Jefferson High wrestlers have been sharpening their skills as they come closer to the end of the regular season. Only a Thursday night mixer in Townsend is on the schedule for the team before the February 4 divisional in Anaconda. The team traveled to Deer Lodge on Thursday, January 19, to compete in a mixer.
Butte High JV and Anaconda were present as well. Wrestling for Jefferson were Derek Nygaard at 145 pounds, Nate Brunett at 160 pounds, Noah Anspach at 170 pounds, Asher Oliver and Drake Schake at 182 pounds, Dakota Dorn and Nick Workman at 205 pounds and Nathan Rasch at 285 pounds.
After completion of two rounds of wrestling, Nygaard, Brunett, Oliver and Workman were undefeated and won both matches by pin. Anspach and Schake registered a pin apiece. Heavyweight Nathan Rasch only had one match, but it was a thriller with the Panther wrestler winning by a takedown in overtime.
On Friday, January 20, the Panther wrestlers traveled to Conrad. The first day of the competition was a mixer and Jefferson suited up the same eight wrestlers as the previous evening. Jefferson started off the first round with Nygaard, Brunett and Anspach being the only Jefferson wrestlers to win and they did so by pin. The Panthers fared a little better in round two when Nygaard, Brunett and Anspach won by pin and Oliver won by an 8-4 decision. In the third and final round Workman and Rasch registered pins for Jefferson while Oliver again won by a decision.
The results from Friday’s mixer were used to seed the wrestlers into Saturday’s individual tournament. In the first round Derek Nygaard, Nate Brunett, Noah Anspach, Asher Oliver, Nick Workman and Nathan Rasch advanced with Nygaard, Brunett and Anspach winning by pin. Drake Schake and Dakota Dorn were defeated and sent into the consolation round.
Six Panther wrestlers had reached the semifinals and were assured of at least sixth place. During the semifinals the Jefferson wrestlers won the majority of their matches with Nygaard, Brunett, Workman and Rasch all winning by pin to reach the finals. In the first consolation round both Schake and Dorn advanced to put them into a top six finish. In the consolation semifinals Anspach and Schake would win to qualify for the third and fourth place matches while Oliver and Dorn were defeated and would wrestle for fifth and sixth. In the final consolation round of the day both Anspach and Schake finished fourth while Oliver and Dorn finished fifth.
In the finals freshman Derek Nygaard would finish his opponent off in the second round to pin his way through the tournament and win the 145 pound championship. Unfortunately, that was the end of Jefferson’s victories as Nate Brunett finished second at 160 pounds, Nick Workman finished second at 205 pounds and Nathan Rasch finished second at 285 pounds. Brunett and Workman were both paired up against defending state champions.
The Jefferson wrestlers ended the tournament with 99 points and had all eight competitors place. The Panthers finished fourth, just out of a trophy and a top-three finish.
Coach Humphrey’s comments: “The wrestlers have really stepped up to the challenge and are competing well against tough competition. January has certainly been tough both mentally and physically with the long road trips we have completed over the past three weekends. However, the team is still competing hard and maintaining a positive attitude. We are still fighting the injury and sickness bug, but we will see our team getting back to full strength in the next couple of weeks. It will be nice to compete closer to home this week as our final competitions of the regular season are on Tuesday in Whitehall and Thursday in Townsend.”
Freshman Derek Nygaard has been selected by his coaches as the JHS Panther Wrestler of the Week. Nygaard went a perfect 7-0 with all being pins. Nygaard was the lone Jefferson champion at the Conrad Tourney. Nate Brunett had the JHS Panther Quick Pin of the Week by dispatching his opponent in 15 seconds during Thursday’s Deer Lodge Mixer. The mixer in Townsend will be the final action for Jefferson before the team competes in the divisional tournament on February 4 in Anaconda.
