BH/S wrestlers set high expectations

SCOTLAND -- Bon Homme/Scotland head wrestling coach Mark Stoebner made it no secret that he has high expectations for his team.

"The goal is always to get on the stand and finish in the top eight (in the state)," Stoebner said. "Hopefully, we have a team by the end of the year that can do that. If we get better than fifth great, but we have a lot of work to do before we can start thinking about that."

Coming off a 9-1 season and a fifth-place finish in the Class B state wrestling tournament, BH/S boasts three returning state champions.

Opposing teams will have to deal with the trio of Alex Caba (41-5 in 2013-14), Duncan Stoebner (42-1) and North Dakota State signee Dan Stibral (40-0).

Wagner can attest to that statement, as all three of BH/S' state champions were victorious in a 49-22 season-opening win against the Red Raiders on Thursday in Scotland.

"That's a good place to start with those guys," Stoebner said after the meet. "They looked all right, but they definitely have stuff to work on, too. For a dual team, it takes more than three guys. I think we lost a couple matches that we could have won, but Wagner came out ready to wrestle, and it was a good meet."

Despite winning a plethora of matches, Stoebner said his team needs to make tremendous improvements if it is going to reach its potential.

"We won, and that's what you set out to do," he said. "But there was some glaring weaknesses that I guess you should expect the first time out."

In a matchup of state qualifiers from a year ago, Stoebner defeated Wagner's Ben Soukup 14-2 on Thursday in the 120-pound match. Caba pinned the Red Raiders' Sinway Marshall, and Stibral defeated Truman Ashes by fall in the 285-pound match.

Zach Sykora, Josh Vaith, Dominic Pechous and Kreg Kepplinger all won by falls for BH/S.

Kaleb Crownover defeated Wagner's Colton Frei 5-1 while Chase O'Grady won by forfeit.

Immediately after the match, Stoebner addressed what his team needed to work on in preparation for the Canton Dual tournament at 10 a.m. Saturday in Canton.

"We definitely need better hand control on bottom," Stoebner said. "We got rolled pretty hard in spots. We didn't move well on our feet at times. We just got to spend more time on the little things and they will come."

Bon Homme/Scotland 49, Wagner 22

106: Preston Nedved, WAG, over Garrett Mitzel, BH/S, 8-4

113: Kaleb Crownover, BH/S, over Colton Frei, WAG, 5-2

120: Duncan Stoebner, BH/S, over Ben Soukup, WAG, 14-2

126: Zach Sykora, BH/S, over Calvin McBride, WAG: WBF: 40

132: Chase O'Grady, BH/S, by forfeit

138: Alex Caba, BH/S, over Sineway Marshall, WAG, WBF: 1:28

145: Dominic Pechous, BH/S, over Evan Heath, WAG, WBF: 1:35

152: Logan Kafka, WAG, over Kade Hellmann, BH/S, 16-5

160: Cole Soulek, WAG, over Andrew Mitzel, BH/S, WBF: 3:49

170: Josh Vaith, BH/S, over Andrew Soukup, WAG, WBF: 4:56

182: Trevor Lensing, WAG, over Tanner Iwan, BH/S, WBF: 2:41

195: Jacob Kvigne, WAG, over Alan Haataja, BH/S, 4-2 OT

220: Krey Kepplinger, BH/S, over Jace Johnson, WAG, WBF 2:12

285: Dan Stibral, BH/S, over Truman Ashes, WAG, WBF 2:56

1/3: Bon Homme/Scotland's Duncan Stoebner, right, attempts to pin Wagner's Ben Soukup, left, during a high school wrestling dual meet on Thursday night in Scotland. Stoebner, a state champion a year ago, defeated Soukup 14-2. (Garrick Hodge/Republic)

2/3: Bon Homme/Scotland's Kade Hellmann, left, puts Wagner wrestler Logan Kafka in a headlock at a high school wrestling dual meet on Thursday in Scotland. Kafka won the match 16-5. (Garrick Hodge/Republic)

3/3: Bon Homme/Scotland's Kaleb Crownover, right, takes down Wagner's Colton Frei, left, at a high school wrestling dual meet on Thursday in Scotland. Crownover won the match 5-1. (Garrick Hodge/Republic)