Sidney leads Bismarck High by a mere six points entering the second day of competition at the Bismarck Rotary.  Four South Dakota Teams sit in 3rd-6th place more than forty points behind the leaders.  Sidney has placed ten wrestlers in the top eight, and Christian Dean (145), Jace Winter (152), and Jett Jones (182) will wrestle for individual championships tomorrow afternoon.  Bismarck High put four grapplers through to the finals, but have less power in the wrestle backs with only four scoring wrestlers competing on the backside.  Demon 120 Kaden Renner has also placed in the top six as a non-scorer.  The Bismarck High run of finalists begins at 106 pounds, where #1 Christian Tanefeu advanced with a 3-2 decision over Aden Braun of Jamestown.  In the bottom half semifinal at 126 pounds, Laken Boese defeated South Dakota #1 Jacob Moore of Aberdeen 5-4.  Boese will wrestle Rapid City Stevens senior Cody Stockman in the final.  The top seed at 126, Century’s Clay Radenz, was upended in the quarterfinals by Josh Isassi of Grand Forks Central in what was the upset of the day.  Stockman defeated Isassi in the semifinals by 16-0 technical fall.  Ryan Ripplinger (138) and Chase Dockter (285) are the other finalists for the Demons.  Ripplinger will wrestle Carrington state champion Lucas Geszler in the finals, while #1 ranked Dockter will tilt with #2 Jaden Oestern of Valley City for the second time this year.

Wrestling in their first Rotary after making the move to Class A this season, Watford City got its first finalist in unseeded 132 Liam Shannon.  Shannon, who placed at the Class B state tournament last season, defeated the third, sixth, and seventh seeded wrestlers on his way to the finals.  Shannon will wrestle #1 ranked Drew Steidler of Bismarck St. Mary’s Central in the finals.  Steidler is still unbeaten against North Dakota competition this season.

Napoleon flexed its muscles in sending three wrestlers to the finals.  State champions Nathan Weigel (160) and Garrett Jangula (170) are joined by Peyton Gruenfelder (195).  Seeded third, Gruenfelder defeated Colton Buskness of Carrington 4-2 in the semifinals.

ROTARY FINALS MATCHUPS

106:  Brenden Salfrank (Aberdeen Central) vs. Christian Tanefeu (Bisamrck)

113: Kelby Armstrong (Minot) vs. Cael Larson (Rapid City Central)

120:  Reece Barnhardt (St. Mary’s Central) vs. Ty Althoff (Watertown)

126:  Laken Boese (Bismarck) vs. Cody Stockman (Rapid City Stevens)

132:  Drew Steidler (Bismarck) vs. Liam Shannon (Watford City)

138:  Ryan Ripplinger (Bismarck High) vs. Lucas Geiszler (Carrington)

145:  Christian Dean (Sidney) vs. Trevon McClaanahan (Minot)

152:  Jace Winter (Sidney) vs. Cooper Voorhees (Rapid City Stevens)

160:  Nathan Weigel (Napoleon) vs. Will Jarrott (Aberdeen Central)

170:  Garrett Jangula (Napoleon) vs. Riley Schock (Moorhead)

182: Cade Pederson (West Fargo) vs. Jett Jones (Sidney)

195:  Matthew Kaylor (Legacy) vs. Peyton Gruenfelder (Napoleon)

220:  Jacob Boehm (Mandan) vs. Nolan Smith (Rapid City Stevens)

285:  Chase Dockter (Bismarck) vs. Jaden Oestern (Valley City)