Area wrestlers bring home four titles, eight runner-up finishes in three-day state tourney

SIOUX FALLS — Aberdeen Central's Rayden Zens stopped Watertown's Sloan Johannsen in his bid for a fourth title and joined fellow area wrestlers Brody Randall of Hamlin-Castlewood, Gage Lohr of Watertown and Grady Fey as 2024 state high school wrestling champions on Saturday.

The third and final day of the state tournament held in the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center included the third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches as well as championships for girls and Class B and A boys. Ten people were inducted into the South Dakota High School Wrestling Coaches Association's Hall of Fame and a number of awards were presented to wrestlers and others.

Here's a recap of the day:

Class A Boys

Zens prevented Johannsen from becoming only the second wrestler in the rich tradition of Watertown's program to win four state titles by posting a 5-2 decision on Saturday.

In the fifth meeting between the two wrestlers this year, Zens used a takedown with 30 seconds left in the second period to erase a 1-0 lead and added an escape and another takedown with a minute left in the third period to lead 5-1.

Zens closed out a 36-4 season by avenging three regular-season losses to Johannsen, who ended 46-2 with both losses to Zens. In his career, Johannsen went 181-3 (school record for wins). All three losses came to Zens, who snapped Johannsen's 155-match winning streak this year and also was named the Outstanding Class A wrestler of the state tournament.

"Sloan had an incredible career and is the winningest Arrow of all time," Watertown head coach Chas Welch said. "He has plenty to be proud of."

The finals didn't go as well as hoped for the Arrows, who went 1-4 in title matches on Saturday. The lone win came from top-seeded Lohr, who became a two-time state champion and wrapped up a 47-0 season by rallying for a 6-5 win over Brandon Valley senior Trevon Oehme (25-5), a two-time state champion and the No. 2 seed at 120.

The two wrestlers hadn't met previously but Lohr didn't get shaken after falling behind 4-1 in the second period. He pulled even at 4-4 after two periods. After Oehme got an escape for a 5-4 lead before Lohr answered the match-deciding takedown with 1:13 left in the final period.

"I just tried to pay attention to how he wrestled in a couple of his matches at state and see how he wrestles," Lohr said. "Getting down 4-1 hasn't happened all year, but I just kept wrestling, You're never done until the whistle blows."

Now the attention turns to Lohr, who seems capable of making a run at three, four or even five state championships before he graduates.

"When I was a kid, I looked up to all the varsity kids and knew I couldn't wait to get up there," he said. "The goal obviously is to try to win five state titles but if I don't, that won't stop me from moving forward."

Speaking of five-state titles, Brandon Valley senior Navarro Schunke (42-0) made history by becoming the first Class A wrestler in history to accomplish the feat when he defeated Watertown junior Micah Hach (44-2) 6-4 to claim another 285-pound title.

Hach, who was pinned by Schunke during the regular season, lost to the Brandon Valley standout in the finals for the second straight year. He showed tremendous sportsmanship in congratulating Schunke after the match.

The good news for Hach, who took third as a freshman, is the path is open to close out his career with a state title next winter.

Sisseton sophomore Holden Hawkins (46-6), the No. 2 seed, made a run at the 144-pound championship, advancing to the finals before falling 16-10 to Rapid City Stevens' junior Jacob Williams (46-9). Williams upset top-seeded Jackson Boonstra of Dakota Valley in the semifinals on Friday.

Sturgis completed a sweep of the state Class A titles by winning the individual tourney for the first time since 2010. The Scoopers, who won the state A dual team title two weeks ago, scored 197.5 points to outdistance Pierre at 176. Aberdeen Central took third at 139 and Watertown eighth at 88.5.

The Arrows had finished second in the state Class A dual-team tourney behind Sturgis.

"I think our dual team performed amazing, but we definitely could have done better with our team in the individual tourney," Lohr said.

The Golden Eagles placed 11 of their 14 state qualifiers. Other placers were sophomore Esten Foss (eighth at 106), eighth-grader Porter Lozenski (seventh at 120), junior Tate Huff (seventh at 132), sophomore Ridley Waldo (fifth at 138), junior Mason Schrempp (third at 157), junior Elias Biegler (eighth at 165), junior Ryker Meister (eighth at 175), freshman Cole Dunlavy (seventh at 190), senior Ayden Gisi (fifth at 215) and senior Bryce Beitelspacher (fifth at 285).

