Place finishers: (L to R) Brock Bonte, Hannah Frewaldt, Hanna Hovarth, Jayse Miller, Hunter Abraham. (Photo by Kristen Westover)
On Saturday, December 4, Garretson Wrestlers headed to Flandreau to take on several area schools at the Flandreau Invitational.
"Out of 11 wrestlers 5 of them placed in the top 4 in their weight classes," said Head Coach Brady Schleuter.
Varsity wrestlers Jayse Miller (132) placed 2nd, Brock Bonte (138) placed 4th, and Hunter Abraham (145) placed 3rd.
This year, Garretson has 23 total wrestlers on its roster: 21 boys and 2 girls, Hannah Frewaldt and Hannah Hovarth. Both placed 2nd in the tournament.
"These two girls are the first women to ever place in a varsity tournament in Garretson wrestling history," Schleuter pointed out.
South Dakota High School Activities Association sanctioned girls' wrestling in 2019, becoming the 25th state to do so at the high school level. In its first year, 2020-21, there were 31 schools who fielded female wrestling teams.
Dan Swartos, head of SDHSAA, said he expected that number to grow for 2021-22.
“We’ve known for a while that we’ve got a good population of girl wrestlers in our youth wrestling programs and up to our AAU stages, and then when they get up to middle school or high school, those girls, the regions would go away, so to continue, they’d have to wrestle boys,” Swartos stated in an interview with SDPB. “The key is at the youth level. At a young age, getting the kids interested in it.”
Garretson has been no exception, with at least a couple girls practicing or wrestling each year at the youth level.
The Frewaldt name isn't unknown in wrestling, either. Shannon Frewaldt held the All-Time South Dakota Wrestling record for 1989, 1991, and 1992 in the 103, 125, and 130 weight classes and has been inducted in the SD Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Garretson will next participate in the Parker Quad today (Thursday), hitting the mat against the Sioux Valley, Parker, and Mount Vernon/Plankinton/Corsica-Stickney teams. The first home meet will be on Thursday, December 16 at 5:00 p.m. with Parker, McCook County/Montrose, and Howard.
