Wrestlers face tough competition
The Dogie grapplers had a light week with only a one-day tournament in Hill City Saturday. However, that tournament presented challenges to head coach Teigen Marchant’s squad as 25 teams from South Dakota were on hand to compete, resulting in 24-man brackets for some weight classes.
Only one wrestler placed at the tournament, but the Dogies still scored enough points to finish 14th of those 25 teams.
“The day went pretty decent,” Marchant said. “We had some tough matches that kind of got us, but overall I was pretty happy.”
Scott Larson was again the Dogies’ top finisher as he finished third in the 138-pound weight class.
He pinned Sundance in round two, then lost to Harding County by major decision in the quarter-finals. That sent him into the consolation round where he battled his way back to the third place match by pinning St. Thomas More, winning by injury default against Custer, and pinning Sturgis in the consolation semis. In the third-place match, Larson pinned Bennett County one minute into the second period.
“Scott did what Scott does, as per usual. The kid that Scott lost to didn’t move much on the bottom, which made it tough for Scott to score points,” Marchant said. “I can’t be more proud of how he wrestled, even though he had to work through some questionable officiating.”
Larson echoed Marchant’s thoughts regarding some of the officiating he had to work through.
“All week, I was feeling pretty good about going over to Hill City to wrestle, and then my second match was difficult with the officials,” he said. “It’s okay, though, because the guy who beat me ended up sixth and I was third, so that made me happy.”
Larson went from being seeded second in Belle Fourche to being seeded fifth at Hill City. That made his road a little tougher, but, as Larson pointed out, it just meant more wins for him.
“I have a goal to hit 100 wins before I’m done with the season,” Larson said, smiling. “I’m close with 97, so it just helped me to get a little closer to my goal.”
Troy Christensen (120) had a decent day going 3-2 on the day, only losing to Custer and Sturgis. However, he ended his day one round away from the blood round. Both of his losses were to wrestlers who finished well the weekend before.
Cayson Philips (126) had a tough draw, going 1-2 on the day. TJ Harrington (132) was 2-2 on the day, getting a first round pin against Hot Springs and claiming a tech fall victory over Hill City in the second round of the consolation bracket.
“I couldn’t be more proud of TJ,” Marchant said. “He has come a long way and I’m just really impressed with him. I hope he keeps going in the right direction.”
Dane Crabtree (157) had a strange draw in seeding due to the way the brackets were set up. He received a bye in the first round, then lost in round two to a Philip/Kadoka/Wall wrestler. Then, in the first two rounds of the consolation bracket, Crabtree drew byes only to lose to a Rapid City Central wrestler in the third round to end his day.
“Dane was just coming off being sick last week where he only got two practices,” Marchant said. “I’m hoping to have him back to full strength and healthy for regionals.”
Gustavo Munoz (175) had two pretty tough matches against Rapid City Central and Rapid City Stevens competitors, and Noah Williams-Gardner (190) went 1-2, claiming a victory in consolation round two with a pin over Harding Co., and then losing to a tough Rapid City Central opponent.
This week, the Dogies only wrestled a home dual against Moorcroft on Tuesday, which was also senior night for the team.