This year will serve as the 15th anniversary of The Clash National Dual Tournament which is hosted in Rochester, MN as an invite only dual tournament featuring teams from around the country. This year the top wrestling teams from 15 states including Minnesota (9), Illinois (4) California (3), Oregon (2), South Dakota (1), North Dakota (1), Utah (1), Georgia (1), Arizona (1), Florida (1), Missouri (1), Wisconsin (1), Nebraska (1) Washington (1), and Alabama (1) will compete on December 30th and 31st. Coming off back-to-back State Class A Wrestling titles, the Governor wrestling program earned an invite to the prestigious event at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season, and will face-off against some the most competitive teams around the country after the return from the holiday break. "Any time you have an opportunity like going to The Clash, getting to represent your school and your state, you feel obligated to do so," said head coach Shawn Lewis regarding their desire to accept the invitation from the steering committee. "Our schedule is tough already, but we are always looking for new teams and better competition to wrestle in order for us to get better. Some of our kids also desire to wrestle at the next level. Going to a tournament like The Clash gets them nationally ranked opponents and can get them on someone's recruiting radar. You get a chance to see where you stack up against the best teams in the nation and not just your surrounding states."
The structure for the tournament includes the formation of four 8-man brackets with the 32 teams seeded based on criteria established by the tournament directors. Teams are assigned to their respective brackets with an initial goal of ensuring that nationally ranked teams and teams from the same state do not face each other in the first or second round. The 16 teams that win their opening dual are guarantee a team placing in the top 16, and will automatically compete in the afternoon pools on December 31st. A teams placing in their opening 8-man team bracket determines the placing round pools for the second day of competition, with all first place teams wrestling the top teams from each of the four first day brackets, and so forth for all remaining seven placing's. Of the 32 invited teams for this year there are 3 rated in the top 5 in the nation including #2 St. Edwards (OH), #3 Lake Highland Prep (FL), and #5 Buchanan (CA). In reflecting on a potential match-up against one of these perennial powerhouses assistant coach John Wayne Kalda noted "I think we proved to ourselves this past summer that we can run with most teams. The key will be when in the tournament we see teams like this. The Disney Duals this summer was a great indicator of where we are and can be as a team. But what we lack is the depth that most of these top 10 teams have. They have the ability to give kids breaks throughout the tourney and a lot of times, their back-ups are just as good. This is important as you get deeper into the tournament and start seeing higher caliber teams."
Members of the 2016 Governor Wrestling team that competed at the AAU Scholastic Community Division Duals in Orlando, CA in June 2016.
Since its inception in 2004, a total of 14 South Dakota teams have garnered invites to the tournament with Bon Homme being the first to compete at The Clash II in 2004. Sturgis earned the states highest team placing at the event with a 13th place finish the year they set the Class A State Wrestling team point total. Overall, the average placing at the event for South Dakota teams has been 24th with previous Pierre Governor teams splitting this mark during their two appearances.
- Clash II (2004) - Bon Homme (32nd)
- Clash III (2005) - Winner (23rd)
- Clash IV (2006) - Bonne Homme (25th) & Winner (30th)
- Clash V (2007) - Canton (25th)
- Clash VI (2008) - Wagner (20th)
- Clash VII (2009) - Sturgis (21st)
- Clash VIII (2010) - Sturgis (13th)
- Clash X (2011) - Pierre (22nd), Rapid City Central (27th) & Mitchell (28th)
- Clash XI (2012) - Rapid City Central (22nd) & Pierre (25th)
- Clash XII (2013) - Parkston (25th)
Prior to his transition to Pierre as an Elementary Principal, Bill Kaiser was the head coach of the 2005 Winner team that competed at The Clash III. Although the tournament was in its infancy at the time Kaiser saw it as a honor just to be invited and given the opportunity to wrestle against some of the best teams in the Midwest. "I was a coach that had the attitude that we wanted to compete against the best and we really worked hard to adjust our schedule accordingly," said Kaiser. "We got into the Rapid tournament and the Brookings dual tournament as we just wanted to wrestle the best competition possible to get us ready for the region/state tournament. The Clash was not only a great opportunity to wrestle great competition, it was something I knew our wrestlers and parents would remember."
