Rangers wrestle in Custer Invite

The Hill City High School Rangers wrestling team got to see what it was made of at the Bill Young Invitational tournament in Custer Dec. 6-7. 

The Ranger boys had the first opportunity to hit the mat with the Dec. 6 tournament. 

Wrestling in the 126 weight class, freshman Cory Ronish placed fourth and scored 14 team points for the Rangers at 3-2.

In the championship round, Ronish received a bye. In the quarterfinal, Bodie Vanderboom of Newell won by fall over Ronish at 1:35. For the consolation round two, Ronish won by fall over Mickgavin Pritzkau of Rapid City Stevens at 4:20. In the consolation round three, Ronish won by fall over Dylan Park of Belle Fourche at 1:18. 

For the consolation semi, Ronish won by decision over Cody Jones of Newell. Then, in the third place match, Riley Trout of Custer won by major decision over Ronish. 

Since Ronish’s middle school wrestling career, head coach Josh Robison said, “He grew a bit. Put on some muscle mass, and to see how his wrestling style changed was big. I think he really responded well. He had a tough match in his first one, and then he came back and just was really bound and aggressive in his matches, which is one of those things I like to see.” 

Junior Caleb Garcia went 2-2 in the 215 weight class and scored six team points. In the first round Jon Rhead of Rapid City Stevens won by fall over Garcia at 1:04. In consolation round one, Garcia won by fall over Max Bearshield of Burke/Gregory at 2:10. In consolation round two, Garcia won by fall over Jonah Clements of Rapid City Stevens at 2:26. Then, in consolation round three, Alex Marich of Spearfish won by fall over Garcia at 0:51.

“For me, I saw a big step from him. I didn’t get to watch him much last year, but going 2-2 in a solid tournament is what I wanted to see. I wanted to see how he wrestles on both ends, and how he can control a match or how other kids wrestle with him when they’re in control and how he handles that. I got to see a lot from him but still proud of him either way,” said Robison.

Freshman Justine Malone, sophomore Rhys Skernick and sophomore Andres Hernandez all went 0-2. Skernick and Hernandez are first year wrestlers. Malone transferred in and is wrestling at a high school level for the first time. 

“For them, I think the big thing was just seeing really that next level of high school wrestling and getting a feel for what the tournaments and things are going to look like. I got to see a lot of good things. I got to see their strengths. I got to see their weaknesses. So we can utilize what they’re good at, and also see how they want to grow in some of those parts that they struggled with,” said Robison. 

In the 215 weight class, Hernandez lost to Dale Smikle of Burke-Gregory by fall at 0:47 in the first round. In the consolation round one, he received a bye, and in consolation round two Hernandez lost to Jon Rhead of Rapid City Stevens by fall at 0:47.

Also in the 215 weight class, Skernick lost to Walker Dingfelder of Harding County by fall at 1:22 in the first round. In consolation round one, he received a bye, and in consolation round two, Skernick lost to Brenton Padden of Harding County by fall at 0:17. 

In the 132 weight class, Malone lost to Micah Woodbeck of Hemingford by fall at 1:42 in round one. In consolation round one, he received a bye, and in consolation round two, Malone lost to Joe Eaton of Newell by fall at 4:24. 

Robison said, “I didn’t want to go into anything with high expectations. For me it was very much, I want to see your style outside of the wrestling room. How do you handle the different pressures of being in a tournament?” 

Robison reminded the athletes to focus on what they can do to continue growing. 

The girls tournament took place Dec. 7. Junior Daisy Munoz is the Rangers’ only female wrestler this season. In the 152 weight class, she placed fifth and scored 15 team points at 3-2. 

Munoz won by fall over Jaedin One Feather of Douglas-Rapid City Christian-New Underwood in 1:19 in the first round. For the quarterfinal against Abigail Vissia of Belle Fourche, Munoz won by fall in 10 seconds. In the semifinal, Makita Raysor of Spearfish won by fall over Munoz at 2:26. Then in the consolation semi, Ivy Hayes of Lead-Deadwood won by fall over Munoz at 34 seconds. 

However, Munoz conquered her next opponent Shelby Werlinger of Sturgis Brown by fall at 1:34 in the fifth place match.

Robison said Munoz was expecting to do a little better, but he reminded her that it was the first tournament of the year with a transition in coaching. 

“I think there’s things that we can grow on definitely, but she wrestled well, and I appreciated her mentality about how she went about her matches,” said Robison. 

Next, the Rangers will head to the Gordon-Rushville Boys and Girls Invite in Nebraska at Gordon High School Saturday, Dec. 14, at 9 a.m.

“I think it will be fun. I think having gotten some matches in, especially for the younger wrestlers, they know the expectation of what they’re going to be running into now,” said Robison. “I have a feeling they’re going to come out more aggressive now. So seeing how they respond after the first tournament is going to be a good thing.”