Other highlights provided by area Class A gymnasts, Watertown-Aberdeen hockey players
It was a busy week (Dec. 11-16) for area high school wrestlers that included the Northeast Conference boys and girls tournament at Milbank.
The host Bulldogs won the 10-team boys division with 173 points. Clark-Willow Lake was second (141.5), followed by Redfield (119) and Sisseton (115).
Tate Schlueter (175 pounds) was the lone champion for Milbank. Other champs were Kayden Tchida (106), Ian Metz (126), Holden Hawkins (144) and Mason Shultz (190) of Sisseton; Brody Randall of Hamlin-Castlewood (113); Cooper Pommer (120) and Elliot Bratland (165) of Clark-Willow Lake; Conner Zens (132), Collin Dean (157), Chase McGillivary (215) and Grady Fey (285) of Redfield; Haeden Jorgenson (138) of Webster Area; and Christian Ehresmann of Groton Area (150).
Sisseton edged Webster Area 66-64 in the seven-team girls division, getting individual titles from Harley Iverson at 107 and Isabelle Skarnagle (126).
Other champions included Liza Krueger of Groton Area (100); Dani Batchelor of Clark-Willow Lake (114); Jocelyn Rumpca (120), Brooke Gracjzyk (138) and Katie Snyder of Webster Area (165); and Kyra Tostenson of Milbank (185).
Other Area Wrestling
Valley City (N.D.) Holiday Tourney — Rayden Zens (13-2) won the 127-pound title to lead Aberdeen Central's grapplers to a fourth-place finish in the tourney on Saturday. Other Aberdeen Central place winners were Payton Ewing (fifth at 114), Will Allen (fifth at 121), Porter Lozenski (fifth at 127), Tate Huff (third at 133), Ridley Waldo (third at 139), Owen Ward (seventh at 145), Noah Kramer (eighth at 160), Elias Biegler (fifth at 160), Ryker Meister (seventh at 189), Samson Flakus (third at 215) and Joran Foss (fifth at 285).
Girls Border Brawl — Aberdeen Central's girls scored 114 points and took fourth out of 29 teams in the tournament held Saturday in Ashley, N.D. Avery Bendewald went 2-0 and won the 106-pound title for the Golden Eagles. Madyson Gillen was second at 112 and Katrina Gibson second at 155. Lin Paw Jone took fourth at 148, Jasmine Maas seventh at 136 and Ula Martin eighth at 118.
Regann Miles of Doland, who finished second at 148, was one of five other area place winners (two from Webster and one each from Groton Area and Mobridge).
Lakota Nation Invitational — Tiospa Zina wrestlers competed in the tourney at Rapid City. The Wambdi got fourth-place finishes from Tawakandhdi Eastman (113 boys) and Kross German (285 boys) and Reegan Cook (100 girls).
Madison Invitational (Boys and Girls) — Milbank took seventh and Sisseton 14th out of 18 teams in the boys tournament. In the girls tourney, Sioux Valley tied for ninth to lead a group of area wrestlers from Sisseton and Tiospa Zina.
Milbank had four place winners and Sisseton two in the boys division. There were six area place winners in the girls division, including 107-pound champion Harley Iverson of Sisseton. Vi Anderson of Sisseton (132) and Summer Guthmiller of Sioux Valley (138) each took second.
Titan Invitational — Redfield took second out of 18 teams in the Mount Vernon-Plankinton/Corsica-Stickney Invitational with 149 points.
Chase McGillivary (215) and Grady Fey (285) each won titles for Redfield. Maddon Odland (106), Conner Zens (132) and Camden Murray (190) each were second.
Other area champions included Brody Randall of Hamlin-Castlewood (113), Haeden Jorgenson of Webster Area (138), Gage Baumgarn of Webster Area (157) and Alex Pudwill of Warner-Northwestern (190).
Other Sports Dec. 4-10: Estelline-Hendricks gymnasts and Watertown Laker boys' hockey team also have strong week
Cossack Avalanche — Kingsbury County scored 225 points and rolled to the team title at Volga on Saturday. Caden Singrey (120), Cody Zell (126), Conner Giedd (144), Sheldon Balderston (157), Kaleb Johnson (165), Marshall Holz (190) and Connor Johnson (215) each won titles for the Knights. Sutton Murphy (138) and Breyton Johnson (190) added runner-up finishes.
Wyatt Hagen (106) and Christian Ehresmann (150) of Groton Area and Tate Steffensen (132) and Owen Vandeweerd of Sioux Valley (285) also won titles.
Other area runner-ups included Gavin Kloos of Deuel (150), Walker Zoellner (132) and Gavin Englund (285) of Groton Area and Wyatt Hardt of Sioux Valley (157).
Sioux Valley Quadrangular — Clark-Willow Lake went 3-0 and Sioux Valley 0-3 in a quadrangular last week. Cade Gaikowski (106), Cooper Pommer (120), Damian Severson (132), Logan Foster (138-144), Taylor Merkel (138-144), Austin Vig (150), Elliot Bratland (165) and Collin Gaiwkowski (215) each went 3-0 for CWL.
