Although it was a tough day overall for the Boone Central/Newman Grove wrestling team at Saturday’s Mid-State Conference championships, Dakota Ruhnke led four successful Cardinal medalists with a runner-up performance in the 138-pound weight class.
Along with the impressive effort by Ruhnke, BC/NG’s Jackson and Joel Meyer placed third in the 132 and 113-pound divisions, respectively, and Steven Arreguin took fourth at 106 pounds.
Boone Central/Newman Grove finished an uncharacteristic eighth in the 10-team field with just 37 points. Madison (171.5) easily won the Mid-State team title, while Battle Creek (130) nipped O’Neill (129) for runner-up honors.
Although Cardinal Coach Dale Bonge would have enjoyed better results, he felt his squad – which was missing injured starters Parker Wallin and Kody Sock – competed hard and was thankful those competing came out of the meet in good shape.
“Our results were far from what we would like to see at this time of year, but efforts were good and, hopefully, we will have everyone healthy for the upcoming district tournament,” Bonge acknowledged.
Each of the placing Cardinals had highlights Saturday on their way to the medal stand.
“Dakota had a solid performance. After opening with a pin in his first match, he knocked off the #3 rated man in Class C 6-0 in the semi-finals,” Bonge commented. “In the finals Dakota gave defending state champ and Class C #1 Blake Eisenmann all he could handle, coming up just short in a 6-4 loss.
“Joel beat a guy who had pinned him last week in our Boone Central tournament. Jackson scored three wins, including a pin and a major decision.
“Steven finished fourth with a tight 3-0 loss to the eventual champ in the semis before getting pinned in the consolation final when he was down by only one point late in the third period.”
Cody Shanno and Billy O’Brien were the only other BC/NG wrestlers to record a victory in the Mid-State competition.
Complete results in Print & Online editions of Albion News.
Add Comment