Individual and team champions to be crowned in Class A and B boys as well as girls
SIOUX FALLS — The 2024 South Dakota State Individual Wrestling Tournament runs Thursday through Saturday in the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
The tourney included Class A and B classes for boys and one class for girls. There are 14 weight classes each for Class A and B boys and 12 for girls.
Here's the tourney schedule and other pertinent information:
Schedule
(Girls will wrestle first in each round, followed by the boys)
Thursday — First-round matches start at 10 a.m. Quarterfinal matches start at 4 p.m.
Friday — First- and second-round wrestlebacks start at 9:30 a.m. Semifinals and third-round wrestlebacks at 3:30 p.m., with fourth-round wrestlebacks to follow.
Saturday — Third, fifth and seventh-place matches start at 10 a.m. Championship matches start at 1 p.m. Matches will be televised live on South Dakota Public Broadcasting or can be viewed online at sdpb.org.
State Pairings: Boys and girls state tournaments run Thursday through Saturday in Sioux Falls
Class A Boys
Defending Team Champion — Brandon Valley is the three-time defending champion.
Most Qualifiers — Aberdeen Central and Sturgis 14, Pierre and Rapid City Stevens 13, Harrisburg 12, Rapid City Central and West Central 11, Sioux Falls Lincoln and Tea Area 10.
Team Favorites — On paper, it seems like state A dual team champion Sturgis is the team to beat. Nine of the 14 Sturgis wrestlers are seeded (top 4). Tea Area has six top 4 seeds and Stevens, Brandon Valley, Watertown, West Central and Pierre four each. Most everybody else listed in the paragraph above also likely can't be counted out.
Returning Individual Champions — Gage Lohr of Watertown (won at 106, now 43-0 at 120); Trevon Oehme of Brandon Valley (won at 113, now 22-4 at 120); Sloan Johannsen of Watertown (won at 120, now 43-1 at 126); Sam Werdel of Tea Area (won at 170, now 37-3 at 175) and Navarro Schunke of Brandon Valley (won at 285, now 38-0 at 285. (Note: Watertown wrestlers' records have been updated to show results of the recent Class A dual tourney. Not all wrestlers have been updated).
Schunke is trying to become the first Class A wrestler in state history to win five state titles. Johannsen is seeking to become the second Watertown wrestler to win four state titles. Oehme also won at 106 in 2022 and Huron's Moses Gross (34-1 at 150) won at 132 in 2022.
Other Undefeated Wrestlers — Lohr and Schunke are the only undefeated wrestlers in the class.
State Dual Tourneys: Sturgis, Canton win team championships
Class B Boys
Defending Team Champion — State B dual team champion Canton already holds the state record with six-straight team titles in the individual tourney and will be looking to make it seven.
Most Qualifiers — Canton 13, Custer and the Badlands Brawlers (Philip-Kadoka Area-Wall) 11 and Winner Area 10.
Team Favorites — Hard to bet against Canton, which has seven top four seeds. Custer and the Badlands Brawlers each have five top four seeds.
Returning Individual Champions — Tray Weiss of Custer (won at 113, now 48-3 at 120); Karstyn Lhotak of Wagner (won at 120, now 41-3 at 132); Kellan Hurd of Miller/Highmore-Harrold (won at 126, now 44-1 at 138); Jace Blasius of the Badlands Brawlers (won at 138, now 31-4 at 144); Ayson Rice of Canton (won at 145, now 38-1 at 150); Jackson Remmers of McCook Central-Montrose (won at 152, now 43-0 at 152); Burk Blasius of the Badlands Brawlers (won at 170, now 32-2 at 175); and Traun Cook of Canton (won at 285, now 47-3 at 285).
Rice and Burk Blasius are each seeking their fourth state titles. Remmers also won at 132 in 2021. Gavin Braun of Kimball-White Lake/Platte-Geddes (now 41-3 at 120) and Maxton Brozik of Winner Area (34-3 at 126) won at 106 and 113, respectively, in 2022. Kasen Konstantz of Kimball-White Lake/Platte-Geddes (now 39-2 at 120) won at 106 in 2021.
Other Undefeated Wrestlers — Brody Randall of Hamlin-Castlewood is 43-0 at 113, Levi Wieman of Parker 48-0 at 215 and Grady Fey of Redfield 45-0 at 285.
Girls
Defending Team Champion — Pierre is the two-time defending champion.
Most Qualifiers — Canton 12, Pierre and Lakota Tech 11 and Aberdeen Central 10.
Team Favorites — Pierre (with five top four seeds) and Canton (with four top four seeds) are the likely pre-tourney favorites but there could be others.
Returning Individual Champions — Sara Schroeder of Canton (won at 113, now 31-4 at 114), Regina Stoeser of Harrisburg (won at 120, now 36-0 at 126), Peyton Hellman of Bon Homme-Scotland-Avon (won at 126, now 38-0 at 138) and Katrina Gibson of Aberdeen Central (won at 154, now 36-8 at 165).
Hellman is chasing her fourth title in four years of South Dakota girls wrestling. Stoeser and Britney Rueb of Bon Homme-Scotland-Avon (24-2 at 120, won in 2021 and 2022) are each going for three. Trinity Zopp of Lead-Deadwood (21-3 at 152) also won in 2022 and Kyla Logan of Doland (19-13 at 132) won a State B title in 2021.
Other Undefeated Wrestlers — Johanna Steinlicht of Brookings is 29-0 at 145 and Abbigail Lewis of Pierre 37-0 at 152.
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: Things to watch for in the upcoming state individual wrestling tourney
