Cards, Lions to meet in semis

FARGO — Central Cass will get its shot at the reigning champion.

The Squirrels cruised to a 46-24 victory against Minot Ryan in the Class B dual quarterfinals Thursday, the first day of the North Dakota state wrestling tournament at the Fargodome.

“ ‘We showed, we dominated, we go home,’ is our motto,” said Squirrels senior Sawyer Blumhardt, who earned a pin for his team at 113 pounds. “I think that’s what we did.”

Central Cass advanced to today’s semifinals and will face two-time defending state dual champion South Border, which picked up a 63-15 victory against Beulah-Hazen in the quarterfinals. The winner will advance to tonight’s dual championship.

“If you want to be the state champ in the dual, that’s the team you’ve got to beat,” Central Cass head coach Travis Lemar said. “We get a shot at them. That is all we were hoping for.”

Carrington and Linton-HMB will square off in the other dual semifinal. Carrington earned a 59-10 victory against Stanley-Powers Lake-Ray-Tioga in the quarterfinals. Linton-HMB scored a 39-31 victory against Hettinger to make the semifinals.

Central Cass hasn’t won a state dual title, but made the finals in 2007 when it lost to Napoleon.

Lemar said making it to the championship again will be a tall task because of South Border.

“It’s going to take a colossal effort on our part,” Lemar said. “We are going to have to be perfect to beat them, and they’re going to have to not wrestle very well. They’re solid all the way through. They don’t have a weak spot in the lineup. They are just a solid team. In a dual, they are almost unbeatable.”

Minot Ryan grabbed a three-point lead against Central Cass after eight matches in their dual were completed. Ryan junior Mason Kramer scored a first-period pin against Central Cass’ Kyle Ueland to give the Lions a 21-18 advantage.

The Squirrels responded by winning the next five matches, including three pins and two technical falls. Central Cass junior Austin Rust scored a technical fall at 106 pounds to give his team a 23-21 lead. The Squirrels never trailed from that point.

Central Cass took a 46-21 lead after senior Camron Flick earned a fall at 132. That capped a string of 28 consecutive points.

“Our main guys came through with what we needed them to come through with,” Lemar said. “We knew coming into this tournament, we were only going to go as far as our best kids take us. If they wrestle well, we can go a ways. If not, we are going to struggle.”

Blumhardt looks forward to the challenge South Border presents in the semifinals.

“They’ve got a lot of big-name guys. They are going to be a tough match,” Blumhardt said. “They are the No. 1 seed, and we are going to try to finish them off.”

Tags: class b, sports, wrestling