Dormanen’s championship, seconds by Nielson and Klefstad lead Boyceville to 4th place in North Branch
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NORTH BRANCH, MN — There was little time for Boyceville’s wrestlers to dwell on their heartbreaking one-point conference championship loss to rival Glenwood City January 27 as they headed west into Minnesota the very next evening to take part in the annual North Branch Invitational.
A fourth-place finish in the nine-school tournament highlighted by Tyler Dormanen’s championship at 170 pounds coupled with runner-up showings by Bash Nielson and John Klefstad at 195 and 220 pounds, respectively, helped to sooth the bitter sting of the previous night’s title loss to the Toppers.
The only team not from Minnesota to compete in the January 28 Invite at North Branch, the Bulldogs finished with 103 points. Simley won the tourney with a score of 267.5 points with Zumbrota-Mazeppa taking second with a 214.5, and Milaca-Faith Christian was third after scoring a 129.
Senior Tyler Dormanen improved to 34-4 on the season with a 3-0 run to the 170-pound title in North Branch last Friday. Dormanen pinned Gage Narr of Milaca-Faith Christian in 2:52 of the pair’s quarterfinal’s match. The Boyceville wrestler then scored a 12-2 major decision over Simley’s Brent Holzem in the semifinals. In the championship match, Dormanen, ranked fifth in D3’s latest 182-pound Wisconsin state poll, won a 5-3 overtime decision against Ashton LaBelle of North Branch.
Junior Sebastian “Bash” Nielson opened his tournament at 195 pounds with a 49-second, quarterfinal’s fall over Grant Horeis of Delano and followed it up with a tight 5-4 decision over Milaca-Faith Christian’s Colbee Zens in the semis. Nielson would end up with the silver medal after being pinned by Soren Herzog of Simley at the 2:59 mark of the championship match.
After a quarterfinal bye at 220 pounds, senior John Klefstad bested Wyatt Mulder of Zumbrota-Mazeppa 13-10 in the semifinals. But, like Nielson, Klefstad had to settle for second after being pinned in the title match by Simley’s Gavin Nelson in 1:52.
In just his second day of wrestling this season, sophomore Noah Evenson went 2-1 to finish third at 113 pounds. Both wins came via pins.
Keegan Plemon placed fourth at 285 pounds, Jake Bialzik (132) and Brayan Vasquez (152) both placed fifth, Keegan Cole took seventh at 152, and Wyatt Sell (106) and Ryker Benitz (120) finished eighth in their respective weight classes.