Gisi earned the Dale Westberg Memoria Pinner's Award in Class A.

Senior Brock Eitreim placed fourth at 190 for Watertown. Freshman Kayden Tchida (fourth at 113) and junior Ian Metz (fourth at 126) also placed for Sisseton. Junior Owen Fischer took eighth at 120, junior Tate Schlueter sixth at 175 and senior Landon Novy seventh at 285 for Milbank.

Sam Werdel of Tea Area (175) repeated as a state champion and Huron's Moses Gross (150) also won his second state title. Other champs were Brendon Oehme of Brandon Valley (106), Bentley Williams of Sioux Falls Lincoln (132), Tristan Spencer of Pierre (138), Zach Soderlin of Rapid City Central (157), Lucas Chamberlin of Pierre (165), Chance Carda of Pierre (190) and Zak Jeulfs of Sturgis (215).

Class B Boys

Randall, a sophomore who attended school in Watertown through the sixth grade before deciding to transfer to Hamlin and follow in the footsteps of his father Troy Randall, a standout football player for the Chargers before graduating in the early 1990s.

As a freshman last winter, Brody Randall reached the state semifinals before setting for a fifth-place finish at 106 pounds. He moved up a weight class this winter and didn't lose, handling Marion-Freeman freshman Brody Gossen 13-2 in the 113-pound championship on Saturday to close out a 44-0 season.

"I was determined and I put in a lot of work over the summer," Randall said.

Although confident, Randall didn't expect perfection. That came after a dominant performance on Saturday.

"I knew I could do it if I put my mind to it, but I didn't think I'd be able to do that," he added.

More: Some of the top area Class A, B boys and girls grapplers entered in state individual tourney

Randall became only the third Hamlin wrestler in school history to win a state title and the first since 1988 (36 years). Jeff Kruse won in 1987 and John Yonker won in 1988. Yonker is the uncle of a current Hamlin-Castlewood wrestler with the same name who also competed in the 2024 state tournament at 132 pounds

Fey, a senior, went out in style. After back-to-back state runner-up finishes at 285 as a sophomore and junior, Fey closed out a 49-0 season by pinning Canton senior Traun Cook 19 seconds into the second period. Cook defeated Fey in last year's state championship match at 285.

Randall and Fey were successful in their bid for championships but Webster Area sophomore Haeden Jorgenson fell short in the finals for the second-straight year. Jorgenson (39-3) lost 2-1 in overtime to Miller/Highmore-Harrold junior Kellan Hurd.

All three of Jorgenson's losses this year were to Hurd, whose only loss came to Jorgenson.

Canton battled back to claim its seventh-straight team championship with 170.5 points. The Badlands Brawlers (Philip-Kadoka Area-Wall) were second at 151.5.

There were 25 area place winners, including five from Redfield: Sophomore Maddon Odland, seventh at 106; sophomore Conner Zens, eighth at 126; junior Dylan Murray, eighth at 175; and junior Camden Murray, fifth at 180.

Freshman Tayten Kurkowski of Webster Area took sixth at 106, sophomore Cooper Pommer of Clark-Willow Lake fifth at 113, junior Gannon Gilligan of Kingsbury County third at 126, senior Wyatt Wientjes of Mobridge-Pollock fourth at 126, junior Tate Steffensen of Sioux Valley sixth at 132, freshman Conner Giedd of Kingsbury County fourth at 138, junior Christian Ehresmann of Groton Area fourth at 144, freshman Landon Coyle of Faulkton Area seventh at 144; and senior Jaxon Quail of Deuel-Deubrook Area seventh at 150.

Other area placers were junior Korbin Kucker, of Groton Area, sixth at 157; junior Korbin Whiteley of Deuel-Deubrook Area, seventh at 165; junior Elliot Bratland of Clark-Willow Lake, eighth at 165; junior Josh Kannegieter of Clark-Willow Lake, fourth at 175; senior Alex Pudwill of Warner-Northwestern, sixth at 190; junior Lincoln Dikoff of Faulkton Area, sixth at 215; senior Connor Johnson of Kingsbury County, seventh at 215; senior Parker Bode of Faulkton Area, sixth at 285; and sophomore Tucker Hardy of Britton-Hecla, eighth at 285.

