By Rich Winter

605 Sports

SIOUX FALLS — The name Gable Uhrig might not be in the forefront of South Dakota wrestling fans but it will be soon. 

Uhrig, a Pierre eighth-grader, defeated Beresford/Alcester-Hudson’s Owen Serck in the first round of the Class A 106-pound division at the state wrestling tournament at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. In the quarterfinals, Uhrig blew the bottom portion of his bracket out with a pin (3:30) of No. 2 seed Tate Helmbolt of Brookings. 

The son of Chad Uhrig (and Rebecca Feller), the former Sully Buttes wrestler who won four titles in 1996-99, is named after the legendary Iowa Hawkeyes coach Dan Gable.

“I’ve been a huge Hawkeye fan since I was a little guy,” Chad Uhrig said. “So, naturally when he was born the name was an easy decision.”

Uhrig (106) faces Sturgis sophomore Tyler Baldwin in Friday’s semifinals. 

Chad and Rebecca will have plenty to cheer about this weekend as Sydney Uhrig, a senior and No. 2 seed in the girls (107) bracket advanced to Friday’s quarterfinals with pins over Dell Rapids’ Chloe Staskywicz and Watertown’s Brooklyn Randall. Sydney Uhrig takes on Rapid City Central’s Irini Poka in a girls 107 semifinal match Friday afternoon. 

While Pierre boys wrestling coach Shawn Lewis will be keeping tabs of the boys team he’ll also have one eye on the girls’ 152 bracket. His daughter, Abbigail Lewis, 39-0 on the season and seeded No. 1 in her bracket had pins over Viborg-Hurley/Irene/Wakonda’s Ella Kessler and Canton’s Kaylee Dean on Thursday. She’ll face Doland’s Reganne Miles in a 152 semifinal round on Saturday. 

Coach Lewis’s son, Trey Lewis, also had success on day one of the state tournament. Trey Lewis pinned Rapid City Stevens’ Landon Mitsos and then advanced to Friday’s semifinals when his opponent from Harrisburg was injured in Thursday’s quarterfinals. 

Lewis faces a familiar opponent in Friday's semifinal as he takes on Tea Area’s Sam Werdel in Friday’s semifinals. 

The Pierre girls had the lead in the team race after Thursday’s action. The Pierre boys trailed only Sturgis after Thursday’s action.