Wagner's Karstyn Lhotak to wrestle collegiately at Northern State

Dec. 14—ABERDEEN, S.D. — Karstyn Lhotak, of Wagner, signed with Northern State University to continue his wrestling career at the collegiate level, the NSU wrestling program announced in a release.

Listed at 5-foot-7 and projected to compete at 133 or 141 pounds at NSU, Lhotak is the defending Class B 120-pound state champion for the Red Raiders. Lhotak has started his final high school season at 138 pounds, and, as of Dec. 10, he was 7-3 with runner-up tournament finishes at the Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes Invitational and Howard Invite. All seven victories to date have come by fall, technical fall or forfeit.

Lhotak is a four-year starter and team captain for Wagner, qualifying for the state tournament three times and finishing as champion last season and runner-up at 106 pounds in 2022. Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Lhotak owns a record of 96-15.

Lhotak was one of four South Dakotans added to the Wolves' signing class, joining Grady Fey (Redfield), Sloan Johannsen (Watertown) and Rayden Zens (Aberdeen) along with Gavin Johnson (Kenyon, Minn.) and Brady Westall (New Prague, Minn.).