Moorhead wrestling hosts Gadberry Invitational
January 17, 2019
This year’s Gadberry Invitational, named for retired coach Ron Gadberry, featured seven Red River Valley teams from Grand Forks, Jamestown, Fargo and Moorhead competing for individual honors and the team title. Seventy-six wrestlers filled the Moorhead High School gymnasium Jan. 12 to compete for first place in each weight class. Individual placement earned team points to determine the winning team.
With four mats running, the action was non-stop, with varsity and junior varsity wrestlers battling it out to find who was best in each weight class on this day. Moorhead advanced wrestlers to the final rounds in all but two of the weight classes. Riley Schock at 170 lbs. and Ryan Luthi at 138 lbs. were the leading grapplers for the Spuds, taking first place in their weight classes. Ethan Jerome placed second at 182 lbs., and four wrestlers claimed third place honors for the Spuds.
Grand Forks Central and Jamestown seesawed back and forth through the final matches with the GFC Roughriders pulling the win by 1.5 points over the Jayhawks. Fargo Davies placed third with 172.5 points (13.5 points less than GFC). Moorhead finished in fourth place just 27.5 points behind the lead. Fargo South, Fargo North and Grand Forks Red River finished in that order.
The Gadberry’s individual invite format allowed teams to field multiple wrestlers in a single weight class. This led to interesting matches where teammates faced off on the way to a title. For the Davies Eagles that meant Ty Weber defeated Faustin Ndikumwenayo in one of the day’s most entertaining finals, 5-3 in three overtimes. It also had two Moorhead brothers battling it out on the mat.
Moorhead placed two wrestlers in the 106-pound weight category. With five wrestlers in the weight class, Moorhead’s Griffin Quade and Lee Ellingsberg met in a consolation match. Quade finished in fourth place after losing a decision against Pete Rasmussen of Jamestown. Ellingsberg finished in fifth place.
In the 113-pound division, Moorhead placed two more wrestlers who also ended up wrestling each other. Brothers Evan and Zach Fankhanel placed third and fifth, respectively. Evan Fankhanel won by fall over Sincere Haskins of GFC.
At 120 pounds, Ian Mohler lost his final match 12-9 to Clayton Nissko from Fargo Davies for a fourth-place finish. Tyler Gobernatz took fourth at 126 pounds losing a 6-2 decision to Josh Isassi of GFC. Xander Risdal claimed third place at 132 pounds with a 6-2 decision over Hunter Barth from Fargo Davies.
Ryan Luthi at 138 pounds won the first title for the Spuds by pin fall in 1:57 over Ethan Claus of Fargo Davies. Luthi won two matches, both by pin fall.
The Spuds picked up another third place at 152 pounds when Victor Larson won his last match by technical fall, dominating Joshua Worral of Fargo North, 15-0. Micah Pemble also wrestled in the 152-pound class.
Hayden Netland finished third at 160 pounds, winning his last match when Moctar Diop of Fargo Davies could not compete due to injury.
At 170 pounds, the Spuds won their second title. Riley Schock won by pin fall over Fargo Davies’ Jaden Mairs at 4:38 of the match. Schock won both of his matches with pins. Mohamed Avdil also wrestled at 170-pound category placing fourth.
Ethan Jerome finished second at 182 pounds, losing in the final to Aaron Mack of Jamestown by fall. Jerome defeated Cameran Bridgeford of GFC by decision 10-6 to reach the finals. In the 195-pound bracket, Scott Verkuilen finished in sixth place.
Moorhead’s final points for the 2019 Gadberry Invite came at 220 pounds as Landon Berry finished fifth with a 5-3 decision over Conner Liedberg of Fargo North.
– Bill Grover
Photos: (1) Riley Schock, 170-pound weight class, pins Jaden Mairs of Fargo Davies for the title. (2) Ryan Luthi, 138-pound weight class, attempts to pin Ethan Claus of Fargo Davies. Photos: Bill Grover
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