Custer captures Bill Young Invitational title

The Custer High School wrestling team got the 2021-22 season off to a powerful start by winning its season-opening home tournament at the Armory last Friday. The Custer wrestlers ran away with the team title in the newly renamed Bill Young Invitational Tournament by scoring 246 points, which was nearly 35 points more than second-place Spearfish in the 16-team tournament. Six Wildcat wrestlers came away as tournament champions in their weight classes.
Leading them was 170- pound sophomore Parker Noem, who pinned his first three opponents within seconds of taking the mat and pinned Mason Schlup of Spearfish in the first place match in a mere 34 seconds. His times in the preliminary rounds were 34 seconds, 32 seconds and 1:03.
“He’s a strong individual and his technique is awesome,” said head coach Jared Webster of Noem. “That kid loves wrestling. He wrestles all summer long and he’s gonna be a force to reckon with this year with anybody. If they took it to him last year, I think there might be some new outcomes this year.”
Wrestling at 106 Riley Scott also beat his first three opponents by fall and won over Brayden Collins of Rapid City Stevens in the first place match by 16-0 technical fall over six minutes.
Also taking home a first place medal was Tray Weiss, who won the first place match at 113 over D’Angelo Garduna of Belle Fourche by a 6-0 decision.
Landon Woodward defeated Cade Martian of Harding County in a 4-1 decision in the championship round of the 126 pound weight class.
In the upper weight classes it was Jonathan Lewis taking first at 160 with a 5-4 decision over Keaton Bissonnette of Hot Springs. He also pinned his first three opponents, felling Wyatt Head of Harding County in the semifinals in 51 seconds.
Wrestling at 182 pounds, Weston Woodward pinned teammate Sterling Sword in the first place match in 1:55 to win that championship.
Along with Sword, also taking second place in the tournament were Zayne Sereryn at 195 pounds and Braden Weiss at 145.   
Third place honors went to Ryder Bailey (152) who beat Navarre Head of Harding County in a 9-2 decision and Grady Lehrkamp (170), who pinned Drew Varner of Hemingford, Neb. in 1:22.
Fourth place in the 120-pound category went to Leighton Sander and fifth place honors went to Tyler Trant after his defeat of Cody Jones of Sturgis by fall in 1:46 in the 106-pound class.
Instead of resting on his laurels, however, coach Webster talked about how the powerful victory at the very beginning of the season gives him hopes for the all-important state finals at the end.
“We’re very excited to see what the outcome is like at the end of the year with this young bunch of kids,” he said. “They’re solid kids all the way through 195 but we can put it all the way up to 220 right now. We haven’t had a team that solid ever here through the lineup so that’s nice to see. We’ve just gotta keep plugging away and keep them healthy every week.”
Webster said it’s great to see the breadth and depth his team has this season.
“I’m very excited for the future,” he said. “All up and down the lineup, even our JV kids were stepping it up and they’re gonna be fun to watch this year also. We’ve got some horses coming through.”
In the practice room on Monday Webster could be seen drilling his troops on areas where he saw a need for improvement, urging them to slow down and use the techniques they have been taught.
“We’ve got a lot of technique we’re missing,” he said. “We’re rushing moves here and there that are putting us in situations that we don’t need to be in.”
“They’re wanting to get the points right away and score,” he explained. “They see something and think they’re gonna score with it right away but there’s steps in the scoring that we’re just skipping over. If we can minimize those little mistakes I think we can be a little more solid.”
The traditional home opener for Custer was rebranded this year to honor the man who started the event in 1970. Bill Young, a member of the South Dakota Wrestling Hall of Fame, began his wrestling career in 1959 and, after serving in various wrestling coach positions, he became the coach at Custer High School in 1969. Young still lives in Custer and can be seen in the stands at the tournament year after year.
The Custer wrestlers will be back on the mats at the Armory Thursday evening for a dual against Bennett County. The event was originally scheduled as a triangular with Newcastle, Wyo. as well, but Newcastle backed out. The wrestling begins at 5 p.m.
Then on Saturday the team heads out on its first big road trip of the season, going to Gregory for the Gregory Invitational.