Consistency leads to upper-half finish at Spencer

The team finish for Okoboji/HMS wrestlers mirrored the individual placements at the Austin Roberts Memorial Tournament on Dec. 21. Most of the Pioneer boys finished either third or fourth in their respective weight classes, leading to a fourth-place overall finish at the meet hosted by Spencer.

Chase Franklin and Nathaniel Franklin were the top individual finishers. The former won the 120-pound title and the latter was runner-up at 175 pounds.

Placing third were Tyce Hanson (132), Brennan Baschke (138), Dillon Wittrock (150) and Keyshawn Smith (285).

The only H-M-S athlete to compete was Nathan Stofferan, who placed fourth at 113 pounds. He lost by fall to Mathias Liepold of Jackson County, Minn., and pinned Giovanni Garcia of Sibley-Ocheyedan (1:37) and Nolan Carver of MMCRU (0:53). Stofferan lost a rematch with Liepold by fall (3:41) in the third-place match.

Also placing fourth were Blake Knudtson (106) and Tyler Pyle (165). Alex Rouse placed fifth at 157 pounds and Aiden Hintz was sixth at 190.

Jackson County won the team title with 223 points, Spencer was runner-up with 197 and West Lyon was third with 181.5. Okoboji/HMS finished fourth with 158 points, followed by Sibley-Ocheyedan 132.5, LeMars 101.5, Spirit Lake Park 77.5, Sergeant Bluff-Luton 62.5, Western Christian 30 and MMCRU 24.5.

The Okoboji/HMS boys return to action at a quadrangular hosted by Woodbury Central on Jan. 7. The Pioneer girls open the post-holiday schedule at the Sheldon tournament on Jan. 4.

The duals hosted by Central Lyon/GLR on Dec. 19 were postponed to a later date.