Devils Lake Wrestling drops duals in triangular against Carrington and West Fargo

CARRINGTON – The Devils Lake Wrestling team stuck to their guns when they trekked 57 miles south for a triangular against the Carrington Cardinals and West Fargo Packers Thursday evening.

Sticking to their guns was more of a much-needed necessity instead of a take-it-for-granted commodity, though. Being short-staffed would certainly prove as such. The Firebirds only had eight wrestlers available for each match.

With a plethora of open weight divisions going against their favor, each available wrestler had to put on a show in the best way possible.

While they proudly took to the mat without a full arsenal, the Firebirds faltered to both teams on Jan. 27 (54-15 against West Fargo and 60-12 against Carrington).

The Firebirds have yet to claim an individual dual victory since their season-opener against Grand Forks Red River on Nov. 23 (the Firebirds won, 51-6). The Firebirds have lost eight straight duals since (excluding tournament play).

The Firebirds won three of their eight bouts during their opening match against the Packers (Jenna Gerhardt by pin, Owen Lindstrom by pin and Peyton Daniels by decision). The Cardinals, however, proved to be a more difficult challenge as they won all open bouts outside of two (Gerhardt and Estenson each won by decision).

Although his team was behind the eight-ball, Devils Lake head coach Brendon Flynn kept the message as simple as possible: go out and compete.

“I always tell kids you don’t wrestle to lose,” Flynn said after the matches. “You have to wrestle to win. You can’t be afraid to lose a match because if you are constantly worrying about the opponent and what they are doing, you are going to forget what you need to do. I have been really impressed with how the kids have responded as of late. We are heading in the right direction. We have definitely taken our beatings this year and have had our fair share of wins and losses, but the kids are starting to figure it out. They are starting to believe in themselves, and we are learning how to compete.”

As the 2022 NDHSAA Class A East Region Individual Wrestling Tournament looms over the horizon, Flynn believes his team can take the triangular performance and learn from it in preparation for the coming matches.

It all revolves back to Flynn’s simple motto: stick to the process.

“The big thing I always talk about is we have to focus on the process,” Flynn said. “There is a process to this, getting better all of the time and focusing…the best guys hold themselves accountable. If I lose, OK, I have to look at myself and evaluate what I did wrong and what I did well. I am not going to worry about the fact that I lost. I am just going to look at what went well and what didn’t go well. This is where I’m getting pretty good, and this is where I still need work. They have really taken a grasp to that…it is really starting to click with them.”

Full results:

West Fargo: 54-15

106: Jenna Gerhardt (DL) over Drew Hettenbaugh (WF) (Pin, 0:45)

113: Tanner Thoreson (WF) over Tucker Bennett (DL) (Pin, 1:40)

120: Owen Lindstrom (DL) over Alana Schafer (WF) (Pin, 3:30)

126: Owen Magnell (WF) over Landon Kurtz (DL) (Decision, 7-3)

132: Peyton Daniels (DL) over Lindsey Anderson (WF) (Decision, 7-2)

152: Nicholas Anderson (WF) over James Charboneau (DL) (Pin, 4:43)

160: Tyler Porter (WF) over Braxton Rance (DL) (Pin, 1:28)

170: Aaron Magnell (WF) over Tate Estenson (DL) (Decision, 4-2)

Carrington: 60-12

106: Jenna Gerhardt (DL) over Dru Carr (CARR) (Decision, 10-5)

113: Trace Hoggarth (CARR) over Tucker Bennett (DL) (Fall 0:41)

120: Owen Lindstrom (DL) over (CARR) (Forfeit)

126: Nic Garber (CARR) over Landon Kurtz (DL) (Fall 1:14)

132: Matthew Duchscherer (CARR) over Peyton Daniels (DL) (Pin, 1:08)

152: Kael Kovar (CARR) over James Charboneau (DL) (Pin, 2:00)

160: Logan Weninger (CARR) over Braxton Rance (DL) (Pin, 3:44)

170: Tate Estenson (DL) over Jonathon Lura (CARR) (Decision, 7-4)

Contact John Crane via email (jcrane@gannett.com) or Twitter @johncranesports)

This article originally appeared on Devils Lake Journal: Devils Lake Wrestling drops triangular against Carrington, West Fargo