Wrestlers look for confidence in last meets of season

The Custer High School Wildcat wrestling team had double duty last week with duals with Chadron (Neb.) and Douglas-Rapid City Christian-New Underwood (DRCCNU). Thursday and the Belle Fourche Invitiational over two days Friday and Saturday. At the Belle Fourche Invite, both the girls and boys teams had strong showings with the boys placing third and the girls fifth.
“I believe we could have done a heck of a lot better,” said head coach Jared Webster, saying the team is working on buidling confidence and believing they can win when they step on the mat.
Ayden Dooley placed sixth in the 106-pound weight class. He won his first match over Sturgis’ Trik Elshere by pin in 3:17.  He lost the next match by technical fall, but then made up for it with two pins, one over Dane Smith of Harding County and another over Tommy Studt of DRCCNU. Dooley lost his next two matches by decision to give him a sixth-place finish at the meet.
In the 113-pound weight class, Tyler Trant placed third. He won his first two matches in the first period to move on to the semifinal match against Teryn Zebroski of Sturgis, where he lost by 9-0 major decision. He won his next match by 11-0 major decision to land him in the third-place match with Coy Eddy of DRCCNU, which he won by 9-1 major decision.
Trant and the team also celebrated his 100th career win over the weekend.
Tray Weiss earned first place in the 120-pound category. He won his first two matches by pin to put him in the semifinal against Benjamin Nadig of Sturgis. He won that match by sudden victory (3-1) to put him up against Rapid City Stevens’ Corbin Zent in the championship match, which he won by 2-0 decision.
In the 126-pound weight class, Ethan O’Connor placed sixth. He lost a close first match by 10-8 decision with Sturgis’ Wyatt Marler, but then won his next three matches—two by pin and one by 11-6 decision—to put him back up against Marler. In the second meet-up with Marler, he lost by a 6-2 decision to land him in the fifth-place match with Karter Mayberry of Sundance, Wyo., which he lost by pin.
Riley Scott earned third place in the 132-pound weight class. Scott won his first two matches by pin to put him up against Aidan Callahan of Rapid City Stevens in the semifinal. Scott lost that match by 10-3 decision, but won his next two matches by pin to secure a third-place finish.
Kian Rusch wrestled at 138 and earned fourth place, with Mekhi Hayes of Lead-Deadwood causing trouble for the wrestler. Rusch won his first match by pin, but lost the second to Hayes, also by pin. Rusch then won his next three matches in a row—one in sudden victory, one by major decision, and another by medical forfeit to put him in the third-place match with Hayes again. In that match, Hayes won by 5-4 decision.
Leighton Sander also earned fourth place in the meet in the 144-pound class. Sander won his first match by pin in 5:04, and the second by 12-1 major decision over St. Thomas More’s Westin Edwards. In the semifinal, Sander faced a loss against Miles Renner of Lead-Deadwood by pin, but made it back into the third-place match when he beat Paiden Sandal of DRCCNU in a 6-2 decision. In the third-place match, he lost to Sturgis’ Kalvin Ketelsen.
Parker Noem placed second in the 190-pound weight class. He received a bye into the quarterfinal, where he beat Rapid City Stevens’ Blake Bloxom in just over a minute. In the semifinals, he beat Tate Crosswait of the same team in just 45 seconds. He faced tougher competition in the championship match as he went head to head with Sturgis’ Aiden Werlinger and lost in sudden victory (7-5).
Zayne Severyn placed third in the 215-pound class. He got a bye into the quarterfinal, which he won in 1:27, but faced Stevens’ Ayden Kellog and lost by pin in the semis. He ended his run in the tournamet on the third-place spot of the podium after two more pins, one in 56 seconds and another in 2:22.
Kai Rusch and Blaise Arp also wrestled but did not place.
The girls team also had several placers and champions at the tournament.
At the 100-pound class, Kiera Thorp placed sixth. She lost her first match by pin and got a bye into her next match, which she won over Stanley County’s Timber Hanson by pin in 4:18. She then lost her next two matches by pin to give her a sixth-place finish.
At 114 pounds, Addie Sander was one of two girls to win championships in the meet, with a series of quick pins. She won her first over Sturgis’ Lilly Glodt in 1:05, her second over Spearfish’s Piper Brooke-Ellison in 1:12 and the third over Kyonna Gustafson of Hulett, Wyo., in 2:29. In the championship, she pinned Madelyn Schlup of Spearfish in 1:21.
Mattea Marshall earned fourth place in the 120-pound class. She had bye into her first match against Cante White Bull of Lakota Tech, which she lost by pin in 4:53. She then won her next three matches to put her back up agaunst White Bull in the third-place match. In that match, she lost by pin in 2:14.
River Bailey had a similiar story in the 126-pound class, winning her first match into a loss against Jessica Waln of Lakota Tech by pin in 3:56, who she had to face again after wrestling her way back into the third-place match. In that match, she lost again by pin in 3:18.
Jessica Hite also won first place at the meet with a series of pins. She won her first over Evelyn Simental of Hill City in 46 seconds, the second over Eriah Big Crow of Lakota Tech in 2:44 and finally over Tallie Brehm of Rapid City Stevens in 3:05.
This was the last week of duals for the team ahead of the state dual tournament in Watertown Feb. 10. After this past weekend, the boys team is currently ranked eighth for duals, a place it will need to hold to qualify for the meet.
In its dual at Chadron, the team won in a landslide over the host Cardinals 60-18, and won against DRCCNU by an also-impressive margin of 49-21.
The girls didn’t see the same results against those teams, however. Against, Chadron they lost 31-24, and against DRCCNU they lost 36-27.
Heading into the last regular meets of the season, Webster says the team is working to maintain focus and stay in shape. The team wrestles in the Black Hills Conference in Hot Springs Friday and the Black Hills Classic Saturday.
Webster says the team is looking to defend its conference championship.