GROTON – Seven Kingsbury County members and four Cossacks – led by champion Russell Sheets – advanced from the Region 1B Boys’ Wrestling Tournament on Saturday.
The Knights’ Dylan Zell (126), Alec Dobson (138), Matthew Steffensen (145) and Kain Gilligan (220) each placed second.
Zell earned a quarterfinal bye and then pinned Potter County’s Lincoln Stuwe in 3:40 in the semifinals. He dropped a 9-5 decision to Redfield Area’s Keaton Rohlfs in the final.
Dobson had a first-round bye. He pinned Sisseton’s Josh Long in 1:22 in the quarters and Sully Buttes’ Chase Yellowhawk in the semis. The Pheasants’ Bradyn Robbins dropped Dobson in 3:51 in the title bout.
Steffensen started fast, pinning Britton-Hecla’s Colin Beaner in 1:50 in a quarterfinal matchup. He edged Webster Area’s Andrew Johnson 7-6 in the semifinals. Redfield’s Mason Fey defeated Steffensen 3-0 for the championship.
Gilligan followed up a bye with a 7-0 decision over Faulkton Area’s Teigen Hadrick. He lost 7-2 to Redfield’s Grady Fey in the final.
Gannon Gilligan (106), Sheldon Balderston (120) and Nate Kersting (182) each placed third to advance.
After getting a bye, Gilligan earned a 2-1 decision over Webster Area’s Haeden Jorgenson. He fell 12-7 to Redfield’s Brady Risetter in the semis. Gilligan bounced back by beating Clark/Willow Lake’s Joshua Kannegieter 4-1 in the consolation semifinals and dropped the Braves’ Bryce Hawkinson 2-1 in the third-place matchup.
Balderston opened with a 10-3 defeat of Sioux Valley’s Dylan Strouth. He was pinned in 3:04 by Redfield’s Jacob Fehlman in the semis. Balderston bounced back by majoring Sisseton’s Riley Steen 15-1 and then closed with another major decision, 14-6, over Webster’s Trace Shoemaker.
Kersting Kersting received a bye into the semis before falling in 3:30 to Redfield’s Corbin Schwartz. He quickly recovered with a 25-second pin versus Warner/Northwestern’s Cole Wilkie and then pinned Ipswich/Leola/Bowdle’s Kadyn Weisser for third.
For the Cossacks, Sheets followed a bye with three victories to post a first-place finish in the 152-pound weightclass.
He pinned the Battlers’ Carter Luikens in 5:08 in the quarterfinals.
He picked up an 18-1 technical fall in 3:44 versus Warner/Northwestern’s Alex Pudwill in the quarterfinals.
Sheets defeated Faulkton’s Leighton Weber 5-3 in the championship matchup.
Seth Heidenreich was runner-up at 160.
He pinned Sisseton’s Mason Shultz in 41 seconds in the quarters and topped WN’s Easton Steinbach 6-1 in the semis. Redfield’s Dylan Whitley pinned Heidenreich in 4:51 in the final.
Joe Hornick placed third in the 170-pound bracket.
Following a bye, he fell in 2:46 against Redfield’s Cullen McNeil. Hornick pinned KC’s Griffin Clubb in 1:51 to qualify for state and concluded the tourney with a 9-3 decision over Deuel’s Dominic Constant.
Connor Logan (285) was the Cossacks’ other state qualifier, placing fourth in the region.
He majored the Redmen’s Ethan Skarnagel in the first round. After getting beat 5-2 by the Pheasants’ Gavin Nichols, he punched his ticket to next weekend with an 8-1 win over Groton Area’s Adrian Knutson. The Cyclones’ Avery Nichols pinned Logan for third.
Kingsbury County’s Griffin Clubb (170) was pinned in the match to go to state and ended up fifth. Blake Jennings (113) and Connor Johnson (160) both placed sixth. Caleb Clark (132) went 1-2 and Luke Steffensen (152) ended up 0-2.
Sioux Valley’s Strouth (120) and Skylar Trygstad (132) both placed sixth.
Redfield Area totaled 263 points to take the team title.
KC was second at 136 and SV ended up sixth with 74.5 points.
REGION 2B
SALEM – Three Fliers advanced to state during the Region 2B Boys’ Wrestling Tournament on Saturday.
Brayden Wiese (106 pounds), Tathan Headrick (152) and Kolby Peters (170) each placed fourth to qualify.
Wiese received a first-round bye and then pinned Canton’s Zach Bartels in 46 seconds in the quarterfinals. He was pinned by Howard’s Tate Miller in 1:13. Wiese topped Elk Point-Jefferson’s Gunner Ewing in 4:22 in the consolation semifinals to qualify for state but dropped an 8-0 major decision to Marion/Freeman’s Riley Tschetter in the third-place bout.
Following an opening bye, Headrick majored Tri-Valley’s Tyler Groenewold 10-2. He fell 11-2 to Canton’s Seth Peterson in the semifinals. Headrick earned a 5-2 decision over Parker’s Jack Even to make the state tourney but fell 10-6 to EPJ’s Grayson Jacobs in the third-place matchup.
Peters stuck Marion/Freeman’s Chris Kessler in 1:29 to get the day going. He fell 15-4 to the Hawks’ Luke Richardson in the semifinals. Peters qualified for state with a win by fall in 2:01 over Chester Area’s Layne Hess. He was pinned in 2:12 by McCook Central/Montrose’s Kade Grocott in the third-place match.
Caleb Dietrich (195) and Chase Reed (220) both ended up fifth.
Dietrich dropped a 6-2 decision in the match to go to state and Reed was pinned.
Karter Headrick (138), Tanner Christenson (145) and Caleb Pitsenberger (182) all placed sixth.
Gary Moose (160), who received a pair of byes, and Dylan Christenson (113) both ended up 0-2.
Canton totaled 306 team points to take the title and McCook Central/Montrose was second at 205. Flandreau ended up seven with 79 points.
The Class B State Wrestling Tournament is Thursday through Saturday at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City.
