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CITY  (NewsDakota.com)–The Hi-Liner wrestling team capped a great season with a seventh-place finish at the state tournament in Bismarck this past weekend.

Valley City scored points, finishing in seventh place, 9.5 points ahead of Fargo South and 6.5 behind Minot.  The Hi-Liners were the second highest placing team from the Eastern Dakota Conference (EDC).  West Fargo won the state title with 223 points, well head of wrestling powerhouse Bismarck, who finished with 191.5.

Brandon Larson captured the lone title for the Hi-Liners, and did so without facing serious opposition.  His closest bout was a semi-final meeting with Briley Crissler of Turtle Mountain, a 6-1 decision that sent Larson to the finals.  He then won his title match by a 16-0 technical fall over Drew Johnson of West Fargo.

Larson finished 46-1 this season, his lone loss at the Rumble on the Red to an out-of-state wrestler.  Yet, the west’s dominance of North Dakota wrestling kept him from taking Mr. Wrestler honors.  Eddie Maisey of Williston took the honors, despite being upset in the semi-finals at 152 and finishing third.

Three Hi-Liners placed fourth in their divisions.  Mark Miller finished the season 22-17 with a fourth-place finish at 126.  Shane Undem finished 39-12, with his only two losses of the tournament to the same wrestler, taking fourth at 138.  Reed Beckman finished 30-16 with a fourth-place finish at 145.

Steven Horner may have had the most impressive run of the tournament.  Failing to draw a seed in the heavyweight division, he defeated four seeded wrestlers, including the top seed in the tournament, finishing fifth with a record of 30-21.

Brady Beckman rounded out the Hi-Liner placewinners with a seventh-place finish at 220, finishing 18-10 overall.