By Matt Gade

605 Sports

CUSTER — Coming into his junior year, Custer’s Riley Scott had high hopes and expectations following a third-place finish at 132 pounds in the Class B state wrestling tournament in 2024.

While the expectations were for a state title, just a few weeks into his junior campaign, the Wildcat suffered a season-ending injury.

“Third week of the season, I was wrestling in the finals in Hot Springs, and I was up 14-0, and I broke my ankle in the first period,” Scott said. “It was kind of heartbreaking, because I was on track to do some good things for the school, but what can you do?”

A year later, Scott is back in form, looking for his chance at that state championship.

Scott is currently 29-3 and ranked No. 2 at 144 pounds in the Class B rankings behind Webster Area’s Haeden Jorgenson, according to Dakota Grappler.

While with a broken foot, Scott couldn’t do much for conditioning with his legs, but said he did spend a good amount of time in the gym, still lifting weights.

Scott made his wrestling return on Dec. 4 during a quad at home, and said it was a relief to finally be back out on the mat once again.

“It was a little scary at first to come back, but right now, I'm feeling good, and I'm just glad to be back on the mat and be able to wrestle again. That first match I didn't really have any nerves at all, but like, leading up to it, the whole week and practice, I was extremely nervous,” Scott said. “It felt good. I felt like I was myself again, and that I could keep working and was just back at it.”

Scott’s losses this season have all come to Class A wrestlers and the Custer Wildcat hasn’t squared off against Jorgenson as of yet.

While Scott says he likes where he’s at in his progress from the start, the senior said he still has a lot of things to work on ahead of the state tournament.

In his senior campaign, Scott said he’s really been enjoying watching his younger brother, Cole, an eighth-grader and currently the No. 3-ranked wrestler at 106 pounds.

With the state tournament beginning Feb. 26, running through Feb. 28 at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls, Scott said he’s just taking in every match of his final year.

“I’m definitely not taking any moments for granted and trying to work as hard as I can every day to get better and keep improving,” he said, adding that he wants to finish his high school career “hopefully on top.”