RAPID CITY — With seven wrestlers qualified to compete in the Class A State Wrestling Tournament, which is scheduled for today and Saturday at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, the Huron Tigers are looking for a strong finish to their season.
“For us to be successful, each wrestler needs to wrestle one match at a time,” Huron coach Dan McCarty said. “Not look past anyone, wrestle to win each match and enjoy the pressure of the state tournament.”
Leading the Tigers into the state tourney will be seniors Chipper Shillingstad, Daynon Huber, Matt Katz and Gabe Rieger. All four have previous state tournament experience.
Shillingstad, who finished as the runner-up a year ago, has also finished third and eighth. He is making his sixth state tournament appearance.
Shillingstad, who is 30-7 this season at 138 pounds, will face Payton Borah of Beresford/Alcester-Hudson, who is 30-19, in his opening match.
Huber, who is 19-18, is making his fourth state tournament appearance. He will open the tournamend against Grant Wirkus of Watertown, who is 18-14.
Katz earned his only previous state berth as a sophomore. He is 23-13 this season at 170 and will face Dillon Stoebner of Aberdeen Central, who is 7-10, in the opening round.
Rieger was fourth last season in his only state tournament appearance. He went 26-13 this season at 182 and will face Taylor Coffield of Sturgis, who is 18-16, in the opening round.
Also qualifying this season for the Tigers were junior TahJae Jenkins Harris, and sophomores Tyson Lien and Tristan Cardona.
Jenkins Harris was second for the Tigers last season in his only state tournament appearance. He is 14-4 this season and will open the tournament against Cael Citrowske of Spearfish, who is 21-15 at 160.
Lien, who competed in the state tournament as an eighth-grader, is 22-10 this season at 152. He will face Trevor Stene of Beresford/Alcester-Hudson, who is 24-17, in the opening round.
Cardona, is the lone Huron wrestler making his first trip to the state tournament. He is 12-8 this season at 220 and will face Hunter McMath of Rapid City Stevens, who is 31-14, in the opening round.
“These seven wrestlers had a good region tournament and set themselves up for a favorable seed at the state tournament,” McCarty said. “I expect our wrestlers to go out and compete to the best of their ability. We hope to be the hunt for some team hardware on Saturday night.
The Tigers were sixth at last year’s state tournament. A strong finish this season would cap a somewhat rough season, according to McCarty.
“We need to get as many bonus points as possible to be in the top six,” he said. “It has been an interesting year with the number of injuries we have had, and a good state tournament can make up for a lot of the bad things that happened to us this year.”
Pierre is the four-time defending Class A champion and has claimed the state title in six of the last seven years.
Wrestling will begin at 10 a.m. Today. The second session is scheduled to begin with the Parade of Athletes at 2:45 p.m., with the first-round wrestlebacks and quarterfinals to follow. The second-round wrestlebacks will close the second session.
Wrestling will begin with the semifinals and third-round wrestlebacks at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the fourth-round wrestlebacks to follow.
The final session will begin with the placing matches at 4 p.m. The championship match introductions are slated for 6:15 p.m., followed by the title matches at 6:30 p.m.
