Mike Kraft/MDN Minot United Madisyn Racine looks toward the referee as she attempts to pin Bismarck Legacy’s Morgan Schneider during her match at Magic City Campus on Thursday, Jan. 8. Racine won via pin at 3:38.

The Minot United girls wrestling team was riding high coming off a stellar third-place showing at the Rumble on the Red in Fargo over the weekend in one of the biggest tournaments of the season.

Unfortunately for Minot United, they found themselves competing against a team in Bismarck Legacy that entered Thursday’s West Region dual meet with even more momentum on its side having won the prestigious tournament in Fargo.

The Sabers showcased their dominance on the mat once again, winning 10 of 13 matches – seven via pin in their 55-18 victory over Minot United on Senior Day at Magic City Campus. Legacy also won one match each via decision, major decision and forfeit to remain unbeaten in dual matches this season.

“We had really good effort,” Legacy coach Rick Ripplinger said. “Minot’s a really good team. We won a few matches where if we wrestled them again, it may not be the same outcome, but I was really proud of the girls and their effort and their fire tonight.”

Minot United (1-2-0 overall, 1-1-0 WDA) started strong, as eighth-grader Brooklyn Ost earned her first dual match victory of the season at 100 pounds. Ost pinned Aubrey Huus in 56 seconds after jumping out to a 7-0 lead on a takedown and a near fall within the opening minute of the match.

“I didn’t know anything about her,” Ost said. “I haven’t wrestled her before. I just went out there being confident in my abilities.”

Ost was one of eight Minot United wrestlers to place in the top eight of their respective weight class at the Rumble on the Red. Ost had the best showing of the team with a runner-up finish.The experience in Fargo has only further motivated Ost to continue to improve her skills.

“It has given me confidence that I know I can go out and do well and beat my opponents,” Ost said. “It gave me a better will to do better in the practice room and work harder.”

Minot United also notched victories at 124 and 136, respectively. Sophomore Fatimazahra Elbouab and Freshman Madisyn Racine both delivered second-round pins for the home squad Elbouab overcame an early 3-0 deficit after being taken down 39 seconds into her match with Kulah Barjuah. She earned a two-point reversal at the tailend of the first round and scored a takedown in the opening 20 seconds of the second round, leading to the pin 24 seconds later. Racine nearly pinned Morgan Schneider in the late stages of the first round in her match, but ultimately secured the submission with 22 seconds left in the second round.

Racine’s victory brought Minot United to within 22-18, but the Sabers won the last six matches and tallied the final 33 points for the victory.

“We wrestled pretty good, but I thought we could have wrestled better,” Minot United coach Arianne Korish said. “There were a couple matches that could have gone either way and they went Legacy’s way. We’re hoping to get them back at state. The mindset was not there today. We need to have a better mindset. We’re also missing a couple girls due to injuries today, so we didn’t have our usual full lineup.”

Alicia Kenfack (112), Keeley Kainoa (118), Aleiya Cullinan (130), Sofia Meyer (142), Jaycee Entzel (148), Ivy Griffin (170) and Aaleiya Ear (heavyweight) all picked up pins for the Sabers. Ear was trailing 7-0 to Jade’ence Fletcher after the opening round and was nearly pinned in the final seconds, but she came out on top with the pin 27 seconds into the second round.

Ear’s match being the outlier, Legacy scored the first points of all the other matches they won on the night. Six of the matches opened with Legacy earning the first takedown and a 3-0 lead.

“It’s important to get out to a lead,” Ripplinger said. “A takedown is worth three points now, so we stress a lot of takedowns. It fuels you when you’re ahead by three to start the match and it may demoralize your opponent a bit. It’s important to get out to an early lead.”

Although she didn’t win her match, senior Monica Boakye drew praise from Korish for her effort against Alicia Kenfack, which ended with a pin with three seconds remaining in the second round.

“She didn’t win her match, but I really loved the grit in that match and how hard she fought because she was wrestling a good wrestler,” Korish said.

Legacy (3-1-0, 3-1-0) earned 42 points via pins. The other 13 points came from an 11-1 major decision at 106 by Scelia Maneze over Ella Brown, a 10-4 decision at 155 from Katurah Ottmar over Maycee Boyce and a forfeit at 190.

While it was Senior Night for Minot United, Legacy rained on its parade by winning all three matches against Minot United’s seniors.

Through four duals, the Sabers have six wrestlers unbeaten who have wrestled in at least half of the team’s duals. Entzel improved to 4-0. Schneider entered the dual with an unblemished record, but Racine ended her unbeaten start while improving to 2-0 herself in WDA duals.

Minot United doesn’t have any time to dwell on the loss, as they head to Bismarck for the two-day Bismarck Rotary beginning on Friday, Jan. 9.

“I hope they just learn from their mistakes and their losses and they watch their videos to see what they could have done better,” Korish said. “A loss can be something good. They can improve on that and see what they can do better next time and take that to the next match they wrestle.”