Blue Jays Roundup: Girls wrestling wraps up season at State

Day No. 1 of practice left Larry Eslick slightly overwhelmed.

"After the first day of practice, it was like, oh boy what did we get into?" Eslick, said with a laugh. "It was like coaching 5-year-olds with more coordination. We all had no idea what they were doing but about a month in, they started to pick it up."

This last weekend, three months after the Jamestown High School girls first-ever, sanctioned wrestling season kicked off, Eslick was even more overwhelmed.

"What a fantastic first season this was for the girls," Eslick said. "I fought to get it going — no one expected administratively to get it going — but my daughter was a senior and I fought for it and clogged for it.

"I wasn't leaving it alone. They said if I got eight girls they would think about it and I got 16 and pretty soon it was sanctioned."

The Jamestown High School girls wrestling team, wrapped up its first season at the first-ever North Dakota High School Activities Association sanctioned state tournament last weekend.

John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun

Jamestown wound up placing 10th out of 30 teams with 66 points. The Jays had five athletes place among the top-eight in their respective weight classes.

"These girls went way beyond what we ever could have expected," Eslick said. These girls just fell in love with it and took to it like a duck to water. I appreciate how hard they worked, how coachable they were and we're confident that it's going to grow."

Paris Eslick was the top-Blue Jay finisher, with a state runners-up title in the 250-pound bracket. The senior suffered a win-by-fall from Central Cass' Catie Sinner two minutes into the title match.

"My expectations for the tournament were that we would do our best," Paris said. "For myself, I wanted to relax and wrestle and have fun and watch my team succeed and support them."

"I feel like I've accomplished a lot. I am proud to say that I got to pave a path for future female wrestlers, to show them it is possible to exceed expectations and find success."

Central Cass won the first-ever state team title with 167 points.

Hannah Sjostrom, a junior for the Jays, placed third in the 190-pound frame.

"I honestly just wanted to place top three," Sjostrom said. "There were a few 250’s that dropped down and didn’t know what to expect since I never really saw them wrestle before."

Sjostrom pinned Central Cass' Cassie Bartholomay with a fall coming at 3:17. Prior to the state contest, Sjostrom was regularly placing in the top-three at all the Jays' scheduled tournaments.

"I only had one goal this season and that was to not break or seriously injure myself," Sjostrom said. "(Placing at State) felt good, and I can’t wait to possibly do better next year."

Eslick added:

"These girls were excited to be a part of something brand new, excited to compete, excited to succeed. It was a lot of fun to start something from scratch and see it succeed."

Team scores

1. Central Cass 167; 2. Bismarck Legacy 158; 3. Bismarck 153; 4. Minot 131; 5. South Border 112; 6. Fargo Davies 85; 7. Pembina County North 77; 8. Williston 76; 9. West Fargo Sheyenne 66; 10. Jamestown 61; 11. West Fargo 60; 12. Hettinger-Scranton 57.5; 13. Mandan 57; T14. Bismarck Century 56; Grand Forks Central 56; 16. Des Lacs-Burlington 55; 17. Lisbon 54; 18. Napoleon-Gackle-Streeter 50.5; 19. MonDak 35; 20. Harvey-Wells County 30; 21. Devils Lake 29.5; 22. Valley City 25; 23. LaMoure-Litchville-Marion 24; 24. Stanley 18; T25. Turtle Mountain 13; Velva 13; 27. Grand Forks Red River 12; 28. Ellendale-Edgeley-Kulm 11; T29. Killdeer 8; New Salem-Almont 8; T31. Beulah-Hazen 4; Kindred 4; 33. Linton-HMB 3

Individual results

120

Championship: Schafer, West Fargo, pin Meidinger, LaMoure-Litchville-Marion, 2:50
Third place: Stremick, Pembina County North, dec. Ward, Minot, 2:50
Fifth place: Anderson, Hettinger-Scranton, pin Faleide, Central Cass, 3:42
Seventh place: Torres, Jamestown, pin Larson, GF Red River, 4:08

125

Championship: Anderson, West Fargo, dec. Christianson, Valley City, 4-0
Third place: Cullinan, Bismarck Legacy, inj.1:52
Fifth place: Clingman, MonDak, pin Sola, Velva, 3:24
Seventh place: Kelly, Lisbon, won by forfeit

