HOT SPRINGS – Hot Springs’ small but mighty contingent of state wrestling qualifiers included a pair of senior boys ending their careers on the mat and a pair of underclassmen girls just getting their careers underway.
Leading the charge was senior Caleb Rickenbach who has been a mainstay for the Bison since he was in middle school. This past week in Sioux Falls at the Class “B” State Championships, Rickenbach (43-3 on the season) fell just one win short of his first-ever state title at 215 pounds, but did finish with a 4-1 record to earn his third bronze medal.
Rickenbach now has an unprecedented four top-3 state medals after placing third as a freshman (170 lbs), third as a sophomore (195 lbs), second as a junior (195 lbs) and now third again as a senior (215 lbs).
After pinning Wyatt Zeigler of Mobridge-Pollock (:44 pin) and Tim Bouza of Wagner (Dec 9-2), Rickenbach’s only loss was in the semifinals where he fell to a new opponent in Holden Havlik of Wessington Springs/Woonsocket/Wolsey-Wessington by a close 4-3 decision. Havlik (26-2 record) then later lost to undefeated Levi Wieman (52-0) of Parker in the championship finals.
“Caleb lost a heartbreaker in the semis,” said Hot Springs head coach Ray Ringstmeyer. “Both wrestlers left it all on the mat and Havlik and Caleb both were completely exhausted after that match.”
Rickenbach came back against a familiar foe in the consolation semifinals and beat Jensen Fitch of Philip/Kadoka Area/ Wall to get into the third place match and then repeated a dominant performance over Wagner’s Bouza to claim the bronze medal with a 13-3 major decision.
Caleb’s younger sister, freshman Sarah Rickenbach also earned a third place state medal this past weekend, as she too finished with a 4-1 record, beginning with a pair of first period pins over Joselyn Shockey of Belle Fourche (1:24) and Kenzie King of Canton (:54).
Her semifinals match versus Ireland Templeton of Pierre T.F.
Riggs was tied 1-1 in the final minute of the third period and ended with Templeton getting a late takedown and Rickenbach getting an escape to make it 2-3.
“Sarah also lost a heartbreaker in the semis to a girl she’s split matches with this season,” said Coach Ringstmeyer. “The top four or five in that weight are very even.”
After the loss, Sarah bounced right back with a 2:04 pin over Lin Paw Jone of Aberdeen Central in the consolation semifinals and then a 3-1 decision over Sammie Reil of Harrisburg in the medal match.
“She did a great job coming back for third place,” Ringstmeyer said “This was a huge step up from last season where she placed seventh. What she has accomplished in three years of wrestling is amazing.”
Another Bison boy wrestler who’s come along ways in three years is senior Micah Burchfield, who was a first-time state qualifier at 113 pounds, but faced a very tough bracket as a fourth place region finisher.
“Micah came a long way in three years of wrestling as well,” Ringstmeyer said. “He had fun with it and always did his best. We will definitely miss him in the room. He had one of the toughest draws he could have, and that was expected as he kind of came out of nowhere to qualify. Even without a medal, he’s one of our success stories with what he accomplished in a very short time.”
Burchfield lost to Tyler Trant of Custer in the first round (1:16 pin) and then to Jaymin VanDerWerf of Miller/Highmore-Harrold in the second round (2:46 pin).
Back on the girls’ side for Hot Springs, eighth grader Caydan Halls competed in the 250 pound division, and despite losing by pin to both Eden Hach of Watertown (:33) and Bailey Kokesh of Rapid City Stevens, wrestled very well, according to Coach Ringstmeyer.
“We moved Caydan up to that weight class because she didn’t have criteria to qualify for state at her actual weight class, but she did at the heavier weight because she actually beat some girls up there,” Ringstmeyer said. “She was way undersized, but the important thing is she got better this weekend by being in that environment. She got a taste of what it’s like, and now she’s motivated for her future.”
Coach Ringstmeyer added that he was very proud of both Caleb and Sarah for coming back after tough losses. “ told both of them that they had young wrestlers here looking up to them, and how they responded spoke volumes to their resilience. Even in not finishing at the top of the podium, everyone should be proud of the way all four Bison represented us this weekend.”
With his high school wrestling career now at a conclusion, Caleb Rickenbach becomes the winningest wrestler in school history with a record of 221-38, surpassing the mark of 204 victories set by Jacob DeSersa in 2016.
“While the outcome of the state tournament wasn’t quite what I wanted, I still had a positive experience at state with the team that I had spent most of my career with,” Caleb said. “Micah making it to state was one of his career goals that he finally met, and spending my last state tournament with him as a teammate was a really good way to end my career. Additionally, wrestling with my sister and being a mentor to her was one of my proudest accomplishments as a wrestler as she grew and was able to take a 3rd place finish alongside me. While I’ve already earned 3rd place medals at state in the past, these memories make this season special among the rest.”
Caleb recently signed a Letter of Intent to play defensive line for the South Dakota School of Mines football team, where he will also pursue an engineering degree.
“The sport of wrestling has shaped me as an individual and taught me many things about perseverance, humility, and sportsmanship,” Caleb said, “While I’m blessed to have natural ability and athleticism to win most of my wrestling matches, I’ve had to deal with hard loss, especially during this last state tournament. Wrestling has taught me how to win and lose with grace, even when the weight of those matches is immense. It has also taught me how to fight through adversity, as wrestling is an extremely difficult sport in various aspects, both mentally and physically. I attribute a large amount of success in other sports to the mental toughness that wrestling has given me. Even as I leave the sport of wrestling behind and move into college-level football, I won’t forget the lessons that wrestling has taught me.”