Jays finish strong in Grand Forks

It appears to be a case of déjà vu for the Jamestown High School wrestling team — and that’s a good thing.

After struggling at the start of the season — much like they did last year — the Blue Jays are hitting their stride in a big way as the regular season winds down.

The Blue Jays buried both Grand Forks Central (54-24) and Devils Lake (60-15) on the second day of the Grand Forks Multi-Dual tournament, finishing the weekend with a 4-1 record and improving their overall mark to 9-7.

“It feels a lot like last year where we couldn’t get things together, but then in the second half we really started to wrestle well and be very aggressive,” coach Greg White said. “We’re doing that again here this season and it’s been fun to watch.”

The Blue Jays lost just four contested matches on Saturday, getting perfect 5-0 weekends out of the Bossingham brothers (Zach and Blake), as well as Johnny Schmitz. The Mittleider brothers — Dustin and Brent — were each 4-1 as the Blue Jays had every wrestler on the team get at least one win on both days of the tournament.

“We have a lot of different kids that are making really nice improvement as the season goes on and that’s really encouraging to see,” said White.

The Blue Jays pinned their way through the Knights and Firebirds, posting 13 falls combined in the two duals.

Schmitz (145 pounds), Jerimiah Dockter (152), Josh Dockter (160), Donovan Zuck (171), Tyler Mielke (heavyweight), seventh-grader Tristan Shipley (103), Zach Bossingham (112) and Dustin Mittleider (119) each posted six-pointers in the win over Central.

Mason Krumweide opened the dual against Devils Lake with a fall at 140. Later, Landon Swangler (189), Shipley again, and the Bossingham brothers stuck their Devils Lake opponents.

“On paper, it looked like we were favored in both matches, so you worry about your team coming out and not being aggressive,” White said. “But the kids came out and wrestled like we were the underdog. They were aggressive right from the start in both duals and never let up.”

The Blue Jays have just three duals left before the West Region meet Feb. 14 in Minot, starting Thursday when they host Mandan at 7 p.m.

“We’re happy with the progress we’ve made, but there are still things we can improve on,” White said. “We want these kids to stay after it and I’m pretty sure they will.”

Jamestown 54, Grand Forks Central 24

125: Matt Wright, GFC dec. Brent Mittleider, 5-3.

130: Blake Bossingham, JHS won by forfeit.

135: Eric Jones, GFC won by forfeit.

140: James Wright, GFC dec. Mason Krumweide, 3-2.

145: Johnny Schmitz, JHS pinned Caleb Kobilansky, 3:44.

152: Jerimiah Dockter, JHS pinned Mike Howard, 1:13.

160: Josh Dockter, JHS pinned Alex Randle, :58.

171: Donovan Zuck, JHS pinned Jeff Simpson, 1:07.

189: Tom Bruns, GFC pinned Landon Swangler, 3:07.

215: Jeremy Zahradka, GFC won by forfeit.

285: Tyler Mielke, JHS pinned Gabe Gourneau, 5:50.

103: Tristan Shipley, JHS pinned Keith Hall, 1:47.

112: Zach Bossingham, JHS pinned Katie Gravere, 2:39.

119: Dustin Mittleider, JHS pinned T.J. Poole, 1:19.

Jamestown 60, Devils Lake 15

140: Mason Krumweide, JHS pinned Joey De La Paz, 2:20.

145: Johnny Schmitz, JHS dec. Tanner Hilliard, 4-1.

152: Jordan Longtin, DL dec. Jerimiah Dockter, 9-5.

160: Josh Dockter, JHS dec. Brandon Ramsey, 13-6.

171: Donovan Zuck, JHS won by forfeit.

189: Landon Swangler, JHS pinned Chris Sommer, :52.

215: Jacob Lagasse, DL won by forfeit.

285: Tyler Mielke, JHS won by forfeit.

103: Tristan Shipley, JHS pinned Jacob Clouse, 1:56.

112: Zach Bossingham, JHS pinned Austin Schall, 1:55.

119: Dustin Mittleider, JHS won by forfeit.

125: Brent Mittleider, JHS won by forfeit.

130: Blake Bossingham, JHS pinned Tommy Good, 1:53.

135: Brock Davidson, DL won by forfeit.

Sun sports writer Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at daves@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jhs, wrestling, bluejays, jays