The boys’ Region 4B wrestling tournament was held this past Saturday in Ft.
Pierre. We took 9 kids (out of 14 possible weight classes) and came away with 8 state qualifiers and a third place finish in the team race! As a team, it’s the best we’ve wrestled all year. Throughout the season we’ve stressed, whether in practice or in competition, that it was ALL practice...practice to be primed and ready to compete at our best this time of year, and that just what happened on Saturday!
The girls, learned their fate via a different process. Given the newness of girls wrestling as a high school sport, they don’t have a qualifying tournament but rather use the same seed criteria they use to seed the boys state tournament to select all the participants (16 per weight class) as well as for seeding their state tournament. Given the growth of the sport, this will likely change in the next year or two.
Our girls all had a good season, especially considering they are all first year wrestlers. As a coach I’ve seen a lot of improvement from the start of the season to the present. However, in the end, only 2 of them qualified for the state tournament, Kendyll Risse (100) and Moraes May (152). The other three were actually not far off with Sadie Schomp (107) sitting in the 18th spot, Paesyn Wilson (114) 20th, and Harmony Siers (120) 22nd. With these 5 girls as the core to build around, girls wrestling in Bennett County is off to a great start and looks very bright indeed!
Maddux Risse (113) had a scare in the semifinals but pulled through to meet up with a kid from Custer in the finals. Maddux has lost three times to this kid during the season and this match went that kid’s way again. But Maddux stayed in and battled for the full 6 minutes. The Custer kid ended up being the 3 seed at state so he is a very tough kid.
Neil Hicks (120) had hoped to use some of the mojo he had last year as he met up with the same Philip Area kid that he wrestled in last years’ region semifinals.
However, this year it wasn’t to be and Neil had to battle back through the consolation side of the bracket. He did so in dominate fashion on his way to a third place finish.
At 126, Lyle Noel came in as the 6 seed and knew he need to wrestle his best to get through a bracket loaded with kids that were pretty even. He lost an OT match against the 3 seed but came back through the consolation side with a dominate win over the 4 seed which propelled him to state! In the third place match he came up just short in another nail biter, finishing 4th.
Gavin Risse (138) was our only #1 seed in the tournament and he proved the seed correct, dominating his competition on the day. In the finals he major decisioned a kid from Harding County to become our only Region Champ this year.
Tel Gropper (144) was our one heartbreak on the day. He was in a tough bracket with the top 2 kids in the state and another tough Custer kid. So it was really Tel and a kid from STM battling for that 4th spot and they met up in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately for Tel that match didn’t go his way. In the wrestle backs he actually met up with the #2 kid who was upset by the Custer kid. That was who Tel had to beat to qualify! Overall Tel had a great season and showed a ton of improvement over last year...stronger physically and mentally. The 4 kids that placed above him are all juniors and seniors, so as an 8th grader his future looks very bright!
At 150, Tyce Gropper had a tough bracket but navigated it quite well. In the quarterfinals he had a returning state placer from Custer and won a tough OT match. In the semis he met up with a Mobridge kid that Tyce really dominated. However, in the finals he met up with the #2 seed at the state tournament and come up short, finishing 2nd.
Talon Krolikowski (157) has been battling a shoulder injury all season and it kept him from practicing most of this past week. So when he got to the semis, we had him injury default to a kid he had lost to twice during the season. It’s definitely a kid Talon could beat but we wanted to preserve his shoulder for state. He went on to dominate the balance of his competition on his way to a third place finish.
Jordan Risse (165) had to eat well to make the minimum to wrestle at this weight class (he’s wrestled 144 and 150 all season)! However, when one of the tougher kids in that bracket bumped up a weight class, it left Jordan primed to fill that 4th spot. And that’s just what he did, dominating the two kids he needed to beat to qualify for state.
Ethan Harris (190), much like Lyle, came in as the 6 seed with a bracket full of fairly even wrestlers. He lost a close quarterfinals match so had his work cut out for him coming back through the consolation side of the bracket. After a couple of pins, he wrestled a really smart match against a good Hot Springs kid that put him in the third place match and guaranteed his spot at state! He met up with his quarterfinals opponent with the same close outcome, putting Ethan 4th on the day.
Thursday (2/22) wrestling begins at 10 am CST in Sioux Falls for the State B Tournament. The placing matches will all be held on Saturday.
