THIEF RIVER FALLS — The Ridgewater wrestling team is sending six to nationals.
The Warriors competed at the NJCAA Region 13 Championships on Sunday at Northland Community and Technical College.
Ridgewater’s efforts were led by Cole Holien. The freshman from Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City won the 141-pound bracket with a pair of first-period falls. He opened with a pin on Northland’s Calvin Williams in 1 minute, 7 seconds. In the final, he beat Itasca Community College’s Charlie Black in 2:14.
Ridgewater’s other national qualifiers — Brady Holien (149), Taedon Nichols (157), Wil Yasseri (165), Rick Jones (197) and Austin Schlangen (285) — all took second in their brackets.
Yasseri and Jones qualified for nationals for the second straight season. Yasseri is a sophomore from Rogers. Jones is a sophomore from Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg.
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The 2023 NJCAA Wrestling National Championships take place March 3-4 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
College Wrestling
Region 13 Championships
How Ridgewater fared
Key: (Weight, name, won-loss, place)
133: Tristan Lang, 0-2, fourth … 141: Cole Holien, 2-0, first, qualifier … 149: Brady Holien, 1-1, second, qualifier … 157: Taedon Nichols, 2-1, second, qualifier … 165: Wilhem Yasseri, 1-1, second, qualifier … 184: Johan Rodvik, 0-2, fourth … 197: Rick Jones, 2-1, second, qualifier … 285: Austin Schlangen, 1-1, second, qualifier
Men’s Basketball
Ridgewater 82, MN State-FF 75
Ridgewater wrapped up the 2022-23 season with a Minnesota College Athletic Conference victory over Minnesota State-Fergus Falls at Willmar.
The Warriors finish the season with an 11-13 record. It also was the last games at Ridgewater for sophomores Tyson Dyer, Rodney Lubin, Jaylyn Clardy, Deron Lacy, Malik Westerfield and Terbuto Ochothow.
Clardy led the Warriors with 24 points. Westerfield scored 15 and Lacy had 13. Clardy is from Pensacola, Florida. Westerfield is from Davenport, Iowa. Lacy is from Freeport, Illinois.
Noel Kabanga, a 6-foot-4 freshman forward from Dallas, Texas, scored 27 points for the Spartans.
MN State-FF (14-12) 35 40 — 75
Ridgewater (11-13) 29 53 — 82
MN STATE-FF - Scoring: Mikele Kambalo 6, Akok Aguer 9, Yonis Mohamud 6, Foday Sheriff 18, Noel Kabanga 27, Belind Alemadi 2, Matt Gooselaw 4, Brett Engelmeyer 3 … 3-point shots: Aguer 1, Sheriff 1, Kabanga 2, Engelemeyer 1 … Rebound leaders: Kabanga 16, Sheriff 9 … Assist leaders: Sheriff 6, Mohamud 4 … Steal leader: Aguer 2 ... Block leader: Kabanga 2
RIDGEWATER - Scoring: Tyson Dyer 8, Jaylyn Clardy 24, Deron Lacy 13, Malik Westerfield 15, Trevor Dorenbosch 7, Rodney Lubin 3, Deondre Wallace 3, Terbuto Ochothow 2, Noah Wilts 3, Marwan Abdi 2, Shane Scharmach 2 … 3-point shots: Clary 4, Lacy 1, Westerfield 1, Dorenbosch 1, Wilts 1 … Rebound leaders: Clardy 4, Dorenbosch 4, Wallace 4 … Assist leader: Dyer 4 … Steal leaders: Dyer 3, Clardy 2, Abdi 2 ... Block leader: Wilts
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Women’s Basketball
MN State-FF 66, Ridgewater 35
Emily Dehler had 30 points, 18 rebounds and three steals to lead Minnesota State-Fergus Falls past Ridgewater in Willmar.
Dhler is a 5-foot-10 sophomore forward from Pierz.
Keely Foley had 11 points and team-leading five assists with three steals for the Spartans. She’s a 5-5 freshman guard from Montevideo.
Gabby Randt led the Warriors with 14 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks. She’s a freshman forward from MACCRAY.
Ridgewater finishes the season with a 1-24 record.
MN State-FF (12-15) 16 17 17 16 — 66
Ridgewater (1-24) 8 10 4 13 — 35
MN STATE-FF - Scoring: Lindsey Kurz 9, Brooke Finken 8, Emily Dehler 30, Kierz Cox 8, Keely Foley 11 … 3-point shots: Finken 2, Foley 2 … Rebound leader: Dehler 18 … Assist leader: Foley 5 … Steal leaders: Dehler 3, Foley 3 ... Block leader: Kurz 2
RIDGEWATER - Scoring: Jenna Kunerth 7, Gabby Randt 14, Mallery Geistfeld 4, Brooke Edlund 10 … 3-point shots: Kunerth 1, Edlund 2 … Rebound leaders: Randt 12, Kunerth 8 … Assist leader: Randt 3 … Steal leaders: Randt 4, Kunerth 3 ... Block leader: Randt 2
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