Fargo, N.D. (NewsDakota.com)—–The Carrington Cardinals won 7 of 8 quarterfinal matches in the opening day of the 2021 North Dakota State High School wrestling championships at the Fargodome and were sitting in third place overall with 119.5 points. Lisbon leads the field with 133 points and Velva is in second place with 121.5 points. South Border was in fourth place with 118.5 points and sent 6 wrestlers to the semifinals along with Lisbon and Velva. New Salem-Almont finished day 1 in fifth place with 110 points and 5 wrestlers advancing to the semifinals.

Carrington’s 7 semifinalists include Trace Hoggarth (106 pounds-#4 seed), 26-3 overall record and will face top seeded Wyatt Engwicht (junior–26-0) of New Salem-Almont. Hoggarth defeated the number 5 seed, Aarom Brimhall of Williams County by fall in just 28 seconds.

Treston Lura (senior–120 pounds–number 3 seed), 28-1, defeated Octavio Alvarez from Bishop Ryan by major decision, 10-2 to advance to the semifinals against second seeded Blaze Reinke (freshman–28-3) from Lisbon. Reinke handed Lura his only loss earlier this year in the championship match of the Storhaug Invitational Tournament in Lisbon.

Matthew Duchscherer (junior–126 pounds–number 2 seed), 26-2, defeated Jacob Kadoun of Oakes by fall at 3;24 of the second period to advance to the semifinals against Christian Lagunes (senior–29-3) from Williams County.

Trevor Hoggarth (senior–138 pounds–number 7 seed), defeated the number 2 seed Gus Bombach of Killdeer by a major decision 16-5. Hoggarth will face Jakob Hudson, number 3 seed from Northern Lights, 32-2, in the semifinals.

Brecken Lura, junior at 145 pounds, number 1 seed improved to 23-1 with a major decision (11-1) victory over Simon Sveum of Lisbon. Lura will Jon Shockley of South Border, senior with a 24-4 overall record in the semifinals.

Michael Clifton, junior at 182 pounds, seeded number 2 improved to 29-2 with an 8-0 major decision over Hunter Schultz of Lisbon. Clifton will face Tristan Pekas (sophomore–25-4) of Hettinger in the semifinals.

Beau Retzlaff, senior, 220 pounds improved to 26-0, number 1 seed, defeating Colton Thormahlen of Killdeer by fall in 1:14. Retzlaff will face Jeremiah Jesperson, senior from Velva with a 14-2 overall record in the semifinals.

Corbin Clifton, 8th grader at 132 pounds, number 9 seed was defeated by the number 1 seed and returning state champion Ethan Wonser of Williams County 13-2. Clifton, 21-7, will face Kayl Sieg of Harvey-Wells County in the 4th round wrestlebacks.

Kaulder Kvamme, junior at 195 pounds, 12-5 overall, will wrestle Coy Okeson of Bishop Ryan in the fourth round of wrestlebacks. Kvamme went 2-1 in the opening day.

Cardinal wrestlers who lost out in the opening day included Talon Larson (7th grader at 113 pounds), Drew Schroeder (junior at 152 pounds), Jonathon Lura (junior at 160 pounds), Max Ciubotareanu (8th grader at 170 pounds), and Austin Trelstad (senior at 285 pounds).

Semifinals will start at 9:30 A.M. Friday morning (2/19) and wrestleback rounds 4-6  will start at 10:15. Placing rounds and championship matches will begin at 12:30. All Carrington wrestling will be aired on A.M. 1600 KDAK (THE CARDINAL), FM 100.1, and www,newsdakota.com