Girls Wrestling: Racine wins WDA individual title; Minot United 3rd

Madisyn Racine won all five of her matches to capture the West Region individual title at 124 pounds at the West Region Individual Tournament on Friday, Feb. 13, in Belcourt. Racine was the lone individual champion for the Minot United girls wrestling team, who finished the tournament in third place with 186.5 points. She won a 3-0 decision over Keisha Tomac of New Salem-Almont in the title match.

Minot United qualified 10 wrestlers for the state tournament across nine weight classes. They will send two wrestlers at 112 pounds, as Khylie Schlotz and Monica Boakye finished second and fourth, respectively. Maycee Boyce also delivered a runner-up showing at 148 pounds.

Boyce is the defending state champion at 155 pounds and Racine finished runner-up to Legacy’s Alicia Kenfack at 118 at last year’s state tournament.

Ella Brown (106) and Fatimazahra Elbouab (118) placed third, Brooklyn Ost (100) was fourth, Jace’ence Fletcher (190) fifth, and both Payton Russell (130) and Sava Nelson (136) took sixth. The 142 and 250 weight classes were the only two that Minot United didn’t qualify a wrestler for the state tournament.

Bismarck Legacy won the individual tournament with 232.5 points. Bismarck High took second with 200.5 points. Dickinson (172.5) and Turtle Mountain (160) rounded out the top five. The tournament field featured 24 teams.

Bismarck High had a tournament-best three individual champions with Maggie Thielges (136), Julia Araujo (155) and Cambree Anderson (190) all winning titles. Kenfack (112) and Aleiya Cullinan won titles for Legacy.

Watford City, Williston, Kenmare-Bowbells-Burke Central, Dickinson, Mandan and Bismarck Century also had wrestlers capture individual titles.

Next up for Minot United is the state individual tournament beginning on Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Fargodome. The two-day event concludes on Friday, Feb. 20.

Boys Wrestling: Minot United qualifies 11 for state tournament

They may not have had an individual champion at the WDA Individual Tournament in Belcourt on Saturday, Feb. 14, but the Minot United boys wrestling team will be well-represented at the state tournament, qualifying 11 wrestlers across eight weight classes.

Korbin Kraft finished runner-up at 139 pounds, going 3-1 on the day. He dropped a 10-3 decision to Bismarck High’s Cade Nieuwsma in the title match. Both Kraft and Cohen Racine qualified for state at 139, with Racine placing seventh.

Minot United is also sending two athletes at both 121 and 285, respectively. Eliah Rogers and Ian Halseth placed fifth and seventh, respectively, at 121 and Liam Neff and Kale Risbrudt took seventh and eighth, respectively, at 285.

Jack Combs (107) and Evan Berg (189) delivered fourth-place finishes and Tucker Nelson was fifth at 215. Jaxson Schumann (127) and Tayven Blackaby (133) were sixth-place finishers and Ian Helseth rounded out the 11 wrestlers with a seventh-place showing at 121.

Minot United finished seventh with 120 points in the 11-team tournament. Bismarck Legacy won its first West Region individual title with 241.5 points. Williston placed second at 199 points and Bismarck High was third at 193 points. Dickinson (166.5) and Bismarck Century (145.5) rounded out the top five.

Dickinson had a tournament-best four individual champions. Legacy had three individual champions and Bismarck High and Williston each had two.

Minot United wrestles in the state individual tournament beginning on Thursday, Feb. 19, at the Fargodome.

Men’s Hockey: Beavers close out regular season with sweep of Calvin

Playing in their final home series in a Beavers sweater, the six seniors did what they have been doing since they first took the ice as freshmen – win.

The Minot State men’s ice hockey team skated to a pair of victories against Calvin University (Mich.) to close out the regular season, winning 5-0 on Friday, Feb. 13, and 5-1 on Saturday, Feb. 14, at Maysa Arena. The senior class accounted for one goal and four assists in the win on Friday and two goals and four assists in the victory on Saturday.

Colby Joseph netted three goals and Jay Buchholz added two goals and an assist over the weekend.

In the first matchup against the Knights in program history, the Beavers (25-1-2) limited the road team to 22 shots on goal and kept them off the scoreboard. Logan Cyca gave the Beavers a 1-0 lead four minutes into the first period. Goals by Buchholz and Joseph pushed Minot State’s lead to 3-0 after two.

Joseph added his second 3:29 into the third period and Jeremy Dewar rounded out the scoring at 12:53.

Will Dyke stopped all 22 shots he faced for his fourth shutout of the season.

The Beavers conceded the opening goal of Saturday’s contest when Marshall Beaker scored for the Knights on the power play at 3:06 of the second period, but the Beavers weren’t about to let Calvin ruin their Senior Night. Minot State scored the final five goals. Matt Egan drew Minot State even halfway through the second period and Buchholz scored what would stand as the game-winning goal at 16:39 of the middle stanza.

Joseph, Joey Moffatt and Slade Stanick netted goals in the third period as the Beavers picked up their 25th win of the regular season and finished the year 13-0-1 at home, their lone loss coming in overtime to the University of Jamestown.

The Beavers limited the Knights to a single shot in the third period and 13 for the game. Dyke notched his second win in as many nights with a 12-save performance.

Minot State begins its postseason run with the Midwest College Hockey conference tournament in Albert Lea, Minn., beginning with the semifinal round on Saturday, Feb. 21, against an opponent to be determined.

Boys Swimming & Diving: Magicians win trio of duals over weekend

The Minot High boys swimming and diving team won all three of its duals across two locations over the weekend, opening with a 114-72 victory over Mandan at Magic City Campus on Friday, Feb. 13. The Magicians traveled to Williston on Saturday, Feb. 14, coming away with a 103-82 victory over the host Coyotes and a 134.5-45.5 victory against Bismarck High.

Minot North also took part in the double dual on Friday, falling to Mandan 104-80.

The Magicians claimed the top spot in nine of the 12 events on Friday, including a pair of victories in the relays. The Sentinels won the 100-yard freestyle and the 100 breaststroke, while the Braves won the 200 medley relay.

Luke Neumann and Andrew Francis each swept their two individual events. Neumann won the 200 freestyle in 1 minute, 53.27 seconds and the 100 butterfly in 56.74. Francis was the top finisher in both the 200 individual medley (2:07.73) and the 500 freestyle (5:13.23). Both were also part of the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams that took first place.

Talmage Pehrson (50 freestyle) and Caden Brey (100 backstroke) also picked up wins for the Magicians in the swimming events. Holden Williams won the 1-meter diving event with a score of 454.40.

Tyler Warren and Jameson Langager picked up wins for the Sentinels in the 100 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke, respectively. Tim Sharp-Driver finished runner-up in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke.

Individual results for the duals in Williston were not available.

The Magicians close out the regular season with a double dual against Williston and Minot North on Thursday, Feb. 19, at Magic City Campus at 5 p.m.