The Governor wrestling program inched closer to their season goal of securing a third straight State Class A championship as they traveled to Mitchell on Saturday to compete at the Region 3A tournament. The Governors held true to their other tournament performances this year by securing a second straight Region 3A title as they generated 237.5 points to outpace #3 ranked Aberdeen Central by 39.5 points. Overall the team advanced nine wrestlers to the finals generating six individual champions. In total thirteen Governors will advance to compete at the State Class A tournament in Sioux Falls this Friday and Saturday. Following the victory head coach Shawn Lewis noted, "We are really close to the level we need to be at moving into state. We wrestled the best as a team that we have all year at Regions. We are close to peaking and next weekend we will be at that point. It is a building up process and we are ready."
The Governor Wrestling team strikes a familiar pose as they take the team picture following their Region 3A victory.
The Governors first champion on the day was Lincoln Turman who advanced into the finals with a first period pin over Huron's Tyson Lien and then faced Daymon Steuck from Aberdeen Central in the finals. Despite a first period pin against Steuck in their previous meeting, Turman secured the major decision with a 10-0 win in route to his second straight region title. William Turman won by pin over Spencer Titus from Aberdeen in the semifinals, then earned a 5-0 victory over #3 ranked Collin Powell of Chamberlain to secure his third straight region championship. At 132lbs Michael Lusk defeated Aberdeen's Will Jarrott by major decision 14-4 in their semifinal match, and then closed out a 13-8 win in a high scoring match-up with Huron's Chipper Shillingstad who had defeated Lusk earlier this month in the ESD dual. The win by Lusk helped to ensure the #1 seed at the state tournament this coming weekend. "Michael Lusk winning the rubber match against Shillingstad will prove to be key come state seeding," noted Lewis. "Michael needed that one, and he demonstrated his ability as a very technical wrestler as the battle of styles between him and Shillingstad continue to be fun to watch."
William Turman works to turn the corner against Chamberlain's Collin Powell during their championship match. Turman went on to win his 3rd straight Region 3A title with a 5-0 victory.
Austin Senger put up a dominant performance at 138lbs on his way to a fourth straight Region 3A championship with first period victories over Sutton Carpenter from Mitchell and Austin Cihak from Aberdeen. In total Senger wrestled for less than 2:23 minutes at the tournament. Aric William's path to the finals came through a first period pin against Matthew Katz from Huron, and he then won by tech fall late in the third period against Barry Browning from Mitchell. Similar to the achievements of Lusk and William Turman, the victory in the finals signaled a third straight region championship for Williams. Finally, Spencer Sarringar won the 195lb weight class in a loaded field with the #1, #3 and #4 wrestlers in the state each vying for important seeding criteria. Sarringar won by fall over Jacob Rieger from Huron in 1:02, then majored #4 ranked Jake Flakus from Aberdeen 10-2. Sarringars other region championship had previously been his eighth grade year when he competed at 106lbs for the Governors.
Austin Senger works to turn Aberdeen's Austin Cihak during their championship match. Senger won his fourth straight Region 3A title with a first period pin in the finals.
In addition to these six Governor wrestlers, Jace Bench Bresher, Lucas Stoltenburg and Levi Stoltenburg each advanced to the finals but were unsuccessful in their title bids. Despite receiving the #3 seed Bench Bresher won an exciting semifinal match against Mitchell's Logan Sparks 11-7. "Classic case of who wants it more," said assistant coach John Wayne Kalda. "Jace has everything on his side except for the size right now. He put together a great match to where he didn't let that size difference come into play." He then lost by pin in the finals against #3 ranked Victor Padilla from Aberdeen Central. Lucas Stoltenburg edged out Wyatt Larsen from Huron in a 2-0 victory, then injury defaulted to Aberdeen's Braiden Nelson in the finals. Levi Stoltenburg won by pin in :22 in the opening round, and then a :29 second pin in the semifinals against Zeb Parson's from Mitchell. During the finals Stoltenburg eventually lost by fall against Marshal Simons from Huron.
