by Oran Sorenson
The sixty-one teams in Division B wrestling in the state of South Dakota met in the four locations of Gettysburg, Ft. Pierre, Parkston, and Canton this last Saturday to decide which sixteen boys in each of fourteen weight classes would qualify for the state finals this weekend in Sioux Falls at the T Denny Sanford Premier Complex. The eleven athletes from Garretson, along with coaches and other team personnel, left at 6:15 a.m. for the Canton location, the first time in the modern era that Canton would host this event.
The brackets for the regional event would be determined by a modern technology wizard known as TrackWrestling and confirmed at a coaches' meeting the previous Thursday night. Only heavyweight Tanner Baatz would earn a top four seed. Any other young Dragons would have to pull an upset or two to move on to the State Tournament.
The local boys wrestled a great day and by early afternoon had seven wrestlers in what has become known as the “blood round,” in other words each would have to battle one additional round and win to move on. Competition started at 9:30 a.m. with scheduling fast and furious, and by 4:30 in the afternoon the Blue Dragons had qualified three wrestlers for the state event.
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Our first qualifier was senior Carsten Rozeboom in the 144-lb weight bracket. Though he was the fifth seed, the coaching staff quickly found out how motivated Rozeboom was when he used the cradle to pin the fourth seed from Elk Point Jefferson in just fifty-five seconds. In round two Carsten would fall to the eventual champion from Canton. In the blood round Rozeboom would not be denied and punched his ticket to state with a 7-0 shut out of his opponent from Marion/Freeman. In the consolation finals Rozeboom would fall to his opponent from Chester by decision.
Carsten went on record in practice Thursday that he was going to qualify for state when he looked at the new wrestling board and said, “I am not going to be the only one of four brothers not to have his name on that board.”
Job well done, and mission accomplished young man!
Our second senior to qualify was unseeded Caleb Westerbur, whom the coaches moved up one weight class to 190 for this event. Caleb showed he too came ready to wrestle when he gave the number two seed from Canton a good match in round one, losing a close 5-3 decision. Westerbur really punched his ticket to state on the left side of the bracket when he defeated two opponents. One was from Parker on a 7-2 decision. In the second, Westerbur kept the home crowd on their feet with an overtime victory in the blood round over the number four seed from Tri Valley. Caleb earned the fourth-place medal on the award stand, losing his last match 6-3 to a Howard Tiger.
Freshman Tanner Baatz came into competition Saturday as the fourth seed but gave us even one better, earning the bronze medal by winning the heavyweight consolation finals over his opponent from Viborg/Hurley with a 3-minute fall. Tanner got off to a good start with a pin over his opponent from Elk Point Jefferson. His only loss of the day was in round two to a top seeded and state 2nd ranked opponent from Canton. Senior Traun Cook pinned Baatz in 2:41. Baatz then joined teammates Rozeboom and Westerbur, earning his way to the T. Denny in the blood round with a pin in 2:22 over a Pheasant from Parker. This moved him to the previously-mentioned consolation finals, ending the day at 3-1, the highest for our team.
The four boys ending just one victory short of the state meet were Lucas Luedwig, a seventh grader at 106, junior Brock Bonte at 150, senior foreign exchange student Lucas Gonzales at 157, and sophomore Cole Schleuter at 165. These four would next wrestle in a fifth-place match to earn a possible alternate spot at state should some athlete in the respective weight class be injured or sick and unable to compete. Bonte earned a pin this round in 1:35 over an opponent from Chester. Also earning team points for the Blue Dragons was Martin Welch, who moved up to the 215 class and earned one victory pinning an opponent from Marion/Freeman.
Others competing in the region competition were seventh grader Chase Costello at 113, eighth grader Talon Miller at 120, and freshman Ty VanHolland at 132. The Blue Dragons were open at 126, 138, and 175. Overall, this was one of, or quite possibly our best, team performances of the year and we wish our three qualifiers the best of luck Thursday and Friday in Sioux Falls. Canton was the eventual winner Saturday, and is expected to go on and be the heavy favorite to also win the state title as they have for so many recent years.
The State Tournament will be held February 22-24, with competition starting at 10:00 a.m. at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls. Live coverage of the event can be found at sdpb.org/wrestling.