Region 4B Individual Results:
113
Maddux Risse (37-12) placed 2nd and scored 18.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Maddux Risse (BC) won by fall over Tristan VanLuven (Hill City) (Fall 0:45) Semifinal - Maddux Risse (BC) won by decision over Parker Millard (Lead-Deadwood) (Dec 6-3) 1st Place Match - Tyler Trant (Custer) won by decision over Maddux Risse (BC) (Dec 9-4)
120
Neil Hicks (27-15) placed 3rd and scored 14.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Neil Hicks (BC) won by decision over Evan Hertel (McLaughlin) (Dec 9-4) Semifinal - Tukker Boe (Philip/Kadoka Area/Wall) won by fall over Neil Hicks (BC) (Fall 3:08) Cons. Semi - Neil Hicks (BC) won by fall over Kordell Bruha (Harding County) (Fall 4:08) 3rd Place Match - Neil Hicks (BC) won by decision over Evan Hertel (McLaughlin) (Dec 4-0)
126
Lyle Noel (31-18) placed 4th and scored 18.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Lyle Noel (BC) won by fall over Jorge Trevino (Red Cloud) (Fall 3:03) Quarterfinal - Asher Peterson (Philip/Kadoka Area/Wall) won in sudden victory - 1 over Lyle Noel (BC) (SV-1 2-0) Cons. Round 2 - Lyle Noel (BC) won by fall over Sidney Morgan (McLaughlin) (Fall 4:35) Cons. Round 3 - Lyle Noel (BC) won by decision over Cooper Mackaben (Faith) (Dec 3-0) Cons. Semi - Lyle Noel (BC) won by fall over Landon Bame (Stanley County) (Fall 4:22) 3rd Place Match - Ethan O’Connor (Custer) won by decision over Lyle Noel (BC) (Dec 6-4)
138
Gavin Risse (35-11) placed 1st and scored 25.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Gavin Risse (BC) received a bye Quarterfinal - Gavin Risse (BC) won by fall over David Lewis (Custer) (Fall 2:54) Semifinal - Gavin Risse (BC) won by decision over Mekhi Hayes (Lead-Deadwood) (Dec 5-0) 1st Place Match - Gavin Risse (BC) won by major decision over Lincoln Wickstrom (Harding County) (MD 11-2)
144
Tel Gropper (33-19) placed 5th and scored 8.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Westin Edwards (STM) won by fall over Tel Gropper (BC) (Fall 3:39) Cons. Round 1 - Tel Gropper (BC) won by decision over Jace Vroman (Harding County) (Dec 5-0) Cons. Semi - Miles Renner (Lead-Deadwood) won by fall over Tel Gropper (BC) (Fall 0:42) 5th Place Match - Tel Gropper (BC) won by fall over Gabe Maurer (Hot Springs) (Fall 1:32)
150
Tyce Gropper (21-7) placed 2nd and scored 19.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Tyce Gropper (BC) received a bye Quarterfinal - Tyce Gropper (BC) won in sudden victory 1 over Kai Rusch (Custer) (SV-1 4-2) Semifinal - Tyce Gropper (BC) won by major decision over Mark Sandquist (Mobridge-Pollock) (MD 123) 1st Place Match - Ryker Peterson (Philip/Kadoka Area/Wall) won by fall over Tyce Gropper (BC) (Fall 4:37)
157
Talon Krolikowski (31-12) placed 3rd and scored 14.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Talon Krolikowski (BC) received a bye Semifinal - Hayden Roggow
***
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
Dr. Seuss
(Stanley County) won by injury default over Talon Krolikowski (BC) (Inj. 0:00) Cons. Semi - Talon Krolikowski (BC) won by fall over Keller Peterson (Hot Springs) (Fall 1:55) 3rd Place Match - Talon Krolikowski (BC) won by fall over Blaise Arp (Custer) (Fall 4:12)
165
Jordan Risse (24-20) placed 4th and scored 12.0 team points.
Quarterfinal - Jordan Risse (BC) won by decision over Thor Fish (Hot Springs) (Dec 11-4) Semifinal - Thane Simons (Philip/Kadoka Area/Wall) won by fall over Jordan Risse (BC) (Fall 0:34) Cons. Semi - Jordan Risse (BC) won by fall over Deon Tenold (Harding County) (Fall 2:17) 3rd Place Match - Rory McManus (Lyman) won by fall over Jordan Risse (BC) (Fall 1:59)
190
Ethan Harris (27-17) placed 4th and scored 14.0 team points.
Champ. Round 1 - Ethan Harris (BC) received a bye Quarterfinal - Dylan Meade (Lead-Deadwood) won by decision over Ethan Harris (BC) (Dec 5-3) Cons. Round 2 - Ethan Harris (BC) won by fall over Brenton Padden (Harding County) (Fall 3:59) Cons. Round 3 - Ethan Harris (BC) won by fall over Jackson Rusch (STM) (Fall 1:15) Cons. Semi - Ethan Harris (BC) won by decision over Von Mogen-Frankfort (Hot Springs) (Dec 6-2) 3rd Place Match - Dylan Meade (Lead-Deadwood) won by decision over Ethan Harris (BC) (Dec 3-0)