Unless one has a perennial powerhouse like the top ranked teams in the country, the invitation can be a blessing that may come a year or two late as the steering committee often identifies top teams based on their previous years performance. Kaiser noted "I can still remember the 2005 guys saying 'Man I wish we could have come last year,' as our 2004 team was very, very good." That team had won the Class A State Tournament for the 2003-04 season and coming off one of the most impressive tournament and dual records for the small Class A school. Their 2005 team eventually finished 6th overall at the state tournament the year they competed at The Clash. "Our first dual against Hastings, MN we lost 40-27, but there were three matches where we were rated #1 in South Dakota and they were rated #1 in Minnesota and we lost all three (two in overtime and the other by one point). It was a great dual but opened our eyes a little bit to the physicality/aggressiveness of the teams we would be competing against when actually we felt we were pretty aggressive." With the caliber of teams attending it presents an opportunity for college coaches around the area to attend and scout wrestlers from the top programs. Even unexpected fans have been draw to the event to support former teammates or family members. "The other memorable moment was seeing Cael Sanderson (undefeated 4-time NCAA champion and current Penn State head coach) there watching his little brother wrestle," said Kaiser. "He sat up in a chair overlooking the gym and I remember all the guys just being in awe that he was actually there."
As noted in the complete list of South Dakota entries above, the Pierre Governors received invites the years they earned South Dakota Class A State Championship titles during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons. At The Clash X, the Governors earned their highest overall placing with a 22nd place finish. Following a close 31-24 loss to Kasson-Mantorville (MN) in the opening round, the Governors defeated Prior Lakes (MN) 43-24 in the second round then fell 44-27 against Marist (IL). This positioned Pierre in the sixth place pool on the second day of competition where they earned a 34-28 win over Hastings (MN) and 37-27 win over Owatanna (MN) before losing in the closing round against Lewiston (ID) 42-26. Chase Lettau, the lone senior on the team, finished 6-0 during the tournament and four others finished with 4-2 record during the two day event (Aaron O'Day, Seth Scott, Kyle Sarringar and Lane Lettau).
2011 Governor Wrestling team competing at The Clash included: 106lb Spencer Sarringer, 106lb Jebben Keyes, 113lbs Nick Wiebe, 120lbs Luke Snyder, 126lb Tanner Monfore, 132lb Caleb Stoltenburg, 132lb Chase Harmon, 138lbs Aaron O'Day; 145lb Alec Williams, 145lb AJ Dorschner, 152lb Dawson Monfore; 160lb Seth Scott; 170lb Sayth Jacobson; 170lb Kyle Sarringer; 182lb Chase Lettau; 195lb Trey Maier; 220lb Lane Lettau; and 285lb Dylan Bennett.
The Clash X - Governor Wrestling Highlight (2011)
At The Clash XI the Governors went 1-2 during the first day of competition losing 41-27 against Brook (NJ) and 45-29 to Arrowhead Union (WI), yet finished the day with a 38-27 win against Zumbrota Mazeppa (MN) to advance into the seventh place pool during the second day of the event. During the placing rounds, the Governor's opened with a 51-15 win over Thompson (AL) and and a 51-24 win over Rochester Mayo (MN). In their final dual the team defeated a tough Corona Del Sol (AZ) team 29-27 to earn the team title for the seventh place pool with a 25th place finish. Ryan Noyes, Governor head coach at the time indicated "This experience was memorable for the kids because it provided that we could complete with teams that had been notoriously untouchable for years." In particular the dual against Corona Del Sol was a high point for the team as it was coached by former 1984 Olympic bronze medalist Jim Martinez. "I remember thinking at the time," said Noyes, "that despite being short handed at two critical weight classes our kids just beat a very good team coached by an Olympic medalist. I was certainly proud of their effort and this moment in particular where kids emptied the tank and competed as hard as they could to represent their community." Standouts at the event were both Kyle Sarringar (6-0) and Lane Lettau (5-0) who earned all tournament honors at 220lbs.
2012 Governor Wrestling team competing at The Clash included: 106lb Spencer Sarringer; 106lb Aric Williams (not pictured); 113lb Jebben Keyes; 120lb Blaine Geppart; 132lb Tanner Monfore; 138lb Caleb Stoltenburg; 145lb AJ Dorschner; 152lb Alec Williams (not pictured); 152lb Seth Scott; 160lb Dawson Monfore; 170lb Sayth Jacobsen; 182lbs Kyle Sarringer; 220lb Lane Lettau; and 285lb Dylan Bennett.
The Clash XV - Governor Wrestling Highlight (2012)
The 2016 Governors bring an impressive line-up to The Clash XV with four top rated wrestlers and seven other wrestlers ranked in their respective weight classes. As the team prepares during the holiday break the Governors "have really went back to technique this past week," said Lewis. "We took away some positions from our last competitions that we really need to improve on as individuals and as a team. We have been drilling those hard and will continue to add to the list of places to get better. Next week we will start really hitting situational wrestling hard in order to maximize match points. These situations we feel need to be reiterated in order for us to be competitive in each and every dual."
Seeding for the upcoming tournament is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on December 26th, and once the opening round draws have been set for the Governors the Governor Wrestling Blog will provide an overview of the key match-ups of the opening dual along with potential team match-ups in the 8-team pool draw for the first days action.
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