Wednesday,
March 5, 2008
State wrestling champs
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| Julius Stone-Browerville/Eagle Valley Broncos |
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| Zak Lambert-Bertha-Hewitt/Verndale Raiders |
State Champions
by Coach Lancaster
Julius Stone, a junior on the Broncos wrestling team, captured the 119 lb. state championship and earned his 100th win over the weekend. He ended a two week stretch of excellent wrestling. It started with a third period take down to earn a one point decision over Devin Scott of Holdingford in the section semifinals. In the section finals, Julius upset the returning state champion Jeremy Anderson of Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City to earn the section title and earn a trip to the state wrestling tournament. In the first round of the state tournament, Julius faced Brandon Biever of Crosby-Ironton who had beat him earlier in the season. Julius revenged the earlier loss and recorded a second period pin in 3 minutes and 55 seconds. In the quarterfinals Julius recorded a 4-1 decision over Sam Haas of Laq Qui Parle Valley. This put him in the semifinals against the 42-0 Tony Vaske of River Valley. He recorded a 7-5 overtime win. In the state finals Julius then faced Ethan Hilldebrandt of St. James. He had lost to Ethan in last year's state tournament by an 8-5 decision marked by a third period headlock by the St. James wrestler. In the state finals, Ethan tried two headlocks. In the first headlock Julius scored a takedown, but with the second headlock Ethan scored a 5 point move. Julius battled back and scored an exciting third period take down to earn the 119 lb. state championship and his 100th career win.
Zak Lambert is the state champion at 125 lbs. He wrestled the best he has all year. In his first two matches against Eric Goette and Taylor Menke, Zak never let up and almost made it look easy winning both of them in a big way. During his next match against Mike Lucero from Frazee, Zak controlled the tempo and outworked him for a spot in the state finals against Jason Sunderman. In the finals, Zak started fast taking Sunderman down two times in the beginning of the match, but got caught off guard and gave up a takedown to tie the match with 1:06 to go in the match. He got an escape and held off Sunderman to win a state title. It was a very emotional match for Zak and his family and a great way for him to end his career as a Raider. He finishes his career with three state trips, a fourth place finish in 2006, and a state title this year. As the first state champion I have coached, his presence on the mat will be missed next year.
Congratulations!!
Read more about the other wrestlers who competed at state on the sports pages.