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24 years in the making

Magi win first state wrestling title since 1993

Garrick Hodge/MDN Minot High coach Justin Racine, left, celebrates with wrestler Brody Armstrong, center, after Armstrong won the Class A 126-pound state title Saturday at the Fargodome.

FARGO – Minot High wrestling coach Justin Racine couldn’t help but feel disappointed Friday.

After entering the state wrestling meet with state title aspirations, the second day of the tournament was less than ideal for Minot. The Magicians dropped both of their team dual meets, saw six of seven wrestlers lose their semifinal matches and sat in fifth place in the team standings, trailing Bismarck by nearly 70 points.

So, Racine gathered his team at the hotel later in the evening, telling his wrestlers he still had hope they would rally in the wrestlebacks for a second or third-place finish. He never envisioned the Magi would have 13 athletes place and score 86 points on Saturday at the Fargodome en route to bringing home its first Class A individual team title since 1993.

Minot won the championship with 209 team points, followed by Bismarck Century (203 points) and Bismarck (201).

“We told our guys that we weren’t 100 percent sure if we can come back for first but we could definitely make a run for second or third,” Racine said. “But what these guys did today, I’ve never seen it. I’ve never seen it in all my years of coaching and all my years of wrestling. Every single guy fought for every point and I couldn’t be more proud.”

Entering his second year as head coach (seventh total with MHS), Racine’s day was even sweeter as he was named the North Dakota High School Activities Association Class A Coach of the Year concluding the tournament.

“I wrestled for Minot High, so it’s always been my goal since I was wrestling there to be the head coach and bring the tradition back to Minot,” Racine said. “This title is obviously a step in the right direction.”

Corey Hooker and Tyler Thompson each earned seventh-place finishes at the 120-pound and 152-pound weight classes, respectively. Samuel Goodman (113) and Trevon McClanahan (138) both placed sixth and Kelby Armstrong took fifth at the 106-pound weight class.

Matthew Rabe fought to a fourth-place finish at 170 pounds and six Magi wrestlers walked away finishing third. Those athletes include Tyler Strandberg (132), Jacob Mortensen (145), Creighton Rudolph (160), Je-Mario Jones (195), Hunter Swartwout (220) and Elijah Huff (285).

“It’s amazing with how far we were behind how we came back,” Jones said. “I just remember Racine telling us it didn’t matter what we did Friday, it would be what we did Saturday that defined us. We took that to heart and came back.”

Even Rudolph was surprised the Magi were able to make up as much ground as they did.

“After Friday, it was looking pretty bleak if I’m being honest,” Rudolph said. “But we still knew we could do something special. Everyone took that to heart and went out and did their jobs today.”

Minot did have one state champion in Brody Armstrong at the 126-pound weight class. Armstrong might have had the most important match in regards to the team title, as his championship gave Minot enough team points to hold off Century.

But there wouldn’t have been a team title for Minot if it weren’t for the disqualification of Bismarck Century wrestler Cameron Rants.

The No. 2 wrestler at 182 pounds, Rants had an 8-7 lead in the third period on Mandan’s Jacob Boehm in Friday’s duals semifinals. Boehm told officials Rants bit him and showed a referee marks on his arm. Officials believed the marks to be bite marks, which led to Rants’ disqualification. He was held out of the team’s dual championship match with Bismarck.

Rants was allowed to wrestle in the individual semifinals, yet got disqualified again for allegedly biting Bismarck’s Justin Bergquist. Because of the disqualification, none of Rants’ points accumulated throughout the tournament counted for Century, giving Minot High the title.

“It’s unfortunate the chain of events that happened,” Racine said. “But you know what, we’ll take it. We’ve been battling all year with those guys and we’ll take the state championship any way we can get it.”

Garrick Hodge covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @Garrick_Hodge.

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