“In the semifinals (Krump) had a returning state-placer that had been out all year with an injury. Because he was a returning state-placer, he got seeded second,” Wahpeton coach Scott Tischer said. “Any time you throw a returning state-placer in the mix, it’s like, ‘Oh, man. I wonder how this is going to go,’ and he ended up wrestling really well to beat that kid to make it to the finals.”

West Fargo Sheyenne’s Shane Kennedy, who defeated Krump earlier in the season, edged a 7-6 victory in the finals.

“(Krump) learned a lot in that match about himself and about what he needed to do if he gets a chance to wrestle that kid again in the state tournament. Like we’ve told him before, ‘It doesn’t matter how many times you lose to a kid up to this point. The only thing that matters is if you pull the win this coming week,’” Tischer said. “His 0-2 record going against this kid going into state doesn’t mean anything. Everyone starts Thursday 0-0, so get the win when it matters because it’s the only time that matters.”

Shea Truesdell was another top-three finisher at 132 pounds, but the day didn’t start off the way he wanted. The sophomore Huskie got a bye in the opening round and the first wrestler he battled was three seeds below him. Truedell got put on his back, but battled back for another shot at the same wrestler in the third-place match. The Wahpeton standout ended his day with an 8-4 win.

“(Truesdell) got there the hard way. He wrestled to his seed, he just did it the hard way,” Tischer said. “It was one of those deals where I don’t know if it was a little bit of jitters, but once he got it out of his system and was ready to go he stepped it up. He understood that he could wrestle with these kids.”

Two Huskies moved on in the 145-pound bracket with Jackson Burchill taking fourth and Tanner Thiel following in fifth.

Garrett Lathrop also took fifth at 160 pounds in a strong showing. He even nearly edged his way into the third-place match, but fell to one of the top-ranked grapplers in the state. The final win of the weekend, which was a 5-2 victory by decision, was especially sweet for Lathrop who was 0-2 against his opponent this season.

“(Lathrop) ended up having a good match,” Tischer said. “Any time you wrestle someone and you’re 0-2, that starts to play some mind games on you. He stepped up to the plate and was ready.”

Hunter Owens (113 pounds), Bryce Awender (120 pounds), Wauker Spanel (152 pounds) and Austin Blair (170 pounds) will also be heading to state.

The state tournament begins on Thursday, Feb. 14 at the Fargodome.

“I thought the kids wrestled well. This is kind of that last chance where if you’re not satisfied with the way you wrestled you have a couple more days to tweak anything before you go into the time that matters,” Tischer said. “We have some kids that probably weren’t satisfied with their performance whether they won or lost. We’ll hopefully get them in the room, tweak that the next three days and get ready for to for a grinder starting on Thursday.”

The tournament wraps up on Saturday, Feb. 16 and a pair of former Huskies will be inducted into the North Dakota Wrestling Hall of Fame that day. Coach Kelly McNary and Justin Solberg will be honored at the tournament and later at 8 p.m. there will be a celebratory get-together at City Brew Hall.

One of the Bruins’ few wins of the night came in the first match, which was followed by four consecutive open weights. Braden LeNoue was the next Wahpeton wrestler up and the junior nabbed his first varsity victory with a pin. It was LeNoue’s first match back since last participating in the sport in eighth grade.

Two byes later Garrett Lathrop got a pin of his own. Tischer gave the sophomore credit for defeating someone two grades above him.

Austin Blair also made his varsity de- but for Wahpeton. The hard-fought match in the 170-pound class ended with Blair claim- ing another pin for the Huskies.

“He’s only an eighth grader so getting a pin is pretty cool,” Tischer said.

Chris Thiel made quick work of his opponent and won by pin at 195 pounds. Wahpeton freshman Chase Moderow was pinned for the Bruins’ final points of the night.

“Chase Moderow wrestled hard. The first time in varsity can be a little jittery,” Tischer said.

The best match of the night came in the fi- nal weight class. Josh Krump trailed 5-1 at the beginning of the third period and the heavyweight showed off his athleticism with a Granby roll escape. A second after freeing himself Krump went right for the takedown, cutting the lead to one. Tristen Hagen got out to make it 6-4, but Krump tied it up with another strong take- down. A last-second stalling violation on Hagen gave the Wahpeton freshman his first win of the season.

“I didn’t think he knew the Granby and all of a sudden he hit it,” Tischer said. “That guy outweighed him by at least 30 pounds so for him to go out there and wrestle hard was good for him.”

The Huskies head to Grand Forks Red River for a triangular with the hosting Roughriders and the Devils Lake, North Dakota, Firebirds on Tuesday, Nov. 28.