Big weekend of wrestling on tap as Central hosts tourney, Northern hosts No. 8 Parkside
It will be a big weekend for wrestling in Aberdeen.
On the college side, No. 21 Northern State University takes on the No. 8 University of Wisconsin-Parkside in a dual tonight. Then, on Saturday, Aberdeen Central hosts the Lee Wolf Invitational Tournament.
Here's what to expect.
Lee Wolf Invitational
The Golden Eagles will host 19 teams in the boys division and 16 teams in the girls division at the Lee Wolf Invitational Invitational, named after the longtime Central coach.
This year's tournament will include some changes.
In years past, there have been four mats inside Golden Eagles Arena. This year, with the girls division, the number of mats has been increased to six.
Last year, the girls division in the auxiliary gym due to COVID-19.
“What we want to do is we want to make sure that the girls are featured and they’re a part of what we are doing," Central head coach Donnie Bowden said. "Now, we wanted everyone to be down at the same gym, and we figured six mats was gonna make it run just as well as when it was four."
This year, there will be a rolling schedule. In previous years, times were scheduled, but that led to a lot of downtime, Bowden said.
The tournament will host both Class A and Class B teams. There are only two divisions of high school wrestling in South Dakota.
"There's a good mix between the Class A teams and Class B teams, so you get a mix of both divisions and you get some highly ranked kids from both (classes) as well," Bowden said. "So you get some pretty good matchups."
For the Eagles, Bowden expects the lower weights to have success, including Brock Martin at 132 pounds, who won his weight class at the Lee Wolf last year. Rayden Zens, a state place winner last year who most recently took first at 120 pounds at the Bishop Heelan Invitational in Iowa, should also do well. Mason Schrempp is another state place winner that Bowden thinks could have a big tournament. Tate Huff, who is off to a good start this year, will have a tough bracket at the 113-pound class, Bowden said.
More: Central wrestler Zens takes 120-pound title in Iowa, Webster's Keller nets 30 in basketball win
In the girls division, Madyson Gillen and Eva Hinkle are off to strong starts this season for the Eagles. Gillen was a state place winner last year, while Hinkle is an eighth-grader and in her first year wrestling at the varsity level.
The format of the tournament is 16-person, double-elimination brackets with eight places awarded. There will be 14 boys and 10 girls weight classes.
The Lee Wolf Invitational is scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. inside Golden Eagles Arena and is expected to run through the afternoon.
Participating schools
Boys division
Aberdeen Central
Bismarck Century (N.D)
Bismarck Legacy (N.D.)
Canton
Chamberlain
Clark/Willow Lake
Huron
Ioquois/Doland
Jamestown (N.D.)
Mandan (N.D.)
Miller/Highmore-Harrold
Mobridge-Pollock
Sioux Falls Jefferson
Sioux Falls O'Gorman
Sioux Falls Roosevelt
Watertown
Webster Area
Wessington Springs/Woonsocket/Wolsey-Wessington
Winner
Girls division
Aberdeen Central
Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon
Canton
Chamberlain
Clark/Willow-Lake
Huron
Iroquois/Doland
Jamestown
Mandan
Mobridge-Pollock
Pierre T.F. Riggs
Sioux Falls Jefferson
Sioux Falls O'Gorman
Sioux Falls Roosevelt
Viborg-Hurley
Webster Area
Northern to take on Parkside in ranked matchup
Northern State returned to the win column last weekend after having its six-dual win streak snapped by No. 10 Augustana earlier in the month month.
Now, the Wolves (7-1 overall, 3-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference) will take on another ranked NSIC foe, this time No. 8 Parkside.
So far this season, Northern has been without a full lineup, head coach Rocky Burkett said, due to COVID-19, influenza and injuries.
That has forced the coaching staff to make some changes. They will pull Christopher Willimas' redshirt after a season-ending injury to Ty Althoff at 133 pounds, Burkett said. Williams is a freshman from Valentine, Neb,, where he was a four-time state finalist and three-time state champion.
The Rangers (2-2, 2-0) boast four wrestlers ranked in the latest NCAA Division II Coaches Rankings. They include No. 3 Joe Arroyo (125 pounds), No. 3 Shane Gantz (165 pounds), No. 6 Job Ayala (174 pounds) and No. 9 Rodsean Graham (197 pounds).
Northern State has two wrestlers ranked in the same polls, including No. 8 Wyatt Turnquist (149 pounds) and No. 8 James Burks (157 pounds).
“It’s gonna be a good dual, man. They are obviously a tough team … I think they were ranked last year, and they came in here and our guys wrestled really well and we came away with a pretty big win over them, and so I’m sure they’re going to be prepared for this one,” Burkett said.
At 174, the Wolves will have Kelby Hawkins against No. 6 Ayala. Hawkins, who wrestled for Groton and Webster in high school, is a graduate student from South Dakota State University.
“We’re pretty excited about him. He just hasn’t had a chance to get a lot of matches in yet, so I think if we can get him rolling, I think this could be a pretty good matchup," Burkett said. "Obviously, they’re probably heavily favored, but I like what Kelby has been doing in the (wrestling) room. I think he’s gonna just keep getting better over these next few weeks as he gets more matches under his belt.”
Parkside has won NSIC matchups against Minot State University and the University of Mary this season. Northern has NSIC wins against Minot State, Southwest Minnesota State University and Minnesota State, Moorhead.
With the dual being a conference matchup, seeding points are at stake, which are important in the postseason.
"These are big as far as seeding goes for the regional tournament. You can set yourself up for, I guess, an easier path, so to (speak), in your bracket by doing well and beating some of these guys now,” Burkett said.
The path for Northern State won't get any easier from here on out. The Wolves are slated to take on No. 15 Upper Iowa, No. 17 Minnesota State, No. 2 St. Cloud State and No. 20 University of Mary in duals yet this season.
The Parkside dual is slated to start at 7 tonight, with exhibition matches starting at 6:30 p.m. inside Wachs Arena. The exhibition matches will not count towards the dual score, but will go on the wrestlers' records.
This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Aberdeen Central Lee Wolf Invitational Northern State Parkside NSIC
