Fargo, N.D. (NewsDakota.com)—The Carrington Cardinals finished in fourth place in the individual portion of the state class B tournament and crowned 3 state champions along with a runner-up. The Cardinals also finished in fifth place in the team duals on the final day of the state tournament. The Cards won 3 of the 4 title matches and surpassed Hettinger-Scranton-Bison (HSB) for fourth place in the individual state B tournament with 110 points. Lisbon (201.5) and New Salem-Almont (NSA) (194.5) easily outpaced the rest of the teams and South Border (SB) finished in third place with 119 points with HSB rounding out the top 5 with 107 points.
Brecken Lura (51-9) finished his senior season with multiple accolades which included his second consecutive state title capturing the crown at 138 pounds defeating Mike Nelson (sophomore) (39-5) of Lisbon 4-2. Lura became the first wrestler in Carrington high school history to become a 6 time state placer. Lura also finished his Cardinal career with 240 wins, surpassing Walker Carr (236 wins—2016) as the schools all time wins leader. Lura captured the 145 pound title last year, finished 5th at 132 as a sophomore, 3rd at 126 as a freshman, 4th at 113 as an eight grader, and 4th at 106 as a seventh grader.
Senior Michael Clifton (53-3) captured his second consecutive state title at 182 pounds and pinned his way through the state tournament with a fall over Silas Reinke of Lisbon at 1:39 of the first period. Clifton also broke the single season class B pin record with 47 on the season, surpassing former Cardinal Tyler Hoggarth (2017) who had 42 pins his senior season. Clifton won the title last year as well at 182 pounds and finished his sophomore year as the runner-up at 170. Clifton ends his Cardinal career with 217 career wins.
Junior Trace Hoggarth (43-8) defeated Jace Anderson (44-6), senior from Killdeer 7-2 in the 113 pound championship match to capture his first state title. Hoggarth also picked up his 100th career win on Saturday in his dual win over Brady Peterson of Central Cass (CC), an 11-2 major decision.
Senior Matthew Duchscherer (36-13), wrapped up his Cardinal career with a runner-up finish at the 126 pound weight class dropping a 7-3 decision to Cole Gerhardt (48-4)of NSA. Gerhardt, a junior, won his third state title. Duchscherer was also a state finalist last year and a four time state placer for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals finished in 5th place in the team duals , losing to NSA, number 2 seed, in the opening round 46-18, defeated Central Cass 38-33 in the consolation semifinals, and defeated Kenmare-Bowbells-Burke County (KBBC) (unseeded) 40-36 in the consolation (5th place) match. The Cardinals were unseeded in the dual tournament, and KBBC defeated fifth seeded Velva 45-24 in the other consolation semifinal. Lisbon, the number 1 seed, won the dual tournament over NSA 36-30. South Border, number 3 seed, defeated fourth seeded HSB 37-25 in the third place match.
Team totals (top 10) individual:
1.) Lisbon 201.5
2.) New Sale-A 194.5
3.) South Border 119
4.) Carrington 110
5.) Hettinger-Scranton-Bison 107
6.) Bishop Ryan 91
7.) Velva 81
8.) Killdeer 80
9.) Northern Lights 79
10.) Ellendale-Edgeley-Kulm 75.5
Senior athlete of the year went to Carter Schmitz of Kindred and the coach of the year went to Dave Wolding of NSA.