Wrestlers Compete Well in Closing Weeks of Regular Season Following the Big Dakota Wrestling tournament this past weekend, the Ft. Pierre wrestling club hosted their annual youth wrestling tournament with close to 300 local wrestlers competing in the event. A total of 67 wrestlers from the Pierre Youth Wrestling program wrestled at the tournament on Sunday February 3 rd, with a total of 19 individual champions crowned at the event. Paul Turman, Pierre youth wrestling club president noted The Ft. Pierre program always pulls off a nice tournament and attracts a large number of kids from programs like Phillip, Rapid City, and Wall that we often don t get to see until the state tournament. We often find ourselves wrestling kids from our own club in many of the brackets, but the chance to wrestling a variety of other kids from around the state can be very rewarding. Individual champions at the Ft. Pierre tournament included Jacob Mason, Jacoby Taylor, Hudson Shaffer, Hayden Shaffer, Lincoln Schoenhard, Andrew Snyder, Garrett Leesman, DJ HighBear, Spencer Davis, Gunner Gehring, Steven Fullerton, Tyson Johnson, Noah Williams, Noah Williams, Gavin Stotts, Matthew Hostler, Nicholas Murphy, and Rylan Shrake. The 20 runner-ups at the event included Alex Oedekoven, Caleb Morris, Carson Stoeser, Kenyon Kuiper, Caynen Carr, Jett Zabel, Keith Gorham, Spencer Easland, Tristan Spencer, Sam Slocum, Ayden Blake Judson, Pierre youth wrestling club member (pictured in the red South Dakota singlet) elevates his Mt. Vernon opponent for a takedown at the Plankinton Youth Wrestling Tournament. Judson went on to place first at the event. Anderson, Brady Getz, Jeremiah Church, Mason Dell, Tyson Nemec, Gabe HighBear, Harlen Stotts, Justyee Murphy, Cadin Buchholz, and Pryce Dyk. A number of other wrestlers also placed third (Zayden Rounds, Damen Horsley, Owen Sivage, Brayden Houlette, Cole Rank, Elijah Boutchee, Jayce Anderson, Ridge Leimbach, Logan Meyer, Matt Rounds, Easton Swartz, Gage Gehring, Lee Snyder, Tristen Nemec, Tyrone Oldenkamp, Matthew King, Shawn Van Liere, Spencer Taylor) and fourth at the tournament (Cotton Cass, Dale Balfany, Cayden Morris, Gabriel Laroque, Isaac Gilk, Thomas Stobbe, Kylen Horsley, Zachary Oldenkamp, Wesley Harsma, Klarence Nichols). In other action around the state, a number of Pierre club members also travelled to Plankinton on Sunday February 2 nd, and Faulkton on Saturday February 1 st resulting in a significant number of individual champions at these two events. John Lusk, Pierre youth wrestling vice president stated that As we get further into the season we
start to see a handful of our wrestlers traveling to a variety of tournaments hosted by other clubs outside our regions to take advantage of key matchups that they are likely to face once the postseason arrives. Faulkton provides a great look at district two competition, and Plankinton has always attracted a large number of region three clubs. A sizable number of individual championships were awarded at these two events with tournament titles earned by Blake Judson, Jayden Wiebe, Gabe Turman, Will Turman, Lincoln Turman, Cade Hinkle, Will Van Camp, Jack Van Camp, Preston Dyk, and Tyson Johnson. All the remaining wrestlers earned runner-up finishes in their divisions including Maguire Raske, Jacob Larson, Samuel Larson. The next two weeks will provide an opportunity for club members to compete at the remainder of the regular season tournaments. Wrestlers will head to Gillette, Wyoming this weekend for the Wild Wild West Championships, as well as tournaments in Sturgis, Lemmon, Rapid City, Watertown, Custer, and Bon Homme. Ft. Pierre Invitational Jacob Mason 1 st Jacoby Taylor 1 st Hudson Shaffer 1 st Lincoln Schoenhard 1 st Andrew Snyder 1 st Garrett Leesman 1 st DJ HighBear 1 st Spencer Davis 1 st Gunner Gehring 1 st Steven Fullerton 1 st Tyson Johnson 1 st Noah Williams 1 st Gavin Stotts 1 st Matthew Hostler 1 st Nicholas Murphy 1 st Rylan Shrake 1 st Nathan Williams 1 st Hayden Shaffer 1 st Alex Oedekoven 2 nd Caleb Morris 2 nd Carson Stoeser 2 nd Kenyon Kuiper 2 nd Caynen Carr 2 nd Jett Zabel 2 nd Keith Gorham 2 nd Spencer Easland 2 nd Tristan Spencer 2 nd Sam Slocum 2 nd Ayden Anderson 2 nd Brady Getz 2 nd Jeremiah Church 2 nd Mason Dell 2 nd Tyson Nemec 2 nd Gabe HighBear 2 nd Harlen Stotts 2 nd Justyee Murphy 2 nd Cadin Buchholz 2 nd Pryce Dyk 2 nd Zayden Rounds 3 rd Damen Horsley 3 rd Owen Sivage 3 rd Brayden Houlette 3 rd Cole Rank 3 rd Elijah Boutchee 3 rd Jayce Anderson 3 rd Ridge Leimbach 3 rd Logan Meyer 3 rd Matt Rounds 3 rd Easton Swartz 3 rd Gage Gehring 3 rd Lee Snyder 3 rd Tristen Nemec 3 rd Tyrone Oldenkamp 3 rd Matthew King 3 rd Shawn Van Liere 3 rd Spencer Taylor 3 rd Cotton Cass 4 th Dale Balfany 4 th Cayden Morris 4 th Gabriel Laroque 4 th Isaac Gilk 4 th Thomas Stobbe 4 th Kylen Horsley 4 th
Zachary Oldenkamp 4 th Wesley Harsma 4 th Klarence Nichols 4 th Plankinton & Faulkton Blake Judson 1 st Jayden Wiebe 1 st Gabe Turman 1 st Lincoln Turman 1 st Will Turman 1 st Cade Hinkle 1 st Will Van Camp 1 st Jack Van Camp 1 st Preston Dyk 1 st Tyson Johnson 1 st Maguire Raske 2 nd Jacob Larson 2 nd Samuel Larson 2 nd