130

Championship: Mohr, Fargo Davies, pin Lemar, Central Cass, 4:47
Third place: Ogden, Bismarck Century, pin Mann, Napoleon-GS, 0:47
Fifth place: Rittenbach, Bismarck, pin Carr, Minot, 4:08
Seventh place: Rankin, Kindred, pin Gillespie, Lisbon, 0:34

135

Championship: Sundquist, Williston, pin Nelson, Pembina CN, 2:21
Third place: LeTexier, Pembina CN, pin Lee, Stanley, 0:52
Fifth place: Russell, Minot, inj. 3:59
Seventh place: Jochim, South Border, pin Schneider, Bismarck Legacy, 2:06

140

Championship: LeMatta, Harvey-WC, pin Aguilar, Minot, 1:20
Third place: Keller, South Border, pin Koleness, Williston, 1:20
Fifth place: Pasterz, DL-Burlington, won by forfeit
Seventh place: Glennon, Central Cass, pin Stiefel, Bismarck, 4:31

145

Championship: Johnson, GF Central, pin Potter, Bismarck, 1:51
Third place: Hanna, Bismarck Legacy, dec. Sherman, Central Cass, 10-4
Fifth place: Rolf, Lisbon, pin Aguilar, Minot, 0:30
Seventh place: Romans, Jamestown, pin Hotten, West Fargo, 1:39

155

Championship: Greco, Williston, pin Flynn, Central Cass, 2:43
Third place: Schuchard, Bismarck Century, pin Beckler, Bismarck, 2:14
Fifth place: Ochoa, GF Central, dec. Jetty, Bismarck Century, 7-5
Seventh place: Dahl, Bismarck Legacy, pin Cline, Beulah-Hazen, 1:58

170

Championship: Buee, DL-Burlington, pin Shockley, South Border, 3:31
Third place: Schneider, Bismarck Legacy, pin Govergo, Fargo Davies, 3:40
Fifth place: Storsved, Mandan, pin Mi. Sanchez, WF Sheyenne, 4:17
Seventh place: Richmond, Minot, pin Spomer, Bismarck Century, 1:37

190

Championship: Hoffman, South Border, pin Lindseth, Bismarck Legacy, 3:12
Third place: Sjostrom, Jamestown, pin Bartholomay, Central Cass, 3:18
Fifth place: Fincher, GF Central, pin Fike, Mandan, 1:11
Seventh place: Fletcher, Minot, won via DQ

250

Championship: Sinner, Central Cass, pin Eslick, Jamestown, 2:00
Third place: Moore, Minot, pin Garcia, MonDak, 1:59
Fifth place: Anderson, Bismarck, pin Harvey, Bismarck Century, 1:57
Seventh place: Rout, GF Red River, won via injury

100

Championship: Araujo, Bismarck, pin Verdin, Hettinger-Scranton, 3:38
Third place: Kenefack, Bismarck Legacy, maj. dec. Hoffman, South Border, 14-2
Fifth place: Schwartz, Mandan, won via injury 2:57
Seventh place: Laidlaw, Fargo Davies, pin Mortensen, Minot, 2:10

105

Championship: Gerhardt, Devils Lake, pin White, Central Cass, 0:44
Third place: Ireland, Bismarck, won via injury
Fifth place: Kannen, Bismarck Legacy, dec. Owens, Bismarck, 8-4
Seventh place: Simmons, Killdeer, pin Wolf, South Border, 4:12

110

Championship: Schneider, Napoleon-GS, tech. fall DeBlaere, WF Sheyenne, 15-0 5:45
Third place: Gayflor, Fargo Davies, pin Devries, Central Cass, 0:48
Fifth place: Feist, Bismarck, pin Baarson, Lisbon, 1:24
Seventh place: Tomac, NS-Almont, dec. Freidig, WF Sheyenne, 7-5

115

Championship: Strandberg, WF Sheyenne, pin Youboty, Bismarck Legacy, 1:17
Third place: Nash, Minot, dec. Stremick, Pembina CN, 7-4
Fifth place: Miller, Ellendale-EK, dec. Schwab, Lisbon, 4-1
Seventh place: Bredahl, DL-Burlington, pin Roaldson, Bismarck, 1:46