Karson Kraft won four of his five matches and took second place at 139 pounds at the Bismarck Rotary over the weekend at the Bismarck Event Center.

The Minot United boys wrestling team had six wrestlers place in the top eight, including two at 215 pounds with Evan Berg and Tucker Nelson. Jack Combs (107), Tayven Blackaby (133) and Kale Risbrudt (285) also placed.

Kraft – seeded 4th in the 139 bracket – won all four of his matches via pin. He took down Bismarck Legacy’s Tucker Schiermeister in 2:29, Rapid City Stevens’ Tanner Wempen in 2:41, Bismarck Century’s Carter Wylde in 4:17 and Fargo Davies’ Cole Sauvageau in 3:55 to advance to the title match. Watford City’s Kutler Swenson took the title with a 6-2 decision.

Berg and Nelson placed 3rd and 4th, respectively, meeting up in the third-place match in which Nelson forfeited. Berg and Nelson both won their respective opening matches after receiving first-round byes before falling in the second round to drop into the consolation bracket. They each won their next three matches. Berg recorded three consecutive pins all in the first round, including one in just 39 seconds. Nelson scored a one-point escape with eight seconds left in overtime against Fargo Davies’ Nolan Mack in his second match on the consolation side of the bracket.

Combs bounced back from losing his first match to winning his next four and ultimately finishing fifth. Combs pinned Asher Wersal, Hazen Foss, Gregor Samuelson and Barik Hurd. Combs and Hurd combined for 33 points in their match before Combs recorded his third takedown and secured the pin with two seconds left in the second period.

Despite being ranked 21st in the 133 bracket, Blackaby won his first two matches. He pinned 12th-seeded Owen Bahm of Mandan before scoring a 5-0 decision over Jaxon Toennies in the second round. He eliminated teammate Jaxon Schumann in a consolation match via a 17-1 technical fall in 4:40 and claimed seventh place by defeating Toennies once again, this time via pin in 2:36.

Risbrudt rounded out the placers for Minot United with his eighth-place finish. He won three matches on the day, all via pins.