Britton-Hecla wrestlers will be vying for state tournament spots when they compete in regional tournament action this week.
Two girls will be battling for state spots at the Region 1A event in Clark on Thursday. Olivia Borgen will wrestle in either the 100 or 107-pound bracket, while Ceci Anderson will be at 165 pounds.
Seven boys will compete in the Region 1A tourney set for Hamlin on Saturday. Lincoln Kilker will be at 106, Carter Grobe at 120, Bryce Hawkinson 144, Dashel Davidson 157, Colton Chapin 165, Ben Suther 175, and Tucker Hardy 215. Several B-H varsity wrestlers during the regular season are not competing in the regional because they opted to participate in the state middle school tournament last weekend.
The top four placers in each weight class will advance to the state tournament in Rapid City Feb. 27-28 and March 1. Fifth place finishers could also be a possible alternate for state if for some reason a qualifying wrestler is not able to participate. Hawkinson and Hardy were state qualifiers a year ago.
“We haven’t seen any of the seedings yet and kids move around between weight classes this time of year,” said B-H coach Josh Hawkison. “But anything over two getting to the state tournament would be an improvement from last year. “Bryce, Ben, and Tucker have each been ranked in the state this year.”
Hawkinson said that his squad looks to be healthy heading into the regional and his team has spent the last week preparing for potential matches.
“I’m pretty comfortable with where we are at, but we’ve been working on a few things that we can improve on,” said the B-H boss. “We’ve also spent some time studying video of guys that we wrestled during the season to try and figure out how to get past them if they meet again.”
