The tournament is designed to test a teams strength and depth, and the Governor Wrestling team was certainly put to the test in the opening day of The Clash on December 30th. In the opening dual against #34 ranked Apple Valley the Governors were only able to produce four wins by Spencer Sarringar, Lincoln Turman, William Turman and Michael Lusk. Apple Valley's ability to generate bonus points in seven of their ten wins earned them a 47-13 victory in the opening round of action.
Lincoln Turman secures a takedown at the edge of the mat during his 113lb match against Apple Valley during the first dual at The Clash. Turman went on to win 5-3.
During the second dual, the Governors faced Owatanna, MN and lost five of the six weight classes by pin as the dual began at the 160lb weight class. The first period pin by Sarringar at 195lbs generated the only team points as the Governors found themselves down 30-6 going into the 106lb weight class. However, a 5-2 decision by Jack Van Camp and pins by Lincoln and William Turman helped correct the score to 30-21. Cade Hinkle earned a 15-2 major decision, and then a win by Lusk, and a pin by Austin Senger generated a 34-30 lead for the Governors. Forced to show first at 145lb, the Governors were required to send out Logan Meyer who lost 6-1 to Owatanna backup Bryce Goodwin. Owatanna had held Peyton Robb, two time state champion and SDSU commit at 145lb and bumped him to wrestle #1 ranked Aric Williams and earned a 9-2 victory to close out the 36-34 victory. Head coach Shawn Lewis noted "Key factors in close duals like this is winning the bonus point battle. We simply gave up too many and were unable to earn our own against quality opponents."
Aric Williams attempts to maintain control of Owatanna's Peyton Robb during their 152lb match. Robb went on to win 9-2 and secure the win for Owatanna.
To close out the first day of action the Governors wrestled Foley, MN and again fell behind 22-6 through the first five matches which began at 170lbs. Foley forfeited to Sarringar yet earned bonus in the other four matches. Governors then generated bonus points of their own with a major decision by Van Camp and a pin by Lincoln Turman which brought the Governors within six points as Foley held onto a 22-16 lead. The two teams traded points with a win by William Turman and loss by Hinkle, the earned ten points from wins by Lusk, Senger and Williams to take the lead at 29-25. However, a 6-2 loss by Raske and pin against Garrett Leesman sealed the 34-29 score for the win by Foley.
For the second day of action, the Governors were placed into a four team pool with Thompson (AL) Pewaukee (WI), and Bismarck Century (ND). The team produced a solid victory over Thompson 54-19 with wins by Lucas Stoltenburg, Sarringar, Levi Stoltenburg, Ty Paulsen, Lincoln Turman, William Turman, Hinkle, Senger, Williams and Raske. During the dual, Lusk lost his first match of the year following a narrow 3-1 loss to #1 ranked Alabama wrestler Gabe Hixenbaugh. The Governors then narrowly defeated Pewaukee 36-33 where Sarringer opened the dual against Jacob Raschka, currently ranked #9 in the country at 195. Sarringar saw his unbeated record snapped following a 7-3 loss. "Spencer has seen a higher level of compeitition in this two years down at Florida but none with the level of wrestling his opponent had on Saturday," said assistant coach John Wayne Kalda. "Obviously every time a wrestler steps on the mat the goal is a win. But this was also a great opportunity to see what level Spencer was at. We didn't feel like we needed to change any of our styles up and that allowed us to see what is working and what needs to be worked on in the upcoming months."
Spencer Sarringar squares off against Jacob Raschka, #9 ranked wrestler in the country at 195 from Pewaukee, WI.
In the dual, the Governors saw wins by veterans Turman, Turman, Senger, and Williams but also important wins by Van Camp, Hinkle and Raske. For their first opportunity to compete at a tournament of this caliber underclassmen Van Camp, Hinkle and Raske each earned key wins for the Governors in numerous duals. Pewaukee's attempted to avoid William Turman and shifted their 120lber to face Hinkle during the dual; however the shift was without promise as Hinkle earned a 7-2 win which was influential in helping to secure the three point dual win following the third period pin by Raske. "Our young guys did really well as they proved they are not scared of this level of competition," said Lewis. "They focused on the things that they do well and wrestled with confidence. That ability will lead them to great success as they grow and develop."
In the final dual, the Governor's faced a familiar opponent that they see each year at the Bismarck Rotary as they competed against Bismarck Century. The Governors opened with a pin by Levi Stoltenburg and Bismark tied the dual with wins over Paulsen and Van Camp. Lincoln and Will Turman won by pin and injury default to extend the lead to 18-6 and traded bonus points with a loss by Hinkle at 126lbs and a pin by Lusk at 132lbs. Having won the coin toss the Governors wrestled Lee Snyder against #1 ranked ND wrestler Mason Schulz who won by fall, then earned two pins and a tech fall from Senger, Williams, and Raske to put the dual out of reach. In the closing two matches Lucas Stoltenburg lost 3-1 and then Sarringar finished with an overall 5-1 record with a second period pin to lock up the twenty point victory 47-27. "The coin toss became important in the Bismarck Century dual as we needed to be able to dictate who to send out at 138lb and 145lbs" said Lewis. "For the other two duals we had a plan in place to use Logan Meyer and then bump Aric Williams and Maguire Raske. Both of those guys stepped up and wrestled up which ultimately lead to the success of the team." The individual performance for each Governor wrestler during The Clash can be found below.
- 106lbs - Jack Van Camp - 3-3
- 113lbs - Lincoln Turman - 6-0
- 120bls - William Turman - 6-0
- 126lbs - Cade Hinkle - 3-3
- 132lbs - Michael Lusk - 4-2
- 132lbs - Lee Snyder - 0-1
- 138lbs - Austin Senger - 5-1
- 138bls - Logan Meyer - 0-3
- 145lbs - Aric Williams - 4-2
- 152lbs - Maguire Raske - 3-3
- 160lbs - Garrett Leesman - 0-3
- 182lbs - Lucas Stoltenburg - 1-5
- 195lbs - Spencer Sarringar - 5-1
- 220lbs - Levi Stoltenburg - 2-4
- 285lbs - Ty Paulsen - 1-3
- 285lbs - Pryce Dyk - 0-2
The Governor's Clash team following the conclusion of their final dual against Bismarck Century.
In reflecting on the teams performance after a difficult first day of competition Kalda indicated that on Saturday it appeared that "We decided to compete as a team, and as we saw with Aberdeen a couple of weeks ago, a good dual team needs everyone at their best mentally and physically. We left some points out there on Friday and gave up in some matches that cost us one, if not two duals. At the start of the tournament on Saturday attitudes were better, kids were wrestling smarter matches and that allowed us to go 3-0 on the day."
The Governors will return to action on Friday December 6th as they travel to Bismarck, ND for the Rotary. The two day tournament will conclude on Saturday afternoon and includes more than 30 teams from Montana, Minnesota, South and North Dakota.
The Governors will return to action on Friday December 6th as they travel to Bismarck, ND for the Rotary. The two day tournament will conclude on Saturday afternoon and includes more than 30 teams from Montana, Minnesota, South and North Dakota.
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