After two days of wrestling, Lisbon and New Salem/Almont are separated by just one point at the NDHSAA Class B state individual tournament.  Both teams put four wrestlers through to the finals,  but New Salem has the edge 5-4 in wrestle back grapplers.  Third place Central Cass is 43 points off the lead.

Lisbon finished 4-3 in the evening’s semifinal round.  Ben Shearer (285), Boeden Greenley (106), and Caleb Nielsen (113) scored three consecutive wins, with Shearer scoring a fall in :51 over Hillsboro/CV’s Seth Owens.  The heavyweight final will be repeat of the Region 1 title tilt, as South Border’s Riley Molter pinned Curtis Hall of Killdeer in 4:37.  Boeden Greenley scored a 14-4 major decision in his semifinal against South Border’s Marshall Lindgren. Greenley will face Jake Deutsch of Central Cass tomorrow afternoon.  Deutsch defeated Trevor Hinkle of Pembina County North 8-5.  Caleb Nielsen got all he could handle from Carrington’s Treston Lura, but Nielsen found a takedown in overtime to get the 4-2 decision.  In the other semifinal at 113, Velva’s Gunnar Mogen pinned Northern Lights Jakob Hudson in 3:43.  Lisbon’s last finalist is 152 Jordan Sours.  Sours made quick work of Velva’s Michael Thomas, scoring a first period pin.

The semifinal round started poorly for New Salem/Almont as #3 Isaiah Huus was beaten 5-2 by Bishop Ryan’s Corbin Okeson in the first bout of the round.  Okeson moves on and will wrestle #1 ranked and defending state champion Mark Hastings of Hillsboro/Central Valley.  Hastings defeated Logan Sell of Oakes 6-3.  After that loss, New Salem finished four for four.  The Holsteins got wins from state champions Clay Gerhardt (120), Tayt Wolding (126), Chauncey Dittus (145), and returning runner-up Josh Irwin (152).  Gerhardt defeated Alex Madrigal of Bowman 10-2 and will face state champion Carter Schmitz of Kindred on the finals.  Gerhardt is 2-0 with Schmitz this season.  Tayt Wolding and Chauncey Dittus both recorded falls in their semifinal bouts; Wolding in 3:39 over Linton/HMB’s Trey Jacob, and Dittus in third period come-from-behind fashion over South Border’s Mark Jochim.  Both have intriguing finals matches.  Wolding will face Oakes senior Coy Awender, who also scored a semifinal pinfall.  Awender handed Wolding his last state tournament loss in the semifinals at 113 pounds two years ago.  Dittus will wrestle state champion Tanner Urlaub, who is back on the mat after missing the entirety of the regular season with an injury.  Urlaub decisioned Nolan Behrens on Napoleon 10-6.  If the team race is still in question, tomorrow’s final at 152 between Lisbon’s Jordan Sours and New Salem/Almont’s Josh Irwin will be even more entertaining.  Irwin advanced to the finals with a second period pin of Tate Hoggarth.

Third place Central Cass scored an upset at 170 when Jeremiah Sullivan defeated Clayton Mattern 3-1 in overtime, but took an upset of their own when #1 Cade Merrigan went down to Beulah/Hazen’s Kaden Sago 5-2.  Sullivan will wrestle Napoleon two-time state champion Garrett Jangula in the finals.  Beulah/Hazen’s Sago will wrestle a familiar opponent in Region 4 competitor Beau Jeffers of Bowman County.  Seeded third, Jeffers bested Sam Rieger of Lisbon 7-0.

285 Riley Molter wasn’t the only finalist for fourth place South Border.  Molter will be joined in the finals by 160 Jake Herr. Herr defeated Chase Gross of Central Cass 9-3 and now faces the rubber match with Region One rival Nathan Weigel.  Herr won the East/West final, but Weigel evened the score at the Region 1 tournament.

Rugby’s #1 ranked Riley Zachmeier is headed to his third state final.  Zachmeier defeated Lisbon’s Hunter Schwab by 15-3 major decision and will wrestle #2 Lucas Geiszler of Carrington tomorrow afternoon.  Zachmeier defeated Geiszler 7-0 last month at East/West.

Hettinger/Scranton’s Kyle Burwick is now one match from becoming the fourth five-time state champion in Class B wrestling history.  Burwick will wrestle Chandler Nagel of Linton/HMB int he 126 pound final tomorrow.

Coy Spooner of Des Lacs Burlington is the last remaining undefeated Class B wrestler.  Spooner pinned unseeded Ethan Ellingson of E/E/K in the third period and will wrestle one-loss Bailey Lawson of Harvey in the final.