The Region 2A wrestling tournament was held this past Friday, Feb. 16 in Brandon. At stake was a trip to the 2024 State A Wrestling Tournament to be held this Thursday, Feb. 22, Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24 at the Denny Sanford Premier Center in Sioux Falls.
Three Lennox wrestlers punched their ticket to State: Ramsey Williams and Grant Larson for the boys and Jocelyn Thoms for the girls.
“I am extremely proud of our State Qualifiers accomplishments, but we have unfinished business to settle at the state tournament this weekend,” said LHS head coach Matt Hanson.
Williams, wrestling at 138 pounds, captured the Region 2A Championship title. Williams opened with a bye before facing off against Harrisburg’s Emory Johnson in the semifinals. Williams won by decision, 5-1 to advance to the finals. In the finals he faced off against Hayden McGuire of Brandon Valley. Williams once again won by decision, 5-2, to claim the Championship title. Williams brings a 37-14 record into the State A Tournament. He is set to face off against Leo Stroup of Watertown in the opening round of the State Tournament set to begin on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 10 a.m. Stroup has a 25-14 record on the season.
Larson punched his ticket to State by claiming fourth at Regions at 132 pounds. Larson opened with a bye before defeating Vermillion’s Xavier Walker with a pin in 58 seconds in the quarterfinal. In the semifinal, Larson fell by fall in 40 seconds to Harrisburg’s Tyler Wurth, sending him into the consolation bracket. In the consolation semifinals, Larson won by decision, 7-4, over Joelton Reimnitz-Hahn of Yankton, guaranteeing him a spot at State. In the third/fourth place match, Larson lost by major decision, 9-0, to Brandon Valley’s Aaron Tucker, giving Larson fourth place.
Larson enters State with a 27-17 record. The freshman will face-off against Spearfish’s Parker Graven who has a 31-10 record on the season in the opening round at State.
Also competing at State for Lennox will be Thoms, who will be representing the LHS girls. Thoms, an eighth grader, brings a 31-7 record into the State Tournament. She is set to face off against Capri Johnson, 19-13, in the opening round.
Lennox saw two more individuals place at Regions but just fell short of qualifying for State. Kedren Fergen captured fifth place at 126 pounds and Jack Aashiem earned fifth place as well competing at 150 pounds.
“As a team, we wrestled hard at regions. I challenged the team to empty their tank every match no matter what the out come, wrestle six full minutes let it all hang out. Overall,I think we succeed in the department of high effort,” said Hanson.
Complete results for the other Lennox wrestlers at Regions are as follows:
120—George Scott (2-25); Quarterfinal - Trevon Oehme (Brandon Valley) 22-4 won by fall over Scott (Lennox) 2-25 (Fall 0:18); Cons. Round 1 - Ben Parsons (Sioux Falls Washington) 19-25 won by fall over Scott (Lennox) 2-25 (Fall 2:16)
126—Fergen (19-24) placed 5th; Quarterfinal - Riley Williams (Sioux Falls Washington) 30-22 won by fall over Fergen (Lennox) 19-24 (Fall 3:39); Cons. Round 1 - Fergen (Lennox) 19-24 won by fall over Kameron Bellmer (Sioux Falls Lincoln) 6-13 (Fall 3:10); Cons. Semi - Tate Lyle (Beresford/Alcester-Hudson) 32-18 won by major decision over Fergen (Lennox) 19-24 (MD 11-2); 5th Place Match - Fergen (Lennox) 19-24 won by fall over Cameron Curry (Dakota Valley) 15-23 (Fall 2:16)
144—Preston Otte (6-18); Quarterfinal - Tayge Privett (Harrisburg) 26-15 won by fall over Otte (Lennox) 6-18 (Fall 0:51); Cons. Round 1 - Caden Schurch (Beresford/Alcester-Hudson) 21-18 won by fall over Otte (Lennox) 6-18 (Fall 2:21)
150—Aashiem (24-24) placed 5th; Quarterfinal - Dawson Wallen (Sioux Falls Lincoln) 37-9 won by tech fall over Aashiem (Lennox) 24-24 (TF-1.5 4:23 (21-2)); Cons. Round 1 - Aashiem (Lennox) 24-24 won by decision over Jensen Christensen (Beresford/Alcester-Hudson) 25-17 (Dec 2-1); Cons. Semi - Xavier McGuire (Brandon Valley) 19-28 won by major decision over Aashiem (Lennox) 24-24 (MD 12-4); 5th Place Match - Aashiem (Lennox) 24-24 won by fall over Albert Ngandu (Sioux Falls Washington) 3-13 (Fall 4:11)
Weigh-ins for the State Tournament begin at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22 with first round matches slated to begin at 10 a.m. Quarterfinal matches will begin on Thursday at 4 p.m. On Friday, Feb. 23 first round consolation and second round consolation begins at 9:30 a.m. Semifinals and third round consolation matches begin at 3 p.m. with fourth round consolation matches to follow. On Saturday, Feb. 24 place matches begin at 10 a.m. with Championship matches to begin at 1 p.m. Girls will wrestle first in each round followed by the boys.