Ayson Rice of Canton (150) and Burk Blasius of the Badland Brawlers (175) each won their fourth state title and Jackson Remmers of Howard (157) his third. Tray Weiss of Custer (120) and Jace Blasius of the Badlands Brawlers (144) also repeated as state champs and Maxton Brozik of Winner Area (126) won his second state title.

Other champs were Carter Kendrick (106) and Ashton Keller of Canton (132), Jhett Breen of Wagner (165), Parker Noem of Custer (190) and Levi Wieman of Parker (215). Wieman finished 52-0 and Remmers 47-0.

Burk Blasius was chosen as the Outstanding Wrestler in Class B and Trystan Traupal of McCook Central-Montrose (120) received the Dale Westberg Memorial Pinner's Award. Wieman was the John W, Konechne Wrestling Scholarship Award winner.

Girls

Area wrestlers Olivia Anderson and Allison Konrad of Watertown, Summer Guthmiller of Sioux Valley and Sophia Knittel of Ipswich-Bowdle had their bids to make history for their respective schools fall short. They were seeking to become the first state girls' wrestling champions in the history of their schools.

Anderson, an eighth-grader, and the No. 1 seed at 100 pounds lost by fall to Canton seventh-grader Finley Even in 4:26. Evjen finished 41-4 and avenged three regular-season losses to Anderson, who went 46-2 with both losses to Evjen.

Konrad, a sophomore, also was the No. 1 seed at 185 pounds and owned a regular-season win over Tea Area senior Briana Johnson. Johnson (26-6) jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead and held on against Konrad (23-3).

Guthmiller (39-3), a freshman from Sioux Valley, jumped out to a 4-0 lead in her 132-pound championship match against Lakota Tech junior Giada Scherich (33-2). Taking advantage of a couple of 3-point near-falls, the third-seeded Scherich rallied for an 8-4 win and was chosen as the Outstanding Wrestler in the girls' tournament.

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Knittel, a seventh-grader, had a tough task in the finals against top-seeded and two-time state champion Regina Stoeser, a junior from Harrisburg. Stoeser completed a 40-0 season with a third-period pin over Knittel (17-4).

Pierre won its third-straight title, edging Canton 139-138.5. Aberdeen Central, with six place winners, took fourth at 86 and Watertown, with five place winners, was sixth with 80.5.

Senior Madyson Gillen took third at 107, eighth-grader Jasmine Maas eighth at 132, eighth-grader Lin Paw Jone eighth at 145, senior Katrina Gibson fourth at 165, sophomore Lilly Nelson seventh at 185 and seventh-grader Nina Howard eighth at 250 for the Golden Eagles.

Seventh-grader Brooklyn Randall (sixth at 107), junior April Peterson (seventh at 152) and freshman Eden Hach (fifth at 250) also placed for Watertown. Randall is the Brody's younger sister.

Other area placers included senior Dani Batchelor of Clark-Willow Lake, eighth at 107; seventh-grader Jaidynn Giedd of Kingsbury County, third at 138; eighth-grader Brooke Grajczyk of Webster Area, fifth at 138; sophomore Jasmin Perez of Mobridge-Pollock, sixth at 138 and junior Reganne Miles of Doland, fourth at 142.

Peyton Hellman of Bon Homme-Scotland-Avon topped the field at 138 for her fourth-state title. Her teammate Britney Rueb won at 121 for her third state title. Other champions were Mary-Katherine Joseph of Brandon Valley (107), Alexis Bryant of McCook Central-Montrose (114), Johanna Steinlicht of Brookings (145), Abbigail Lewis of Pierre (152), Gia Miller of Viborg-Hurley/Irene-Wakonda (165) and Kiara King of Canton (250).

Hellman finished 42-0, Lewis 41-0 and Steinlicht 33-0.

Maria Larson of Sioux Falls Lincoln received the Dale Westberg Memorial Pinner's Award.

Complete results of the state tourney are available at www.trackwrestling.com.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Final-day wrapup from the state prep individual wrestling tournament