Owen Vandeweerd (285) went 3-0 for Sioux Valley. Summer Guthmiller, another Cossack, went 3-0 in 138/145 girls' matches.
Hockey
Watertown Lakers (Boys) — The Lakers (4-3) closed out their pre-Christmas schedule by splitting two South Dakota Amateur Hockey Association games on the road. After falling 5-4 to Sioux Falls East on Friday, the Lakers won 5-3 at Huron on Saturday.
Mylan Evans recorded a goal and four assists, Jake Bramer and Tommy Foley each had two goals and two assists, Austin McBride one goal and two assists and Hudson Hendricks two goals over the weekend to lead the Lakers, Watertown also got 47 saves from goalie Kohl Nygaard. Sawer Knopf added a goal and Kowynn Muhl an assist against Huron.
Watertown hosts Brookings on Friday, Dec. 29 at 8 p.m. in the Maas Ice Arena.
Watertown Lakers (Girls) — The Laker girls (0-6) lost at Sioux Falls 4-1 on Saturday and at Oahe 6-2 on Sunday.
Amerie Serie had an unassisted goal against Sioux Falls. Harper Hendricks and Janel Lloyd each scored goals and Hendricks and Gracelyn Webb each recorded assists against Oahe. Angelyn Birnell recorded 59 saves in the two games.
The Lakers travel to Brookings on Friday, Dec. 29.
Aberdeen Cougars (Boys) — The Cougars (5-2) topped Huron in a SDAHA game at home on Sunday, winning 9-0 behind Brady Huff's four goals and an assist. Devon Fischbach added two goals and two assists and Lance Siefken one and two. Brady Oswald and Jack Podoll each tallied goals. Cameron Backous, Jackson Garstecki and Jaxon Danielson each added assists. Colton Townsend made 15 saves in net.
The Cougars return to SDAHA play on Jan. 5-7 (2024) when they host Watertown, Sioux Falls West and Sioux Falls East.
Abedeen Cougars (Girls) — After dropping a 2-1 overtime game against Dickinson, N.D. on Friday, the Cougars returned to SDAHA action by winning 7-1 at Oahe on Saturday and winning 5-1 at home to Sioux Falls on Sunday.
Rachel Siefken notched a hat trick and an assist against Oahe and Olivia Sandvig did the same on Sunday against Sioux Falls.
Addyson Keller, Aiden Raap, Alyssa Roehrich anhd Sandvig each added goals at Oahe with Morgan Jones tallying three assists, Kailyn Poppen two and Kaylee Dixon and Allison Woehl one each. Vikander added seven saves.
Siefken and Roehrich also scored on Sunday with Raap, Raniesa Mattke and Roehrich adding assists. Vikander stopped 20 shots for the Cougars, who return to SDAHA play on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 6-7 (2024) when they visit Rushmore.
20 Favorites: Links to the stories highlighting the best northeastern South Dakota athletes since 1984
Area Gymnastics
Milbank Invite — Britton-Hecla capped a good week by topping seven teams to win the Milbank Invite on Saturday with a score of 132.25. Deuel was second 131.9 and Aberdeen Central third 128.45.
Sterling Mertens of Britton Hecla won the vault (8.9), uneven bars (8.55) and all-around (34.5) titles. Hannah Cutshaw of Deuel won the balance beam (9.0) and floor exercise (9.45) and finished second in the all-around (34.1). Laycee Andersen of Deuel took third (33.05) and Macyn Dunnihoo of Milbank fourth (32.5).
Johanna Jarrott finished second in the vault (8.8) for Aberdeen Central. Addison Everson placed in the vault and uneven bars and tied for 10th in the all-around. Brecken Santjer and Regan Lust each had top-10 finishes in two events and Izzy Loecker and Alexis Bomesberger one each.
Britton-Hecla Invite — The Braves won the four-team meet with a score of 134.35. Deuel was second at 132.6.
Kaegan Frederickson and Abigail Lee of Britton-Hecla tied for first in the vault (8.5) and finished first (33.35) and second (32.85), respectively, in the all-around competition. Sterling Mertens of Britton-Hecla won the uneven bars (8.65) and shared the floor-exercise title with Hannah Brown of Milbank Area (9.35). Ava Teveldal of Britton-Hecla won the balance beam (9.4).
Brown finished third (32.8), Kennady Van Lith of Britton-Hecla fourth (32.75) and Macyn Dunnihoo of Milbank Area fifth (31.6) all-around.
Estelline-Hendricks vs. Brookings — The defending state Class A champion Redhawks downed Class AA Brookings 138.4-133.6 in a dual.
Sadie Johnson led the way, winning the vault (9.45), balance beam (9.45), floor exercise (9.55) and all-around titles (37.6). Teammate Portia Trias took the uneven bars (9.25) and Maggie Hausman was fourth (33.05) and Payge Ebbers fiofth (32.95) in the all-around competition.
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: Last week's highlights from area wrestling, gymnastics and hockey
