The Jag wrestlers braved an early morning departure time and cold weather Saturday morning, January 17th for the chance to claim a Twin Lakes Conference crown at Graettinger. Three Sophomores battled their way to the top with Wyatt Blair winning his second straight crown at 120 lbs. 126 lbs Keelan Wellman and 150 lbs Colton Haug won their first TLC title. Freshman 113 lbs Josiah Hefley and senior 144 lbs Colin Johnson finished in fourth place, while Freshman 175 lbs Brock Norine place sixth. In the double elimination format, Freshman Kasen Loeffler(106), Sophomore Blaise Echeverria(157), Freshman Drake Nitch(165), Junior Kyle Eastman(215), and sophomore Korbin Spangler(285) didn’t place in the top six. Sophomore Caden Milham(132) unfortunately had to medically forfeit out of the tournament. 

Blair continues to build upon his offensive skills, setting a pace that is hard matched by opponents securing tech falls in all of his matches, winning 20-4 in his finals match against Laeton Langschwager of Alta in the second period for his second straight title at 120 pounds. Wellman won his first title in one of the most exciting matches of the finals, securing his title by reversing CJ Rodriguez of Emmetsburg in the final seconds of the match for a 10-9 victory. Wellman continues to improve as Rodriguez was a returning state qualifier from last year's State Tournament. In one of the biggest surprises of the tournament, fourth seeded Colton Haug discovered his physical style of wrestling, beating #1 seed Jacob Erpelding by fall in the third period. Haug’s confidence continued to grow by wearing out Caleb Manwarren of GT-RA securing the fall in the second period. 

We as a team tied with 2nd place Alta-Aurelia with three Champions for the day. Our guys wrestled really hard and the coaching staff is really proud of them. In the upcoming weeks, our coaching staff will continue to build up our more inexperienced guys in the room to help them win some late season matches to help bolster their confidence. 

Final Team Scores:

1. GTRA      201
2. Alta-Aurelia  183
3. Emmetsburg 149
4. Sioux Central 148
5. South Central Calhoun 144
6. Manson NW Webster 134.5
7. Southeast Valley 105.5
8. Pocahontas Area 85
9. West-Bend Mallard 57.5
10.  East Sac County 44.5