Jace Bench Bresher secures back-points against Mitchell's Logan Sparks during their semifinal match. The win helped secure a runner-up finish for Bench-Bresher.
Of the four remaining Governors that advanced by placing at the region tournament, all secured victories in their consolation championship matches. Jack Van Camp lost in the semifinal against #1 ranked Jacob Moore 12-4, then came out on top in an important match against Michell's Kyler Bauder 8-2 despite having lost to Bauder during their most recent match-up at the Yankton Invitational. "Jack really helped himself out by having a great regional tournament and beating Bauder for 3rd and 4th gave him a tie in the series and the last win," said Lewis. "That should set him up nicely for State and give him the confidence he needs to place." Maguire Raske was knocked back following a 6-2 loss against #2 ranked Trent Francom from Huron, but then despite two earlier losses this year Raske scored a takedown late in the third period to win against Briggs Havlik from Mitchell 5-4. "Maguire Raske proved to everyone he can wrestle with anyone," commented Lewis. "Beating Havlik should put him in at a favorable seed and since he tied the series, the last win gives him the criteria he needs." Garrett Leesman lost to the eventual region champion Kyle Foote from Mitchell in the semifinals, and then defeated Cole Brewer from Cheyenne-Eagle Butte/Dupree in the wrestle-backs and then finished third following an injury default against Huron's Nick Christensen. Finally, Ty Paulsen was defeated in the semifinals against Abredeen's Austin Maunu 5-1, but then secured pins during his final two matches closing out with a :37 second victory over Mitch Schladweiler from Mitchell.
Maguire Raske works to return Mitchell's Brigg's Havlik during their 3rd place match. Raske went on to win 5-4 to secure the victory.
Gage Gehring lost his opening match against Remington Rossow from Chamberlain, but despite a win in the wrestle backs, Gehring lost 8-1 against #2 seeded Cole Dockter from Milbank who had been upset in the semifinals. The loss hindered his ability to advance to compete at the state tournament. Reflecting on Gehring's performance on Saturday, Lewis said "For someone who doesn't qualify it is a hard conversation to have as coaches. Ultimately I know that they feel that they let the team down. We as coaches have to remind them that sometimes in life things don't always go as planned. It is now what you do from here. You made the people around you better by pushing yourself and you made this team what it is. He just has to remember that the work put in this season may not come to fruition until this time next year." The individual performance results for each Governor wrestler over the weekend included:
- 106lbs - Jack Van Camp - 3rd (3-1)
- 113lbs - Lincoln Turman - Champion (3-0)
- 120lbs - William Turman - Champion (3-0)
- 126lbs - Jace Bench Bresher - 2nd (2-1)
- 132lbs - Michael Lusk - Champion (3-0)
- 138lbs - Austin Senger - Champion (2-0)
- 145lbs - Aric Williams - Champion (3-0)
- 152lbs - Maguire Raske - 3rd (3-1)
- 160lbs - Garrett Lessman - 3rd (3-1)
- 170lbs - Gage Gehring - DNP (1-2)
- 182lbs - Lucas Stoltenburg - 2nd (2-1)
- 195lbs - Spencer Sarringar - Champion (2-0)
- 220lbs - Levi Stoltenburg - 2nd (2-1)
- 285lbs - Ty Paulsen - 3rd (2-1)
The six individual champions for the Governor's pose with their brackets following the Region 3A tournament including William Turman, Michael Lusk, Spencer Sarringar, Aric Williams, Austin Senger and Lincoln Turman.
For the closing week of practice "first and foremost we start looking at first round match-ups and adjusting where we need to," said Kalda. "But this week is also about getting the attitudes and focus adjusted to the weekend before us. Getting technique dialed in, working through every possible situation that they might encounter. We know what our team goals are but that will come as long as we are reaching our individual goals, that where we start this week." The Governors depart for Sioux Falls on Thursday morning with competition beginning at 10:00 on Friday morning at the Sanford Premier Center.
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