All five Rugby wrestlers who qualified for the state tournament won a match at state. Garrett Thompson, Wyatt Thompson, Zachary Berube, Michael Ostrem and Reid Mundahl wrestled exceptionally well, peaking at the perfect time of year, all exceeding their rankings, according to their coaching staff.

The Rugby team finished 17 out of 32 teams with only five qualifiers. They finished third out of the Region 3 teams, some of them qualifying 10 plus wrestlers for the state tournament.

“Garrett Thompson lost in the semi-finals to the eventual state champion by one point, but outwrestled him,” said the coaching staff.

Garrett Thompson (140#) finished fourth. His brother, Wyatt Thompson who wrestles at 135# finished fifth and Zachary Berube (152#) finished eighth. Michael Ostrem (171#) won his first match at state. Eighth grader Reid Mundahl has qualified for the state wrestling tournament twice. He won his first match at the state level this year with a come-from-behind 13-0 pin.

“The Rugby wrestlers showed the most impressive sportsmanship and respect of any other team at the tournament,” said the coaching staff.

Michael Ostrem is a senior and is a 5-year letter winner in wrestling. Seniors Garrett and Wyatt Thompson, who are twins, have earned six state places between them in their high school wrestling careers. They each were champions in their weight classes at the Region 3 Individual Tourney. In that same tournament held in Rugby, Junior Zach Berube placed second in the 152# weight class. He placed in state this year and has another year to come back and challenge himself.

These five wrestlers worked hard the whole season and all achieved their goals.