Three Matmen Fifth

Three Britton-Hecla wrestlers came up just short of advancing to the Class B state tournament this weekend in Rapid City, placing fifth in Region 1B competition hosted by Sioux Valley in Volga on Saturday.

The top four finishers in each weight class punched their ticket to the state meet in Rapid City. However, the Braves’ 285-pounder, Tucker Hardy, will attend the meet as an alternate. All of the fifth place finishers in the state’s four regions are ranked based on seeding points and Hardy was selected. He would wrestle at the state meet if for some reason one of the 16 qualifiers could not compete.

In addition to Hardy, Collin Beaner at 152 and Conner Glines at 170 placed fifth in the regional, falling one match short of advancing. Each grappler lost his opening match and battled back to place. Beaner finished his season with a 2614 mark, Glines had a 13-17 record, and Hardy stands at 22-13.

“In the first round of the tournament we kind of looked flat,” said B-H coach Josh Hawkinson. “But we kind of sparked back up a little bit during the day. We had some kids wrestle better than I had seen all year. That first round is vitally important, and it’s tough to battle back.”

Beaner lost in overtime in the match that would have earned a state berth, while Hardy was edged 3-2 in his match that would have put him in the top four.

TEAM POINTS: Redfield 165.5, Kingsbury County 159, Faulkton Area 142.5, Deuel-Deubrook Area 120, Warner-Northwestern 115.5, Clark-Willow Lake 114, Hamlin-Castlewood 101.5, Potter County 79.5, Groton Area 77, Ipswich-Bowdle 75, Sioux Valley 74, Webster Area 54, Britton-Hecla 32, Sully Buttes 2.5, Doland 3, Tiospa Zina 0.

120 POUNDS: Bryce Heitkamp (BH) pinned by Brady Unser (Ipswich/ Bowdle) :14; pinned by Jaden Buchmann (Hamlin/Castlewood) :37

152 POUNDS: Collin Beaner (BH) pinned by Troy Randall Jr. (Hamlin/ Castlewood) 4:50; pinned Easten Ekern (Groton Area) :58; pinned Reed VanWormer (Deuel/Deubrook Area) 2:57; pinned by Elliot Bratland (Clark/ Willow Lake) 5:42 (OT); won by injury default over Skylar Trygstad (Sioux Valley)

160 POUNDS: Dashel Davidson (BH) pinned by Korbin Whiteley (Deuel/ Deubrook Area) 2:42; pinned by Mitchell Guthmiller (Sioux Valley) 4:11

170 POUNDS: Conner Glines (BH) pinned by Breyten Johnson (Kingsbury County) 1:51; pinned Benjamin Van der Luit (Potter County) 1:18; pinned by Cole Bisbee (Groton Area) 2:54; dec. Breyten Johnson (Kingsbury County) 14-4

195 POUNDS: Dane Hansen (BH) pinned by Justin Granum (Deuel/ Deubrook Area) :18; pinned by Grant Weisser (Ipswich/Bowdle) 1:16

285 POUNDS: Tucker Hardy (BH) pinned by Owen VandeWeerd (Sioux Valley) 5:20; pinned Allen Wetz (Deuel/ Deubrook Area) :07; lost dec. to Parker Bode (Faulkton Area) 3-2; pinned Noah Smith (Hamlin/Castlewood) 1:51