By Rich Winter
605 Sports
The road to the Class A state wrestling tournament on Feb. 23-25 in Rapid City begins Friday with the Region 2A wrestling tournament. Action continues Saturday as Region 1A, 3A and 4A tournaments commence.
Entering the region tournaments Class A has four undefeated wrestlers. Watertown’s Sloan Johannsen (120) is 42-0). Brandon Valley’s Navarro Schunke (285) is 21-0, Sturgis senior Reese Jacobs (182) is 42-0 and Brandon Valley's Alex Mentzer (138) is 33-0.
Region 1A - Watertown expected to deliver Region 1A wrestling title Saturday
MADISON — Class A No. 3 Watertown will be looking to qualify as many wrestlers as it can for next week’s state tournament. The Arrows are heavy favorites to win the Region 1A title Saturday but wrestlers from Brookings, Dell Rapids, Flandreau, Madison, Sioux Falls O’Gorman, Sioux Falls Jefferson, Sioux Falls Roosevelt and West Central will be looking to punch their tickets to the state tournament.
Watertown's Brock Eitrem is ranked No. 3 (195) in Class A - Rodney Haas - 605 Sports
Top Wrestlers in Region 1A
(106) - Aiden Wells, Sioux Falls Jefferson: 42-3, Class A No. 1
(106) - Gage Lohr, Watertown: 37-4, Class A No. 3
(113) - Karson Vessells, West Central: 33-2, Class A No. 2
(120) - Sloan Johannsen, Watertown: 42-0, Class A No. 1
(120) - Graham Wilde, Sioux Falls Jefferson: 31-12, Class A No. 6
(126) - Nolan Miles, Brookings: 22-4, Class A No. 2
(126) - Maddix Slykhuis, Tea Area: 43-3, Class A No. 1
(126) - Weston Everson, Watertown: 38-6, Class A No. 4
(132) - Braden Le, Watertown: 29-11, Class A No. 2
(132) John Mortrude, Dell Rapids: 22-10, Class A No. 6
(132) - Jesse Jost, West Central: 27-15, Class A No. 3
(132) - Caleb Hodges, Madison: 29-5, Class A No. 4
(138) - Ayden Dooley, Sioux Falls Jefferson: 35-9, Class A No. 6
(145) - Chance Carda, West Central: 26-4, Class A No. 6
(145) Wyatt Stuntebeck, Tea Area: 33-6, Class A No. 4
(160) - Keenan Sheridan, Sioux Falls O’Gorman: 36-2, Class A No. 1
(160) - Justin Zirpel, West Central: 35-5, Class A No. 2
(170) - Jax Kettwig, Watertown: 27-15, Class A No. 5
(170) - Sam Werdel, Tea Area: 37-5, Class A No. 2
(182) - Tyson Brandt, Brookings: 13-1, Class A No. 3
(195) - Brock Eitrem, Watertown: 32-6, Class A No. 3
(285) - Micah Hach, Watertown: 37-3, Class A No. 3
Keep an eye on the results of the 106-pound bracket from Region 1A. Sioux Falls Jefferson’s Aiden Wells enters Saturday’s tournament as the No. 1 ranked wrestler but Watertown’s Gage Lohr is No. 3. This weight class is loaded as Brookings’ Tate Hemboldt is ranked No. 5 and Madison’s Wyatt Pickard is No. 6. Saturday’s results will have a large impact on the seeding for the state tournament.
Region 2A - Brandon Valley expected to roll at Friday’s tournament
BRANDON — It’s not like Class A No. 1 Brandon Valley needed any advantages at its region tournament but the Lynx will have the distinct advantage of wrestling in front of their home crowd Friday.
The Lynx are aiming for another Class A state title so Friday’s tournament is a matter of staying healthy and getting as many wrestlers qualified for the state meet as possible.
Other teams in the 2A mix are Beresford/Alcester-Hudson, Dakota Valley, Harrisburg (Class A No. 5), Lennox, Sioux Falls Lincoln, Sioux Falls Washington, Vermillion and Yankton.
The Lynx from Brandon Valley are heavy favorites to claim Friday's Region 2A wrestling title - Trey Kaul - 605 Sports
Top Wrestlers in Region 2A
(106) - Brendon Oehme, Brandon Valley: 30-4, Class A No. 2
(113) - Trevon Oehme, Brandon Valley: 29-3, Class A No. 1
(126) Zander Nielsen, Brandon Valley: 20-5, Class A No. 5
(132) Jordan Oehme, Brandon Valley: 36-1, Class A No. 1
(132) John Mortrude, Dell Rapids: 22-10, Class A No. 6
(138) Alex Mentzer, Brandon Valley: 33-0, Class A No. 1
(138) Michael Roob, Vermillion: 24-6, Class A No. 3
(145) Treason Oehme, Brandon Valley: 32-1, Class A No. 1
(152) Logan O’Connor, Harrisburg: 33-7, Class A No. 3
(160) - Peyton Tryon, Harrisburg: 25-10, Class A No. 4
(160) - Gavin Chapman, Brandon Valley: 13-4, Class A No. 5
(170) - Lucas Slack, Brandon Valley: 35-2, Class A No. 3
(195) - Jack Detert, Harrisburg: 29-2, Class A No. 1
(195) - Landon Schurch, Beresford/Alcester-Hudson: 33-9, Class A No. 5
(220) - Abraham Myers, Sioux Falls Washington: 38-2, Class A No. 2
(285) - Navarro Schunke, Brandon Valley: 21-0, Class A No. 1
Region 3A - Pierre Governors aiming for Region 3A title
MISSION — The Pierre Governors dropped to No. 4 in this week’s Class A wrestling poll, all the more incentive for a quality showing at Saturday’s Region 3A tournament in Mission.
