MARTIN – With the Region 4B Tournament coming up this weekend, a handful of Hot Springs Bison wrestlers went to Martin this past weekend for a small six-team “last chance” to compete opportunity, and according to Head Coach Ray Ringstmeyer, “They definitely took advantage of it and wrestled with a lot of heart.”
“For a couple of them, this was their last tourney of their season and they did well. For the ones who will be competing at regionals this week, they gained some confidence and momentum going into it,” he said.
As a team, the Bison placed second behind host Bennett County, followed by Rapid City Central JV, Lakota Tech, Lyman and Little Wound.
The Bison were led by senior Jonathan Pellicotte and eighthgrader Von Mogen-Frankfort who each won tournament title. Pellicotte (29-21 season record) went 4-0 at 138 pounds in the round-robin tournament with first period pins in each match. Mogen-Frankfort was also 4-0 at 175 pounds with pins in all of his round robin matches as well.
At 132 pounds, Holden Luper went 2-1 to place second while Keller Peterson went 1-2 to place second at 157 pounds. Dain Alldredge went 2-2 to place third at 138 pounds and Jayden White Face went 3-1 to place third at 150 pounds. Earning fourth place medals were Micah Burchfield (1-2 at 113 lbs) and Braden Yeager (1-3 at 285 lbs).
On the girls’ side, Hot Springs Kadlin Humbracht placed third at 120 pounds with a 1-2 record.
“Our focus for the week is going to be have fun,” Ringstmeyer added. “A lot of the wrestlers have been getting hung up in winning and losing to much and forgetting to go out, have fun, try to hit different moves, score points, and just enjoy the battle. Too much fear for some reason out there and maybe that’s on us coaches and our expectations. We will be working hard to focus on the right things this week going forward.”