SIOUX FALLS — Five area athletes have advanced to the semifinals of the SDHSAA Individual State Wrestling Tournament, which began at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center Thursday morning.
Nolan Miles and Gabriel Stern of Brookings earned their way to the final four in the boys tournament while Johanna Steinlicht and Maizy Mathis of Brookings and Sioux Valley’s Summer Guthmiller advanced in the girls tournament after picking up wins in the first two rounds on Thursday.
The five athletes were part of 22 total Brookings-area wrestlers that competed in the tournament’s opening day.
The tournament will continue with the consolation matches taking place in Friday’s morning session beginning at 10 a.m. and the semifinals beginning at 3 p.m. The placement matches are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. with the championship matches beginning at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Miles opened his tournament run with a 20-4 technical fall over Flandreau’s Brayden Weise and won a tough quarterfinal matchup with Aidan Callahan of Rapid City Stevens 8-7 in the first tiebreaker period. At 31-2, Miles will take on Alex Oedekoven in the semifinals of the Class A 132-pound bracket.
Stern competed at 165 pounds and opened the tournament by pinning Tucker Urdahl at 3:20 of his opening-round match. Stern won a 2-1 decision over Brandon Valley’s Gavin Chapman and brought a 29-5 record into his semifinal match against Pierre’s Lucas Chamberlin.
Joey Fitzpatrick competed for the Bobcats at 190 pounds and picked up a win by fall at 1:18 of his first round match with Sioux Falls Washington’s Hayes Petersen. After falling to Brock Eitreim by a 5-1 decision in the quarterfinals, Fitzpatrick is 28-8 on the season.
Tate Helmbolt competed at 106 pounds and earned a 15-0 technical fall over Mitchell’s Kale Hofer in the first round. After falling to Pierre’s Gable Uhrig by fall at 3:30 of his quarterfinal match, Helmbolt 33-4 on the year.
Jacob Milliron competed for the Bobcats at 113 pounds and dropped his first match to Pierre’s Walker West after being pinned at 2:24. Milliron will open Friday against Coy Eddy of Douglas.
Levi Quam competed at 120 pounds and was defeated by 17-2 tech fall in the first round and will open Friday against Pierre’s Jacob Mason in the consolation bracket.
Mason Mathis lost by a 14-5 major decision to Dakota Valley’s Jackson Boonstra at 144 pounds and will face Aberdeen Central’s Owen Ward in the consolation bracket.
Logan Straub competed at 157 pounds and lost his first match in a 20-4 technical fall to Rapid City Central’s Zack Soderlin. Straub will face Huron’s T.J. Lien in the consolation bracket.
Johanna Steinlicht remained undefeated after beginning her tournament with a pin at 1:09 of her opening-round match against Spearfish’s Kimberlyn Heisler at 145 pounds. After winning by fall in 48 seconds against Viborg-Hurley/Irene-Wakonda’s Maddie Feiock in the quarterfinals, Steinlicht won her semifinal matchup against Harrisburg’s Sammie Rell to improve to 31-0 this season.
Steinlicht will face Harrisburg’s Sammie Reil in the semifinals on Friday afternoon.
Maizy Mathis also advanced to the semifinals of the 165-pound bracket after pinning LaRae Severson of Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes at 1:22 of the first round and Bitton-Hecla’s Ashley Tolsma at 2:23 of the quarterfinals. Mathis will bring a 23-2 record into Friday’s semifinal matchup against Rhiannen Heimdal of Harrisburg.
Lily Toft competed at 107 pounds and was pinned at 4:40 of her opening-round matchup against Clark/Willow Lake’s Dani Batchelor. Toft will face Huron’s Calie Sah in the consolation bracket on Friday morning.
Bailey Tekrony was pinned at 3:57 of her opening-round matchup with Canton’s Sara Schroder at 114 pounds and will face Marion’s Sarah Cremer in the consolation bracket on Friday morning.
Cierra Strand was also pinned in the opening round in the 132-pound bracket by Beresford/Alcester-Hudson’s Reese Olson at 2:50 and will face Piedmont’s Brooklyn Brant in the consolation bracket on Friday.
Teague Bergjord competed at 113 pounds for the Cossacks and lost his first match in a 9-2 decision to Kayden Tchida of Sisseton. Bergjord will face Rapid City Central’s Aiden Candelaria in the consolation bracket on Friday morning.
Wiese competed at 132 pounds lost to Miles by a 20-4 tech fall in the opening round and will face O’Gorman’s Slaton Jones in the consolation bracket.
Karter Headrick lost in the first round of the 190-pound bracket in an 8-7 decision to Sioux Falls Lincoln’s Kishmar Eberline. Headrick will face Rapid City Stevens’s Tate Crosswait in the consolation round.
Julie Pitsenberger competed at 132 pounds and was pinned in her opening-round matchup against Belle Fourche’s Alexa Swaney at 132 pounds. Pitsenberger will face Doland’s Kyla Logan in the consolation bracket.
Tate Steffensen competed at 132 pounds and won his opening match by a 10-3 decision over Philip/Kadoka Area/Wall’s Oakley Menzel. After getting pinned by Lemmon/McIntosh’s Gage Anderson at 5:08 of the quarterfinals, Steffensen will wait his opponent in the consolation bracket with a record of 45-6.
Owen Vandeweerd competed at 285 pounds and lost his first match in a 3-1 decision to Britton-Hecla’s Tucker Hardy. Vandeweerd will enter Friday’s consolation match with Garretson’s Tanner Baatz with a record of 41-7.
Dubhlainn Vermeulen competed at 126 pounds for the Cossacks and was pinned by Tri-Valley’s Cole Hendrixson in 18 seconds in the opening round. Vermeulen has a record of 13-26 entering his consolation match against Wessington Springs/Woonsocket/Wolsey-Wessington’s Aston Hill on Friday morning.
Summer Guthmiller picked up a win in the 132-pound bracket for the Cossacks, pinning Burke/Gregory’s Daytona Paris at 1:03 of the opening round. After winning by fall at 1:58 over St. Thomas More’s Victoria Verhey in the quarterfinals, Guthmiller will take her 38-3 record into Friday’s semifinal against BAH’s Reese Olson.
Citabria Manzaneres competed for the Cossacks at 100 pounds and lost by a 15-0 technical fall to Belle Fourche’s Kyra Vandenberg in the opening round. Manzaneres will face PIRI’s Louise Pond in the consolation bracket on Friday morning.
