No problem for Blue Jays

Jaden Horsted had never executed it in a match.

Sure, the move had been done in practice on numerous occasions, but he had never even attempted it against a real opponent.

The Jamestown High School standout wrestler leaped over a shooting Tate Barnhardt to secure a takedown and win 6-4 in overtime. The match was the start of a good night for the Blue Jays, who downed Bismarck St. Mary’s 55-19 in West Region dual action Thursday at the JHS gym.

“I was never really serious about it,” said Horsted, ranked third at 126. “It just felt right. He was really committed to his shot and he was down, but he was kind of far away still. So I just jumped over him instead of sprawling out and it worked.”

It was a move that made Horsted look like a base runner leaping over a catcher to touch home plate. St. Mary’s chose to bump up Barnhardt, who is ranked third at 120.

“That Barnhardt’s really a good wrestler,” JHS coach Greg White said. “They really did catch us off guard. It goes overtime just the way you would think it might. It’s a good thing we came out on the right end of that.”

White said Horsted’s move is a lesson for the rest of his team.

“He’s got a couple of funky little things that he does,” White said. “That’s one of them. … You work on something enough in practice that what you want to do is to train muscle memory. He didn’t think to jump over the guy; he just did it because he’s done it in practice so many times. It just happened. It’s a great little lesson for me going up to the practice room.”

Horsted looked to have the match won in regulation, but he gave up a reversal with seconds remaining that forced overtime.

“I was like, ‘Oh no, I’m going into overtime,’” said Horsted, a senior. “I was worried. I don’t wrestle very many overtimes. I haven’t wrestled an overtime since freshman year.”

But Horsted converted on the win, like so many of his teammates. Jamestown won 10 of 14 matches and received pins from Keith Shahin (145), Brandyn Harr (160), Triston Shipley (195), Kyle Anderson (220) and Paxton Mewes (113). Mewes, Anderson and Shipley secured their falls in the first period.

“Triston did a really nice job of getting that pin,” White said. “Kyle Anderson, I would say he was the underdog there. He went out and hit his best move.”

White credited defending state champion Zane Braun for changing strategies after struggling the first two periods with St. Mary’s veteran Robert Richter at 152. Braun spent the first two periods trying to pin Richter, but was unsuccessful and led 4-0 going into the third. At that point, he went for the major decision, scoring four takedowns to win 13-3.

“(Richter) was kind of holding back, trying not to get pinned,” White said. “Zane kind of changed tactics. … That’s really a credit to him, to say, ‘What I normally do is not working. I’m going to go with another attack’, and he did.”

Caleb Ellingson (170), Eathan Gumke (182) and Mark Reynolds (285) earned forfeit wins for the Blue Jays, who compete at a tournament in Moorhead, Minn., on Saturday.

“It was really a good night,” White said. “The way the first few matches went, you had the crowd right in it. It was just exciting wrestling.”

Jamestown 55, Bismarck St. Mary’s 19

126: Jaden Horsted, J, dec. Tate Barnhardt, 6-4 (OT).

132: Austin Huck, StM, dec. Jakob Browning, 8-5.

138: Dane Fischer, StM, maj. dec. Mitch Ova, 16-3.

145: Keith Shahin, J, pinned Ian Brown, 2:43.

152: Zane Braun, J, maj. dec. Robert Richter, 13-3.

160: Brandyn Harr, J, pinned Trey Grumann, 5:34.

171: Caleb Ellingson, J, won by forfeit.

182: Eathan Gumke, J, won by forfeit.

195: Triston Shipley, J, pinned Nicholas Boechler, 0:57.

220: Kyle Anderson, J, pinned Jackson Grad, 0:29.

285: Mark Reynolds, J, won by forfeit.

106: Matt Schaffner, StM, pinned Kane Barnick, 3:18.

113: Paxton Mewes, J, pinned Casey Loeks, 1:17,

120: Collin Grumann, StM, pinned Dante Dillingham, 1:33.

Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jays, wrestling