Coming to grips: JHS senior suffers injury, denied second state title

• Zane Braun

(Chris Aarhus / The Sun) Jamestown senior Zane Braun, bottom, struggles to move against Grand Forks Central’s Bryce Fish in their Class A 152-pound state championship match Saturday at the Fargodome. Braun suffered an apparent rib injury in the second period with the match tied at two and was never the same, losing 4-2.

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FARGO — In his quest for a second state title, Zane Braun hit a snag.

The Jamestown High School senior appeared to injure himself in the second period while battling with Grand Forks Central’s Bryce Fish on their way out of bounds during the Class A 152-pound state championship match. And when Jamestown coach Greg White saw Braun get up, he knew something wasn’t right.

“I saw him go down with it and grab it as they went out of bounds after that,” White said. “It looks like he either broke something or as the doctor’s referring to it, ‘popped out some ribs.’”

Tied 2-2 going into the third period, Fish used a takedown 27 seconds in to secure the advantage en route to the 152-pound state title Saturday at the Fargodome. Braun, known for his high energy, lay nearly lifeless on the bottom in the third period.

“He was just going on adrenaline and fighting the pain,” White said. “In the third, he lost out to the pain.”

It was revenge for Fish, who fell to Braun 3-1 in overtime at the Bismarck Rotary in early January.

The loss was the first of the season for Braun, who finished 36-1. Still, he won a state title as a junior and finished his career second on the school’s all-time wins list behind Greg White’s son, Dan White, with 128.

“There’s just been outstanding improvement in his wrestling from his sophomore to junior year,” White said. “He’s been a good one. A loss doesn’t take away from that. He’d like to be a two-time state champ and undefeated. But he is a state champ and he’s 36-1; that’s a pretty impressive record.”

Jamestown finished 13th out of 18 teams with 63 points. West Fargo captured a state championship, amassing 232.5 points by placing all 17 of its wrestlers including three state champions. Bismarck High had three titlists and 12 state placers to finish in second with 213 points.

The Blue Jays finished with three placers. Aside from Braun’s runner-up finish, senior Jaden Horsted (132) and freshman Paxton Mewes (113) also placed.

Horsted held a three-point lead with around 10 seconds left against Bismarck’s Lane Kaseman in the third-place match, but the latter countered a Horsted shot with a takedown and put Horsted on his back, getting three nearfall points to win 7-5.

“It was one of those matches where he was in really good control till about the last 10 seconds,” White said. “He made a nice shot, but the guy hit a nice counter. It was kind of a throw that put Jaden on his back.

“It’s been an outstanding career for him. The pain of that loss will go away. He’ll remember the career he had. It’s been an excellent career. He’s one of those guys that you could count on to go out and get wins.”

Mewes was nipped by Dickinson No. 1 seed Austin Hutzenbiler by 4-0 decision to send him into the fifth-place match, where West Fargo’s Reed Cronin won by 5-3 decision. In his first two seasons on varsity, the freshman Mewes already has 60 wins to his credit.

White, who is now officially retired after 37 years coaching the sport, said he feels good knowing the wrestlers he brought to state gave their all.

“It was kind of a tough day for us, but this was the best of the best going against each other,” White said. “We didn’t come out on top of them today, but we can sure be proud of the effort we’ve put into it.”

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

Tags: sports, wrestling, jays, state