RHS trio earns gold at Winside

WINSIDE — A fifth place team finish featured three individual gold medalists for the Randolph wrestling team at Saturday’s 50th annual Winside Invite.

Alex Schmit, Brandon Bloomquist, and Noah Scott each won their respective weight classes, and Colby Wathor took home a third place finish.

Bloomquist led the team in points, contributing 23 to the team score.

The 152 pound senior started his day by pinning Gaby Gamez of Clearwater/Orchard. He followed that with three more pins to advance to the championship match, pinning Dominic Reed of Winside, Kadin Hickman of Battle Creek JV, and Houston Marino of Clearwater/Orchard in that order. To end his day, Bloomquist beat his second Cedar Catholic Trocat of the season, defeating Morgan Koch in a 14-2 major decision.

Bloomquist is now 18-4 on the season.

At the Pierce Invite the weekend before, Bloomquist defeated Turner Korth.

Korth lost to another Randolph wrestler this week, facing Alex Schmit at 145 pounds in the championship match. Schmit started his day pinning Cedar Catholic’s Cole Steffensen before earning a bye in the second round. The senior then won by tech fall over Alex Arroyo of Clearwater/Orchard to advance to the championship bracket. By pinning GACC’s Damon Crawford, Schmit advanced to the championship match against Korth. Schmit would Pin Korth in three minutes 31 seconds to earn a first place finish and 21.5 team points.

“It’s kind of funny because now two different kids have wrestled Turner [Korth] and they have wrestled each other in years past, have flip flopped, and they know each other well,” said Randolph coach Mark Lech. “On the mat they are serious but then they are just joking around afterwards which is special.”

Schmit is now 18-2 on the season.

At 170 pounds, Noah Scott would earn 22 team points and win his bracket. He started his day with a bye before pinning Niobrara/Verdigre’s Gavin Chohon in just over one minute. Scott then pinned Battle Creek JV’s Kase Thompson in two minutes 18 seconds to advance to the championship bracket. Scott would advance to the championship match by pinning Clearwater/Orchard’s Austin Pokorny in just under four minutes. Scott ended his day with his fourth straight pin of the day, defeating 14-5 Cash Meier of GACC in three minutes and 55 seconds.

Scott is now 15-2 on the season.

Colby Wathor earned a third place finish at 160 pounds along with 11 team points. Wathor pinned both of his first two opponents in under 40 seconds, defeating Niobrara/Verdigre’s Evan Ruzicka and then Viborg-Hurley’s Levi Buseman. Wathor would then lose two straight to end his day. Clearwater/Orchard’s Tyler Bellar came out on top in a 12-10 decision in Wathor’s first loss of the day. Battle Creek JV’s Traven Croghan then pinned Wathor in 12 seconds to finish the Randolph sophomore’s day.

Randolph finished in fifth place with 77.5 total team points. The Cardinals placed behind Winside, Clearwater/Orchard, Battle Creek JV, and Cedar Catholic - in that order.

Lech preaches there are two halves to a wrestling season, and said he is pleased with how his team entered 2019.

“I talk about two seasons. The first is before Christmas with getting to your weight and all of that, and now you have to get serious. So I was real happy with how they wrestled today.”

Randolph now focuses on maintaining this strong start. This week, the Cardinals head to a Dual at Clearwater/Orchard on Thursday before competing at the Battle Creek Invite on Saturday.

Team
Scores

Winside, 162; Clearwater/Orchard, 161; Battle Creek JV, 99; Cedar Catholic, 80.5; Randolph, 77.5; GACC, 74; Millard North JV, 51; Viborg-Hurley, 38; Osmond, 34; LCC, 29; St. Mary’s, 24; Niobrara/Verdigre, 12.

Randolph
Individual
Results

145:
Alex Schmit (18-2) placed 1st and scored 21.5 team points

Round 1 - Schmit  won by fall over Cole Steffensen (Cedar Catholic) 1-5 (Fall 1:02)

Round 2 - Schmit  received a bye () (Bye)

Round 3 - Schmit  won by tech fall over Alex Arroyo (Clearwater/Orchard) 8-10 (TF-1.5 3:27 (15-0))

Championship Bracket - Alex Schmit  won by fall over Damon Crawford (Guardian Angels) 9-3 (Fall 2:17)

1st Place Match - Schmit  won by fall over Turner Korth (Cedar Catholic) 14-5 (Fall 3:31)

152:
Brandon Bloomquist (18-4) placed 1st and scored 23 team points

Round 1 - Bloomquist  won by fall over Gaby Gamez (Clearwater/Orchard) 2-10 (Fall 1:46)

Round 2 - Bloomquist  won by fall over Dominic Reed (Winside) 6-10 (Fall 1:24)

Round 4 - Bloomquist  won by fall over Kadin Hickman (Battle Creek JV) 3-7 (Fall 0:18)

Round 5 - Bloomquist  won by fall over Houston Marino (Clearwater/Orchard) 13-8 (Fall 2:48)

1st Place Match -  Bloomquist  won by major decision over Morgan Koch (Cedar Catholic) 10-3 (MD 14-2)

160:
Colby Wathor (7-10) placed 3rd and scored 11 team points

Round 1 - Wathor  won by fall over Evan Ruzicka (Niobrara-Verigre) 0-8 (Fall 0:39)

Round 2 - Wathor  won by fall over Levi Buseman (Viborg-Hurley) 2-2 (Fall 0:38)

Round 4 - Tyler Bellar (Clearwater/Orchard) 3-1 won by dec. over  Wathor

Round 5 - Traven Croghan (Battle Creek JV) 9-9 won by fall over Wathor (Fall 0:12)

170:
Noah Scott (15-2) placed 1st and scored 22 team points

Round 1 - Scott received a bye () (Bye)

Round 2 - Scott won by fall over Gavin Chohon (Niobrara-Verigre) 3-4 (Fall 1:07)

Round 3 - Scott  won by fall over kase thompson (Battle Creek JV) 5-10 (Fall 2:18)

Championship Bracket -  Scott  won by fall over Austin Pokorny (Clearwater/Orchard) 10-11 (Fall 3:59)

1st Place Match - Scott  won by fall over Cash Meier (GACC) 14-5 (Fall 3:55)