By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Parker senior Levi Wieman looks like a man on a mission

At the 2023 South Dakota state wrestling tournament, Wieman entered the Class B 220-pound field as the top seed and the favorite to win a state title. In the semifinals of that tournament, facing McCook Central/Montrose’s Kade Grocott, Wieman lost the match for an illegal slam that injured Grocott. With Grocett unable to wrestle in the finals, Mobridge/Pollock senior Aiden Schoenhard was awarded the state title.

Fast forward to the 2023-24 season and Wieman is undefeated and tearing up the competition. All eyes were on the Mid-Dakota Monster on Jan. 7 where No. 2 ranked Wieman was supposed to wrestle No. 1 Caleb Rickenbach of Hot Springs. Rickenbach lost to Tucker Shabrum from O’Neill, Nebraska, 6-4. Wieman defeated Shabrum 8-3 in the finals of the Mid-Dakota Monster. 

At last Saturday’s Winner Quarterback Club Invitational the now No. 1 Wieman and No. 2 Rickenbach faced off in the finals as the last match of the tournament. That match lasted 1-minute and 42 seconds as Wieman improved to 35-0 on the season with a first period pin…stay tuned.

Revenge wins for Kellen Hurd and Carter Kendrick

• Several weeks ago at the Webster tournament, Webster Area’s Haeden Jorgensen handed Class B No. 1 Kellan Hurd (138) his only loss of the season with a 6-2 decision. The pair met again Saturday at the Parkston Little B tournament and this time Hurd handed Jorgensen his first loss of the season with a 3-2 decision. Hurd is 28-1 on the season while Jorgenson is 26-1 on the season. The 138-pound bracket just got a little tougher this week as one-loss wrestler Canton's Ashton Keller moved from 132 and is the new No. 1 ranked wrestler in that bracket. 

• A couple of wild matches last week between Canton’s Carter Kendrick and West Central’s Kaden Haakinson. On Jan. 16 at the Tri-Valley triangular Haakinson (106) delivered a rare loss to Class B No. 1 Kendrick with an 8-6 decision. Four days later at the Dakota XII tournament in Madison Kendrick flipped the switch with a 9-7 decision. Kendrick (106) is still top ranked in Class B, while Haakinson is the No. 4 ranked wrestler in the latest Dakota Grappler rankings. 

Who is going to win the Class A state dual tournament

At Saturday’s East vs. West Duals in Pierre a number of top teams gathered to compete in a dual event. Three of the top dual teams in Class A were there with Pierre, Rapid City Stevens and Aberdeen Central in attendance. After the day of wrestling picking a favorite to win the Class A state dual tournament is about as clear as mud. 

• Aberdeen Central went 3-1 beating Sturgis and losing to Rapid City Stevens.

• Rapid City Stevens went 3-1 beating Aberdeen Central but losing to Pierre

• Pierre went 3-1 beating Rapid City Stevens but losing to Sturgis

Here are the latest Class A dual rankings provided by Dakota Grappler

Dual Rankings: 1. Pierre; 2. Aberdeen Central; 3. Sturgis; 4. Rapid City Stevens; 5. Brookings; 6. Brandon Valley; 7. Watertown; 8. Harrisburg.

Brandon Valley, the two-time defending Class A state champion went 2-2 at the East vs. West Duals but moved to the No. 2 team ranking in Class A this week.

Milestones Achieved

• Pierre’s Trey Lewis recently reached the 100-win mark for his career

• Lemmon/McIntosh’s Quinn Butler reached the 100-win mark for her career at the Pierre girls tournament on Jan. 19.