The Britton-Hecla wrestling squad tuned up for the Region 1B tournament set for Webster this Saturday with a pair of dual wins in a quadrangular held in Britton Thursday.
The Braves stopped Deuel-Deubrook 51-17 and Webster Area 58-24, while dropping a 41-32 decision to Sisseton.
Regional action gets underway at 9:30 a.m. Saturday with the top four finishers in each weight class qualifying for the state tournament in Rapid City Feb. 26-28.
Other teams in the regional field include Clark-Willow Lake, Deuel-Deubrook, Faulkton Area, Gettysburg, Groton Area, Hamlin-Castlewood, Hoven, Ipswich-Leola, Kingsbury County, Redfield, Sioux Valley, Sisseton, Sully Buttes, Tiospa Zina, Warner-Northwestern, and Webster Area.
“I think we’re in a good spot right now,” said B-H coach Josh Hawkinson. “Everything you do during the year sets you up for where you’re going to be as far as seeding for the region, and I feel we have seven kids set up to do fairly well in the regional tournament.”
Three B-H grapplers were state qualifiers a year ago. Senior 150-pounder Bryce Hawkinson, senior 190-pounder Tucker Hardy, and junior 175-pounder Ben Suther all qualified with Hawkinson placing seventh and Suther eighth.
“The boys are wrestling well and we’re probably in a better spot than I thought we’d be at the beginning of the season,” noted Coach Hawkinson. “When it comes to qualifying for state I would be happy with anything over last year, but I think we’re capable of qualifying quite a few more.”
The B-H boss also thinks his squad is capable of finishing near the top in the regional team title chase.
“Our regional focus is on the individual wrestlers and the team points kind of take care of themselves,” concluded Hawkinson. “But if we have a good day I think we could finish in the top few.”
The regional lineup wasn’t entirely set prior to Tuesday practice. Max Suther and Liam Paxton were to have a wrestle-off for the 215-pound slot and the 285 position was to be decided between Paxton and Ryan Maxwell. Other wrestlers set for regional action are Lincoln Kilker at 106, Carter Grobe at 132, Tanner Atkinson at 138, and Colton Chapin at 157.
FOR FULL STATS SEE THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL
