Four ’Cats state bound

The wrestling season will continue another week with four Custer High School wrestlers earning spots in the Class B State Tournament this weekend in Aberdeen. 

Dylan Severyn (152) took second place at the Region 4B wrestling meet last weekend in Rapid City after Phillip opponent Lane Blasius defeated him in a 6-5 championship match while Clayton Wahlstrom (170) took second against Clint Everett Stout, also from Philip, in a 7-6 match. Chasen Cole (126) took third place with a win over Lukas Chase. Clay Seidler (195) took first place and the Region 4B title over Philip opponent Logan Ammons with a 5-3 match.

“Philip was tough, but we were right in the hunt with them,” head coach Jared Webster said. “We had a lot of one-point matches against them.”

While Philip may have been the team to beat — winning the Region 4B wrestling championship with 186.50 — Webster said there are other teams to watch at the state tournament.

“There’s other competition tougher than heck,” he said. “It’s live or die this weekend and we need to keep wrestling and get better and better in practices.”

Webster was pleased with the work Severyn, Wahlstrom, Cole and Seidler did, but expects to see mistakes fixed and more out of the wrestlers in Aberdeen.

“Clay wrestled well and had a controlled match until the end. We have to learn from those mistakes and finish,” he said. “We’re finally reaching to our potential and starting to peak. It’s the perfect time and we’re all looking forward to what they can do this weekend.” 

The state B wrestling tournament in Aberdeen will run Feb. 22-23. South Dakota Public Broadcasting will air matches live from Aberdeen, as will SDPB2. More information, photos and awards may be viewed online at sports.sdpb.org.