Region 3A encompasses a wide range of territory stretching from Aberdeen to Mission. Teams from Aberdeen Central, Chamberlain, Cheyenne-Eagle Butte/Dupree, Huron, Milbank, Mitchell, Pierre, Sisseton and Todd County will hit the mats Saturday with the top four from each bracket qualifying for the state tournament.
Defending state champion Moses Gross of Huron is ranked No. 2 (145) heading into the region wrestling tournaments - Rodney Haas - File Photo
Top Wrestlers in Region 3A
(113) - Alex Oedekoven, Pierre: 25-5, Class A No. 4
(113) - Porter Lozenski, Aberdeen Central: 20-14, Class A No. 5
(120) - Ian Metz, Sisseton: 10-1, Class A No. 2
(126) - Rayden Zens, Aberdeen Central: 38-4, Class A No. 3
(132) - Holden Hawkins, Sisseton: 33-10, Class A No. 5
(138) - Tristan Spencer, Pierre: 33-4, Class A No. 2
(145) - Moses Gross, Huron: 34-3, Class A No. 2
(145) - Mason Schrempp, Aberdeen Central: 30-5, Class A No. 3
(152) - Jagger Tyler, Mitchell: 35-3, Class A No. 1
(152) - Lucas Chamberlain, Pierre: 18-6, Class A No. 6
(160) - Deegan Houska, Pierre: 32-7, Class A No. 3
(170) - Barrett Schneck, Milbank: 27-0, Class A No. 1
(170) - Trey Lewis, Pierre: 29-8, Class A No. 4
(182) - Chance Carda, Pierre: 36-4, Class A No. 2
(182) - Mason Schultz, Sisseton: 27-8, Class A No. 6
(195) - Gavin Stotts, Pierre: 34-6, Class A No. 4
(220) - Noah Hutmacher, Chamberlain: 32-1, Class A No. 1
(220) - Rocky Wiedman, Todd County: 31-5, Class A No. 4
(285) - Canyon Burkhard, Chamberlain: 32-5, Class A No. 2
Keep an eye on the 285-pound bracket from Region 3A. Chamberlain’s Canyon Burkhard is ranked No. 2 but in the running for region supremacy are Huron’s Bryan Remirez, Class A No. 4, Aberdeen Central’s Jacob Krenz, Class A No. 5 and Pierre’s Joshua Rydberg, Class A No. 6. Four of the top Class A guys will battle in what should be an amazing bracket.
Region 4A - Sturgis aiming for another Region 4A title
RAPID CITY — The Sturgis Scoopers were ranked No. 2 in the most recent Dakota Grappler wrestling rankings. Like a lot of the other state championship contenders, the name of the game this weekend is to stay healthy and qualify as many wrestlers as possible for next week’s state meet.
Sturgis will be joined in Saturday’s tournament by Belle Fourche, Douglas/Rapid City Christian/New Underwood, Lakota Tech, Little Wound, Pine Ridge, Rapid City Stevens, Rapid City Central, Spearfish and Sturgis.
Defending state champion Reese Jacobs of Sturgis is undefeated (42-0) in the (182) weight class - Rodney Haas - File photo
Top Wrestlers in Region 4A
(106) - Korbin Bunch, Sturgis: 24-5, Class A No. 4
(113) - Teryn Zebroski, Sturgis: 35-6, Class A No. 3
(120) Tegan Zebroski, Sturgis: 39-7, Class A No. 3
(120) - John Jeffery, Spearfish: 38-9, Class A No. 4
(120) - Corbin Zent, Rapid City Stevens: 37-12, Class A No. 5
(126) - Dee Daniels, Sturgis: 28-12, Class A No. 6
(138) - Thayne Elshere, Sturgis: 26-9, Class A No. 4
(152) - Corter Doney, Rapid City Stevens: 36-7, Class A No. 2
(152) - Thomas McCoy, Belle Fourche: 26-6, Class A No. 4
(152) - Kale Crowser, Douglas/Rapid City Christian/New Underwood: 19-3, Class A No. 5
(182) - Reese Jacobs, Sturgis: 42-0, Class A No. 1
(182) - Tanner Vanscoy, Rapid City Stevens: 31-15, Class A No. 4
(195) - Aiden Werlinger, Sturgis: 31-3, Class A No. 2
(220) - Zak Juelfs, Sturgis: 35-7, Class A No. 3