Governors Defeat Brookings 55-18 in ESD Matchup

The Pierre Governors continued with their undefeated dual season this evening with a 55-18 victory over Brookings in their first ESD home dual.  The win extends the conference record to 3-0, and a 6-0 overall record with an important ESD matchup against #2 ranked Aberdeen on Thursday evening. 

#3 ranked Jack Van Camp looks to earn a pin against #9 ranked Connor Klinkhammer during the second period of their 106lb matchup.

With only three home duals outside of the East vs. West matchups the Governors face added pressure when competing in front of a large home crowd.  Coach Shawn Lewis noted "There is added pressure when wrestling at home.  We don't get to compete at home very often so when we do the guys want to make sure that they are at their best.  They want to be able to show the whole town how hard they work."  The Governors opened the dual with a pins by Jack Van Camp and Lincoln Turman, a forfeit for Trevor Adamson, and a 10-0 major decision by William Turman at 126lbs to take a 22-0 lead.

#1 ranked William Turman works on top of #8 ranked Carson Klinkhammer to earn a 10-0 major decision in their 126lbs matchup.

Cade Hinkle moved up a weight class to compete against Sam Lehman and with his 5-2 loss the Brookings Bobcats earned their first points on the evening.  Forfeits awarded to Michael Lusk at 138lbs and Logan Meyer at 145lbs, and a major decision by Aric Williams over Justine Devine at 152lbs extended the Governor lead to 38-3.  Filling in for Garrett Leesman at 160lbs, Riley Kruger was pinned in the first period by last year state finalist Tate Coon, and Lucas Stoltenburg suffered a 4-0 loss to #2 ranked Jacob Schoon at 170lbs. The Stoltenburg match-up against highly ranked Schoon was deemed one of the most significant of the evening.  Stoltenburg is ranked #3 at 182lbs, and dropped down a weight class for just these two weeks of competition.  When reflecting on the 4-0 loss, Lewis stated that, "Lucas wrestled very well. Schoon is a very offensive kid who can throw a ton of points on an opponent.  Lucus did a nice job of slowing the pace and he also stayed in really good position.  Any time you can do those things against high level opponents you are putting yourself in a position to win a match."

#3 ranked Aric Williams looks to turn Justin Devine during their 152lb match-up.

In three of the final four weight classes the Governors earned a pin by Gage Gehring at 182lbs, a technical fall by Spencer Sarringar at 195lbs, followed by a pin in the first period by Levi Stoltenburg against Gus Miller.  In the 285lb match, Ty Paulsen lost by pin to returning state champion Eddie Miller in the second period to close out the dual with the 55-18 win.  "Our offensive and aggressive wrestling style showed through tonight," said Lewis.  "We had two matches, Williams and Sarringar, that we physically and mentally broke kids.  We made them not want to be out on the mat anymore.  We also had two matches, Van Camp and Gage Gehring, that we were down, won the scramble and got pins."

#1 ranked Spencer Sarringar earns nearfall by tilting #9 ranked Cole Eidem on his way to a 16-1 tech fall in the 195lb match.

One of the most difficult features of this weeks completion is the need for the team to make their designated weight up to three times on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  When asked how he has worked with the team to manage this difficult task Lewis stated, "Three weigh-ins this week along with last weeks RC Invite is a tough part of our schedule.  We also have also more weigh-ins on our schedule then any one kid is allowed.  This has benefited us by allowing us to rest some kids.  We also combat that with weighing in a couple kids up a weight class to take the strain and focus off of weight cutting and back on what is important, and that is performing well." 

Resulting from a need to have wrestlers sit out at least one weigh-in during the year (wrestlers are only allowed 14 during the season and with the addition of The Clash Dual Tournament the Governors are at 15 this season), the Governors were short #3 ranked Austin Senger (138lb), # 11 Maguire Raske (152lbs), and Garrett Leesman (160lbs).  To comply with this SDHSAA rule requires strategic decisions to be made the Coach Lewis and John Kalda.  "We shifted to fill out our lineup. It didn't really change the number of match-ups, instead it allowed us to dictate who wrestled who," said Lewis.  These wrestlers will be back in action for the Thursday dual in Aberdeen.  Overall matchups and scores for the Governors during the dual included:

• 106lbs - #3 Jack Van Camp won by fall over #9 Connor Klinkhammer
• 113lbs - #1 Lincoln Turman won by fall over Jason Nixon
• 120lbs - Trevor Adamson won by Forfeit
• 126lbs - #1 William Turman over #8 Carson Klinkhammer 10-0
• 132lbs - #7 Cade Hinkle lost 5-2 against Sam Lehman
• 138lbs - #1 Michael Lusk won by Forfeit
• 145lbs - Logan Meyer won by Forfeit
• 152lbs - #3 Aric Williams won 10-1 over Justin Devine
• 160lbs - Riley Kruger lost by fall against #1 Tate Coon
• 170lbs - #3 Lucas Stoltenburg lost 4-0 against #2 Jacob Schoon
• 182lbs - Gage Gehring won by fall over #9 Logan Hadley
• 195lbs - #1 Spencer Sarringer won 16-1 against #9 Cole Eidem
• 220lbs - #5 Levi Stoltenburg won by fall over #9 Gus Miller
• 285lbs - #8 Ty Paulsen lost by fall against #1 Eddie Miller

After the Aberdeen dual on Thursday, the Governors will travel to Elk Point where they will compete against a number of ranked B programs including #2 Canton, #4 Beresford/Alcester Hudson, #7 Bon Homme Scotland, and #11 Parkston.  The Governors have won the team title at this event the past two years.