Two Britton-Hecla wrestlers finished third in the Region 1B tournament in Gettysburg on Saturday to advance to the Class B state tournament in Sioux Falls Thursday through Saturday at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
Sophomore Bryce Hawkinson earned a spot at 144 pounds and sophomore Tucker Hardy qualified at 285 pounds. The top four finishers in each weight class earn state spots. It is Hawkinson’s third state tournament appearance, also making the elite field as a seventh and eighth grader before being injured his freshman season, while Hardy is making is first state trip.
Two B-H wrestlers fell just short of qualifying for state. Collin Beaner at 150 and Ben Suther at 157 both placed fifth. Beaner was named an alternate and if for some reason a 150-pound qualifier is not able to compete he would replace that wrestler. A set of criteria is used to select alternates from the four regional fifth place region finishers from around the state.
“Our goal was to get at least one qualifier and we are happy getting two,” said B-H coach Josh Hawkinson. “It would have been nice to get Collin and Ben there, too, but I think in both instances that first match was super important for them and they both lost the opener in close matches.”
Both Hawkinson, now 38-10, and Hardy, 35-14, will tangle with wrestlers they met in the regional tourney in the first round of the state event. Junior Christian Ehresmann of Groton Area (35-5) earned an 11-3 win over Hawkinson, while Hardy defeated sophomore Owen Vandeweerd Sioux Valley (41-6) 3-0 in the fifth place match. Both weight classes are filled with grapplers sporting at least 30 wins this season with nine of the 16 qualifiers in the 144-pound bracket and 10 at heavyweight meeting that criteria.
“I think we’re sitting in a good spot to hopefully get somebody in the placing rounds,” concluded Hawkinson. “It’s a fun weekend and what you work for all year.”
See this week's paper for full stats and results.
