HOTSPRINGS–Nearly70wrestlers from 14 different teams took part in an all-girls wrestling tournament this past Friday at Case Auditorium, in what hopes to be an annual event in Hot Springs called the Black Hills Last Chance Girls Tournament.
“This was something that we’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” said Hot Springs head coach Ray Ringstmeyer. “It was what I would consider a successful event being it’s first year. We’ll work to make it an annual event. We just need more events out west; lots of teams travel east for girls-only events all year long. Hopefully this is a start to get more girls-only events out here. Harrisburg and Canton have been hosting a bunch of them. Spearfish had one, now we have one out here. Maybe we can entice more East River teams to travel west once in a while.”
Nearby Lakota Tech won the team title with 121 points followed by Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon which came from the further distance away and scored 96 points to finish as the runner-up.
Hot Springs placed third with 64 points while having all of five wrestlers earn medals, led by a pair of runners-up in senior Serenity Schell and freshman Sarah Rickenbach.
Schell (17-14 season record) finished with a 2-1 record at 132 pounds after winning her first two matches with a pair of pins late in the third period over Ava Wilbur of Rapid City Stevens (5:55) and Bailey Kemnitz of Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon (6:00). She then lost a close 3-0 decision to Victoria Verhey of St. Thomas More in the finals.
“Serenity wrestled her last matches in Case Auditorium with a lot of heart,” Coach Ringstmeyer said. “It was a good thing for her to finish it under the light. She’s been closing in on that STM opponent lately, and unfortunately she came up short, but definitely wrestled her best she’s have all season this weekend.”
At 145 pounds, Rickenbach (36-3) earned first period pins in her first two matches over Caitlyn Points at Him of Todd County (:59) and Mackenzie Cottier of Lakota Tech (1:04). She however then faced undefeated Peyton Hellmann of Bon Homme/ Scotland/Avon (38-0) in the finals and lost by a 2:51 pin.
“Sarah got an opportunity to wrestle a nationally ranked opponent,” Ringstmeyer said. “Hellman is tough, she’s placed at some big national tournaments and hasn’t been touched this season. Sarah went out and gave it her best shot, and hopefully learned something. In order to keep improving, you have to keep seeking out that top-level competition, and hopefully all of our girls, not just Sarah, continue to do so even after the high school season is over.”
Other placewinners for Hot Springs included eighth-graders Emma Preuss at 107 and Caydan Halls at 185 pounds, who placed third with 1-2 records. Preuss’ win was a 1:17 pin over Jaden Huffman of Douglas and Halls’ win was a 3:36 pin over Caroline Frank of Red Cloud. Seventh-grader Kadlin Humbracht also placed seventh for Hot Springs after going 2-2 on the day including a pair of preliminary matches.
“Emma, Kadlin, and Caydan wrestled their best of the season so far. I’m proud of where they are in their early careers,” Ringstmeyer said.
“Our girls wrestled with heart. It definitely had a ‘region qualifier’ feel to it as many of those girls were giving their last best shot to earn whatever criteria they can that goes into the state tourney selection system. We have some on the bubble, and I hope they did enough. They are wrestling their best right now, and that’s how we do things in our room. It would be a disappointment for any of them to come up short. I am hopeful that SDHSAA follows through and starts a girls regional qualifier format next year. We were hoping for it this year, and for whatever reason it got pushed back to next season.”