consolation first round bye; fell 8-4 to Karsten Stiegelmeier, Britton-Hecla in the consolation semi-finals.
285 – Tanner Kettwig had a first round bye; won by fall over Kaeden Metz, Sisseton; fell 7-2 to Braxton Fuller, Deuel. Second place finish.