Britton-Hecla’s Bryce Hawkinson was crowned the 144-pound champion and five other teammates placed among the top five at the Kingsbury County Tournament held in Arlington on Saturday.
Hawkinson, now 20-2 and ranked fourth in the state, cruised to his title with a 6-0 decision in his opening match, a pin in semifinal play, and a 7-3 decision in the championship match. Other B-H placers were Dashel Davidson (10-13), fourth at 157 pounds; Lincoln Kilker (9-13), fifth at 106; Colton Chapin (3-4), fifth at 165; Ben Suther (22-9), fifth at 175; and Tucker Hardy (19-8), fifth at 215. Hardy currenty is ranked ninth in the state.The Braves scored 118 team points to place seventh in the 14-team field.
“I think we keep hitting new bests as far as team points go,” said B-H coach Josh Hawkinson. “We also got to the semis and third round wrestlebacks and looked around and everybody we brought with us was still alive. It’s been a long time since that has happened.”
The Braves’ boss is happy with the progress shown by his squad.
“We have a lot of wrestling coming up the next couple of weeks and that will tell us where we sit for the regional tournament. Right now I like where we are sitting and what it looks like.”
Hawkinson’s crew was back in action last night Tuesday in its only home match of the season against Sioux Valley and Deuel. On Friday the local matmen travel to Groton Area for duals with the Tigers, McLaughlin, and Canistota. The Braves are back in Groton on Saturday for a tournament that includes teams from Groton Area, Timber Lake, Warner-Northwestern, Ipswich-Bowdle, Sully Buttes, Potter County, Sioux Valley, McLaughlin, Milbank, and Viborg-Hurley/Irene Wakonda.
TEAM POINTS: Kingsbury County 238.5, Canby, MN 173.5, Sioux Falls Washington 167.5, Redfield Area 162.5, Groton Area 153.5, Brookings 126, Britton-Hecla 118, Flandreau 114.5, Sioux Valley 88, Lyman 50.5, Hamlin-Castlewood 30, Warner-Northwestern 30, Ipswich-Leola-Bowdle 19.5, Viborg-Hurley/Irene-Wakonda 0
106 POUNDS: Lincoln Kilker (BH) pinned Ryker Rybinski (Canby) 3:33; pinned by Ryatt Knippling (Lyman) 5:14; pinned Aston Duncan (Flandreau) :41; dec. Silas Williams (SF Washington) 21-13; lost by tech fall to Kyson Sundberg (Sioux Valley) TF-1.5 2:53 (17-1); Fifth place match: won by injury default over Chance Miller (Ipswich/Leola/Bowdle) 3:56
120 POUNDS: Carter Grobe (BH) pinned by Eli Greenman (Canby) 1:54; pinned Rennick Wagner (Sioux Valley) :15; pinned by Kyson Kucker (Groton Area) 3:16
138 POUNDS: Max Suther (BH) lost by tech fall to Caden Singrey (Kingsbury County) TF-1.5 3:31 (16-0); pinned Preston Roberts (Hamlin/Castlewood) 1:33; pinned Cutler Davis (Kingsbury County) 2:09; lost dec. Brett Stoks (Canby) 11-8
144 POUNDS: Bryce Hawkinson (BH) dec. Lane Citrowske (Canby) 6-0; pinned Chris Schwab (Groton Area) 3:05; First place match: dec. Greyson Nielson (Kingsbury County) 7-3
157 POUNDS: Dashel Davidson (BH) pinned Zachary Fisher (Hamlin/Castlewood) 3:25; pinned Vanden Virchow (Sioux Valley) 1:26; pinned by Christian Ehresmann (Groton Area) :43; pinned James Fitzpatrick (Brookings) 4:00; Third place match: lost dec. to Donovan Sandven (Kingsbury County) 16-7
165 POUNDS: Colton Chapin (BH) pinned by Collin Dean (Redfield Area) 3:04; dec. Ben Hoeft (Groton Area) 9-3; pinned Miles Gerlach (Brookings) 2:11; pinned by Collin Dean (Redfield Area) 2:08; Fifth place match: pinned Colten Walsh (Brookings) 4:32
175 POUNDS: Ben Suther (BH) pinned Tavian Schwartz (Redfield Area) 1:34; pinned by Justin Klein (Flandreau) 3:58; pinned Alan Malanado (Canby) 2:54; dec. Sawyer Verhelst (Canby) 1-0; pinned by Zander Eidem (Sioux Falls Washington) 3:35; Fifth place match: pinned Wyatt Hardt (Sioux Valley) 2:19
190 POUNDS: Liam Paxton (BH) pinned Wyatt Larson (Lyman) 1:34; pinned by Lane Knutson (Sioux Falls Washington) :52; pinned Isaiah Scepaniak (Groton Area) :19; pinned by Rhyder Behnke (Flandreau) 1:35
215 POUNDS: Tucker Hardy (BH) pinned Charlie Frost (Groton Area) :45; lost dec. to Zach Hagemann (Brookings) 13-9; pinned Case Phelps (Kingsbury County) :22; pinned Wesley Verhelst (Canby) 1:29; lost dec. to Hayes Petersen (Sioux Falls Washington) 14-13; Fifth place match: won by medical forf
