The Red Raider Wrestling team was on the road on Feb. 5 with 15 wrestlers looking for some great competition. It was a tough day for many of the Raider wrestlers, three wrestlers brought home medals at the Dave Edmonds/Sioux City Open tournament which was hosted by the Morningside Mustangs.
Wrestling at 125lbs were sophomore Sean Heeney and freshman Case Cauthron. Heeney went 3-2 at the tournament, losing his first and fourth matches while winning his second, third and fifth matches. His last match was for fifth place where he brought home the fifth-place medal. Cauthron had a tough day with a 0-2 day after having a bye in the first round.
The Red Raider wrestlers at 133lbs were junior Noah Kryfka, freshman Daniel Hinds and freshman Jacob Pierick. Kryfka wrestled hard, finishing the day 2-2. A first round loss for Kryfka paved the way for two wins, only to fall short of a place on the podium with a loss in the fourth consolation round. Both Hinds and Pierick went 0-2 at the tournament.
Freshman Eli Leonhardt wrestled at 141lbs, but also went 0-2 for the day. Freshman John Seth went 1-2 in the 149lb-weight class. At 157lbs, Freshman Edward Punzalan saw a win in both the first and second rounds but found two losses in his last two matches and going 2-2 on the day.
The 165lbs wrestlers proved tough for junior Sam Copley, who went 0-2 as well. There were three Raider wrestlers who wrestled at 184lbs. First was junior Tyler Zeiman who went 2-2. Two of Zeiman’s matches were against his own teammates freshmen Braeden Campbell and Kaleb Lind. Campbell ended the day going 1-2, with his losses being against Zeiman and Lind. Lind brought home a sixth-place medal after going 3-3 at the tournament. Two of the wins for Lind were against Zeiman and Campbell.
Freshman Jose Sanchez also brought home a sixth-place medal in the 197lb-weight class. Sanchez went 2-3 to round out the day. Two Raider wrestlers fought hard in the 285lb-weight class. Freshman Lincoln Siebert had a bye in the first round, only to end the day going 1-2. And freshman Sam Vonnahme also had a first-round bye and went 1-2 to round out the tournament for the Red Raiders.
“We were inconsistent throughout the day as our youthfulness was evident,” said head coach Rik Dahl. “The guys battled, and we are always proud of that.”
The Red Raider Wrestling team will be back in action on February 18 and 19 in Mitchell, SD for the GPAC Championships.
