Wildcats wrestlers dominate in first meets

If the first weekend of the season is any indication, the Custer High School wrestling team is going to be a handful this winter.
The Wildcats dominated a pair of home meets last Thursday and Friday, romping to a three wins in duals against the Hot Springs Bison, Harding County Ranchers and Burke/Gregory Storm while also finishing first at the their own Bill Young Invitational Tournament the following day.
The Wildcats piled up 239 points at their home meet Saturday, easily beating second-place finishing Spearfish, which had 199 points.
During Friday’s duals the Wildcats got things started by pummeling the Hot Springs Bison 66-3, and followed that up with a win over Harding County by the same score and a 48-24 over the Burke-Gregory Storm.
Custer head coach Jared Webster said he couldn’t have hoped for a much better start to the season.
“I was very impressed with all the kids from JV to varsity. All the kids were on the offensive and I have no complaints with any of them,” he said. “That never happens.”
The Wildcats had four champions at the Bill Young Invitational, led by senior Jonathan Lewis, who dominated his way to the title at 170 pounds. Lewis pinned all four of his opponents, including Logan Williams of Hot Springs (in 1:36), Laythan Lucas of Spearfish (1:34), Drew Varner of Hemingford, Neb. (14 seconds) and Mason Schlup of Spearfish (2:50).
Ryder Bailey placed first at 182 pounds for the Wildcats, receiving a first-round bye before pinning Spearfish’s Cole Malo in 55 seconds, defeating teammate Grady Lehrkamp 11-4 in the semifinals and pinning Preston Ray of the Sturgis JV at 2:20 in the championship.
Tray Weiss placed first in the 113-pound weight class, and like Lewis, pinned all four opponents. Weiss pinned Trinity Thompson of Sturgis JV in the opening round at 3:36, Carson Mitchell of Douglas-Rapid City Christian-New Underwood (DRCCNU) at 2:37, Jacob Kurkenbach of Rapid City Stevens JV in the semifinals at 39 seconds and Creel Weber of Hemingford at 5:08 in the championship match.
Landon Woodward was the final Wildcat champion after receiving a bye in the first round, followed by pinning Luke Rath of Spearfish at 1:44, pinning Alejandro Martinez of DRCCNU in the semifinals and scoring a 5-0 decision over Quintin Longanecker of Sturgis JV in the finals.
“They are all excellent kids who have been wrestling for this program for a while,” Webster said of his four champions. “They get to show what they have now. All they have been doing for these years is paying off.”
Tyler Trant placed second in the 106-pound weight class in his first varsity meet, and was joined as a second-place finisher by Riley Scott, whose only loss was to two-time defending Class B state champion Owen Hansen at 138 pounds.
Also placing second for the team was Zayne Severyn at 220 pounds, who lost a tough 2-0 decision to Grey Gilbert of Harding County in the championship match.
The final second place finish came from Parker Noem at 195 pounds, who wrestled that weight despite being just over the 182-pound limit. Noem pinned his way to the finals before losing a 6-3 decision to Caleb Rickenbach of Hot Springs in the championship match.
That match was the second time the two met in the course of two days, as the two returning third-place finishers from last year’s state meet in their respective weight class clashed in the previous evening’s dual, with Noem getting earning a 5-3 decision in that match. Noem will eventually wrestle at a lighter weight class, as the wrestlers slowly lose weight to abide by newly implemented weight-cutting rules this season.
“It just shows you how strong he is,” Webster said. “It was a good match and awesome to see.”
Third place finishers for Custer included Lehrkamp at 182, with his only loss being to Bailey, and Weston Woodward at 195, with his only loss to Rickenbach.
The last third place finished came from Kian Rusch at 132 pounds, while his brother Kai Rusch placed fifth at 145. The Rusch brothers impressed Webster over the weekend, with him pointing to them as an example of wrestlers who will step up and provide varsity points this season.
“A lot of kids who were in the room behind kids who were on varsity had a chance to be varsity and did a heck of a job,” Webster said. “I was just impressed.”
Rounding out the placewinners were Leighton Sander, fourth at 138, and Connor Owens, sixth at 120.
Winners by pinfall for Custer in the dual against Hot Springs were Trant, Kai Rusch, Adams, Lewis and Bailey, while winners by decision were Noem and Weston Woodward.
The win over Harding County had several forfeits, but winners included Trant by pinfall, Landon Woodward by decision, Sander by decision, Kai Rusch by pinfall and Lewis by pinfall.
Non-forefit winners in the victory over Burke-Gregory were Weiss by pinfall, Lewis by pinfall and  Weston Woodward.
This weekend the Wildcats will travel to Rapid City for the annual Rapid City Invitational, a large tournament featuring 50 teams from four states. Webster said it’s a tournament that will let the wrestlers know exactly where they stand in the early portion of the season.
“We’ll see where some of the kids end up,” he said. “It will be a good test for them.”