Bemidji Wrestling Ready for Quadrangular to Open Season

Bemidji wrestling will have a new look this season as the program split the boys’ and girls’ teams, with each now having their own head coach.

After heading the program for 14 years, including three as both the boys’ and girls’ coach, Rance Bahr will not exclusively coach the girl Lumberjacks. They were the 2022 Class AAA state champions but last season placed 6th at the state tournament, giving this year’s squad the goal of returning to the top.

“Last year I was ranked number one for a lot of the season, so there is a lot of expectation and I was ready to take on that challenge,” said girls’ senior Kylie Donat. “Being injured, it was heartbreaking. Being out for the last six months, it has built up a lot of anticipation and I’m so excited to wrestle. Like, I can’t even take the excitement!”

“A lot of us have worked really hard this summer with freestyle and Greco tournaments, so we should all be ready,” said girls’ senior Tori Bahr. “As a team, we could probably place top three at state, like I believe we can, and individually I’m hoping to place top six at state.”

Greg Skerik, the winningest wrestling in Lumberjack history, now heads the boys’ team. They are coming off of a season in which they sent eight individual wrestlers to the state tournament but fell short as a team, losing to Willmar in the Section 8AAA Championship. It’s motivated the senior leaders to give just a little bit extra.

“I just try to show up more, just be there for the team, even when we’re not told to be, I just try to show up,” explained boys’ senior Parker Orvik. “We just need to work harder because some of those kids just need to, like, pushing that – putting that little bit extra effort ’cause we were there and then just, we lost by two points, three points last year and just about made it to state.”

“To get the win, we’re gonna have to people step up and actually fill in spots that are lost now,” said boys’ senior Brody Castonguay. “I’m excited for the crowd, everyone to come in, and I’m excited for all the wrestlers to see how they’re finally going to do. Excited to get our first match, for sure.”

The Lumberjacks being their season on Thursday, Nov. 30. Both the boys and girls open at home with a quadrangular against Buffalo, Moorhead, and St. Cloud Tech, with the first match beginning at 5.