Watertown wrestlers win Region 1A again; Aberdeen Central second in 3A

MADISON — Watertown crowned five champions and qualified 13 wrestlers for state on the way to winning its fourth-straight Region 1A tournament championship on Saturday.

The Arrows won the 10-team tourney with 256 points. West Central was second at 206, followed by Tea Area 190.5, Brookings 174.5, Sioux Falls O'Gorman 129, Sioux Falls Jefferson 123, Madison 97.5, Flandreau 41, Dell Rapids 23 and Sioux Falls Roosevelt 0.

Sloan Johannsen (44-0 at 120 pounds) and Brock Eitreim (34-6 at 195) each repeated as region champions for the Arrows, who also got titles from Gage Lohr (40-4 at 106), Ian Johnson (32-15 at 152) and Micah Hach (39-3 at 285).

Jax Kettwig (29-16) and Matthew Peters (29-14) finished second for the Arrows at 170 and 220 for the Arrows, respectively.

Watertown also also got third-place finishes from Leo Stroup (27-17 at 113), Weston Everson (41-7 at 126), Braden Le (32-12 at 132) and Jackson Maag (32-17 at 182) and fourth-place finishes from Derek Hanson (24-18 at 138) and Markus Pitkin (18-11 at `145).

West Central and Tea Area each had two champions and 10 state qualifiers and Brookings two and eight. Sioux Falls Jefferson, Sioux Falls O'Gorman and each crowned one champ.

The top four finishers in each weight class qualified for the individual portion of the state Class A tourney, which runs Friday and Saturday at The Monument in Rapid City. Watertown already had qualified for the Class A dual tourney, which runs on Saturday.

Region 3A

MISSION — Aberdeen Central recorded a runner-up finish and qualified all 14 of its wrestlers for state and five area individuals won titles in the Region 3A tournament on Saturday.

Milbank and Sisseton each crowned two champions and qualified six wrestlers for the state Class A individual tourney on Thursday and Friday at The Monument in Rapid City. Aberdeen Central will also compete in the Class A dual championships on Saturday.

Rayden Zens (41-4 at 126) was the lone individual champion for Aberdeen Central, which received runner-up finishes from Porter Lozenski (22-15 at 113), Ridley Waldo (29-15 at 120), Tate Huff (34-16 at 132), Brody Aesoph (21-16 at 138), Mason Schrempp (32-6 at 145), Logan Opitz (26-15 at 160), Samson Flakus (25-17 at 195) and Jacob Krenz (37-10 at 285).

Elias Biegler (25-18 at 152), Ayden Gisi (20-18 at 170) and Cole Dunlavy (26-12 at 182) each were third and Will Allen (17-19 at 106) and Bryce Beitelspacher (29-13 at 220) each fourth to also qualify for state for the Golden Eagles.

Barrett Schneck, 29-0 at 170, and Owen Fischer, 29-9 at 106, each won titles for Milbank. Jesse Schneck (22-12) finished third at 195 and Jacob Johnson (15-21 at 132), Brayden Christensen (11-18 at 160) and Reese Raabe (11-18 at 106) each fourth.

Ian Metz, 13-1 at 120, and Holden Hawkins, 36-10 at 132, were champions for Sisseton. Mason Shultz (28-9, 182) was second; Kayden Tchida (30-15, 106) and Reed Gray (5-2, 126) each third and Blake Steiner (22-17, 113) fourth for the Redmen.

The top four finishers in each weight class qualified for state.

Region 1B

VOLGA — Repeat champions Brady Risetter, Mason Whitley and Grady Fey helped Redfield hold on for its seventh-straight Region 1A tournament championship on Saturday.

Risetter (32-0) won at 106 pounds, Whitley (41-6) at 152 and Fey (39-1) at 285 for Redfield, which edged Kingsbury County 165.5-159 for the title. Faulkton Area followed at 142.5, Deuel-Deubrook Area 120, Warner-Northwestern 115.5, Clark-Willow Lake 115, Hamlin-Castlewood 101.5, Potter County 79.54, Groton Area 77, Ipswich-Bowdle 75, Sioux Valley 74, Webster Area 54, Britton-Hecla 32, Sully Buttes 23.5, Doland 3 and Tiospa Zina 0.

Other repeat champions include Tate Steffensen of Sioux Valley (29-10 at 120), Gannon Gilligan of Kingsbury County (34-5 at 126), Christian Ehresmann of Groton Area (33-3 at 138), Dominic Constant (27-7 at 182) and Justin Granum (25-6 at 195) of Deuel-Deubrook Area and Preston Cavalier of Warner-Northwestern (35-6 at 220).

Rylan Yonker of Hamlin-Castlewood (21-14 at 113), Haeden Jorgenson of Webster Area (34-6 at 132), Dylan Zell of Kingsbury County (33-7 at 145), Carter Luikens of Potter County (24-12 at 160) and Alex Pudwill of Warner-Northwestern (36-11 at 170) also captured titles.

The top four place winners in each class will compete in the state Class B individual tourney Thursday and Friday at The Monument in Rapid City. Faulkton Area had eight qualifiers, Redfield and Kingsbury County each seven and Deuel-Deubrook Area and Clark-Willow Lake five apiece. Warner-Northwestern, Hamlin-Castlewood and Groton Area each qualified four and Potter County, Ipswich-Bowdle and Sioux Valley three each. Webster Area had two qualifiers and Sully Buttes one.

Region 4B

LEAD — Aiden Schoenhard won the 220-pound title and led Mobridge-Pollock to a fourth-place finish in the 16-team Region 2B tournament on Saturday.

Custer won the tourney with 271.5 points, followed by Philip Area at 247. Mobridge-Pollock scored 102 points.

Schoenhard improved to 33-7 with his title. The Tigers had five other qualifiers for the State B individual tourney on Thursday and Friday at The Monument in Rapid City: Wyatt Wientjes (32-16 at 132), Remmington Ford (19-22 at 152) and Jesse Bears Heart (32-10 at 170) each placed third and Riley Kerner (14-22 at 285) fourth.

McLaughlin also competed in the region and scored 14 points.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Twenty-five area wrestlers win individual titles in region tourneys.