Two Britton-Hecla matmen earned spots on the podium at the state wrestling tournament held in Rapid City Thursday through Saturday.
Junior Bryce Hawkinson placed seventh in the 144-pound bracket and sophomore Ben Suther was eighth in the 165-pound weight class and also posted his 100th career win. Junior Tucker Hardy also qualified for state at 215, and senior Ceci Anderson earned a spot in the girls tournament at 165 pounds.
Hawkinson, who finished with a 34-5 season mark, won his opening match by decision but then lost a decision in the quarterfinal round. He rebounded with a tech fall before falling by decision and bounced back again with a decision in the seventh place match.
Suther lost his opener to the top-seeded wrestler and eventual champion by tech fall but fought back with a decision, received a medical forfeit, and posted a pin before losing in the seventh place match by decision. He finished the year with a 38-17 record.
Hardy was pinned in his opening match, earned a pin in his second, and was eliminated by a 7-3 decision, finishing his season at 34-15. Anderson, who wrapped up the year at 7-19, dropped both of her matches by pin.
“We went to Rapid City with the goal of improving over last year and came home with two placewinners and almost three,” said B-H coach Josh Hawkinson. “There were opportunities to do a little bit better but for the most part I’m really happy with the way we wrestled. They went out there on the mat and did their thing.”
Just two seniors – Dashel Davidson and Ceci Anderson – will graduate from this year’s squad, and Hawkinson is looking forward to the future.
“Overall, I think the season was great,” concluded the B-H coach. “We ended on a good note where the kids were wrestling well. Everything changes from year to year with a handful of seniors graduating and also a good crop of young kids getting bigger and stronger, but having the age and experience at the state tournament always helps.”
BOYS TEAM POINTS: Canton 189, Winner 140, Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes 121, Philip/Kadoka Area/Wall 113, Parkston 86.5, Bon-Homme/Avon 82.5, Tri-Valley 81.5, Sisseton 71.5, Clark/Willow Lake 65, Miller/Highmore-Harrold 64.5, Faulkton Area 54.5, Mount Vernon/Plankinton/Corsica-Stickney 51, Redfield 49.5, Wessington Springs/Woonsocket/Wolsey-Wessington 48.5, Kingbury County 43.5, Custer 40, McCook Central/Montrose 36, Wagner 34, Deuel/Deubrook Area 33.5, Bennett County 32, Webster Area 28.5, Groton Area 27, Howard 27, Warner/Northwestern 24, Burke/Gregory 23.5, Lemmon 22.5, Hot Springs 20, Stanley County 20, Elk Point-Jefferson 16, Harding County 15.5, Britton-Hecla 14.5, Flandreau 14, Marion/Freeman 11.5, Sunshine Bible Academy 11, Potter County 10, Sioux Valley 10, Parker 9, St. Thomas More 9, Lead-Deadwood 8.5, Canistota 3, Garretson 3, Hanson 3, Mobridge-Pollock 3, Hamlin-Castlewood 1, Chester 0, Mahpiya Luta 0, McLaughlin 0, Newell 0, Sully Buttes 0.
145 POUNDS: Bryce Hawkinson (BH) dec. Jaden Bult (Bon Homme-Avon) 7-2; lost dec. to Ryken Orel (Winner) 13-4; won tech fall over Kamryn Rhodes (Faulkton Area) 1L28, 16-1; lost dec. to Christian Ehresmann (Groton Area) 10-2; Seventh place match: dec. Easton Tschetter (Marion-Freeman) 7-2
165 POUNDS: Ben Suther (BH) lost by tech fall to Kale Crowser (Philip-Kadoka Area-Wall) 2:31, 21-6; dec. Gunner Ewing (Elk Point-Jefferson) 7-2; won by medical forfeit over Kolter Kramer (Parkston); pinned by Hunter Kunz (Hot Springs) 1:40; Seventh place match: lost dec. to Korbin Kucker ( Groton Area) 7-2
215 POUNDS: Tucker Hardy (BH) pinned by Karter Headrick (Flandreau) 1:54; pinned Foster Bode (Faulkton Area) 2:14; lost dec. to Mason Curtis (Winner) 7-3
GIRLS TEAM POINTS: Pierre 137.5, Canton 107, Harrisburg 95, Watertown 94, Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon 86.5, Spearfish 79, Aberdeen 67, Custer 66, Hot Springs 62.5, RC Stevens 61, Brookings 56.5, Sturgis 39, Doland 38, RC Central 38, Madison 34, Sully Buttes 31.5, Lakota Tech 30, Yankton 30, Sioux Valley 29.5, Lemmon 29, Groton Area 28, Mitchell 27.5, McCook Central/Montrose 24, Brandon Valley 22, Belle Fourche 21, Douglas/RC Christian/New Underwood 21, Sisseton 21, Kingsbury County 18, SF Jefferson 17, West Central 17, Beresford/Alcester-Hudson 16, Stanley County 16, Viborg-Hurley/Irene-Wakonda 15, Tea Area 14, Vermillion 14, Garretson 12, Harding County 11, Todd County 11, Huron 10, Miller/Highmore-Harrold 10, SF Washington 9.5, Lead-
Deadwood 9, Webster Area 9, Mahpiya Luta 8, Clark/Willow Lake 6, St. Thomas More 6, Burke/Gregory 5, Milbank 4, Baltic 3, Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes 3, Wessington Springs/Woonsocket/Wolsey-Wessington 3, Bennett County 1, SF Roosevelt 1, Britton-Hecla 0, Dell Rapids 0, Hanson 0, Hill City 0, Mobridge-Pollock 0, SF Lincoln 0.
165 POUNDS: Ceci Anderson (BH) pinned by Lilly Nelson (Aberdeen Central) :52; pinned by Izzy Baldwin (Canton) :32
