By Rich Winter

605 Sports

At the 2023 South Dakota state wrestling tournament the Watertown girls finished in eighth place. Fast forward to January of 2024 and the Arrows are the third ranked girls team in South Dakota and closing in on No. 2 Canton. 

In this week’s Dakota Grappler girls rankings Watertown had one top-ranked wrestler, Olivia Anderson (100) and two second ranked wrestlers Allison Konrad (185) and Eden Hach (250). 

As girls wrestling in South Dakota gains momentum in its fourth year as a sanctioned sport, new athletes and new programs are stepping forward. One of the teams that had a major breakthrough last week was Sioux Valley. 

Competing against 12 other teams at the Webster Invitational on Dec. 29, the Sioux Valley girls topped the field to win their first tournament title in program history. The Cossacks racked up 86 points, well ahead of Miller/Highmore-Harrold (54) and Webster Area. Doland (30) and Kingsbury County rounded out the top-five teams. 

Freshman athletes Citabria Manzanares (100) and Summer Guthmiller (132) were champions for Sioux Valley. Eighth-grader Trinity Kurtenbeck (107) and freshman Skyler Virhow (126) along with senior Ava VandeWeerd (165) all placed second in their respective weight classes. 

Guthmiller is the most accomplished of the young Cossack wrestlers  having finished fifth (142) at the 2023 state wrestling tournament. She is currently ranked No. 2 at (132).

L-R Boys’ head coach Austin Wiley Trinity Kurtenbach (3rd) Ava VandeWeerd (2nd) Anna Field (injured, did not compete) Citabria Mazenarez (1st) Summer Guthmiller (1st) Skyler Vichow (2nd) Assistant boys’ and girls’ coach Jory Rodgers - Courtesy Photo

Last weekend’s Rumble on The Red tournament in Fargo, ND brought some of the best wrestlers and teams from South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota.

In addition to Philip Area’s Burk Blasius finishing as runner-up a number of South Dakotas did well at a very big tournament. 

Custer’s Tray Weiss and Rapid City Stevens Corbin Zent finished third and fourth in the (121) class. Stevens athletes Joe and Ayden Kellog both placed with Juenger finished seventh at (139) and Kellog fourth at (215). Custer’s Parker Noem was seventh at (189).

Round 1 goes to Navarro Schunke: Brandon Valley’s Navarro Schunke and Watertown’s Micah Hach have plenty of history together. Schunke beat Hach in the finals of the 2023 state tournament and the pair have wrestled plenty of times. Over the weekend the pair met in the finals of the Floyd Farrand Invitational (285) and Schunke (20-0) earned a pin over Hach (14-1)at the 3:04 of the second period. 

The Appalachian State connection continues: Winner Area’s Kaden Keiser may have turned a few heads when he signed with the Appalachian State wrestling team two years ago. Keiser, a four-time state champion, and a redshirt freshman will soon have some South Dakota company. Canton senior Ayson Rice (150) has already signed with Appalachian State and will be gunning for a fourth state title in February. 

Mid-Dakota Monster is a MONSTER: While there are tournaments in Brandon Valley, Milbank and Miller and even the Jesse James Invitational in Garretson there is always something special about the Mid-Dakota Monster that takes place Friday and Saturday in Presho. The tournament brings teams from all corners of the state with a nice mix of Class B and Class A teams competing. Canton, Pierre, Custer, Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes, McCook Central/Montrose, Parker, Sisseton, Tea Area and Winner Area, along with a bunch of other teams makes the Monster something special. 

So many great matches are expected at this tournament. Here is one to watch for…Class B No. 1 Caleb Rickenbach of Hot Springs vs. Class B No. 2 Levi Wieman of Parker at (215). 

The Bride of the Monster Tournament isn’t quite as big as the boys event but it will be the first time this season No. 1 Pierre and No. 2 Canton meet on the mat.