UPDATED: GOSSEN 2ND, TSCHETTER 8TH

Three others take the mat for the Rebels in Sioux Falls; Sayler says the person to lead the program next will have a ‘golden spoon’

Key wins, disappointing losses and confirmation that, yes, the future is bright for the Marion-Freeman wrestling program, helped define last week’s South Dakota High School Activity Association State Wrestling Championships.

And in the end, the Rebels emerged with two medal-winners.

Freshman Brody Gossen, who was the first student from Freeman High School to compete in a state wrestling final since Cory Wallman in 1995, finished second in the 113 lb. division while eighth grader Easton Tschetter placed eighth at 120 lbs.

The Rebels were also represented by Logun Pankratz at 106 lbs., Sarah Cremer at 116 lbs., and Keaton Preheim at 132 lbs. as the tournament unfolded at the Denny Sanford Premier Center Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-24.

“Just a great bunch of kids,” said Marion-Freeman head coach Chris Sayler, who is resigning from Freeman Public at the end of the school year after spending the last 16 years with the Rebels program.

And Sayler wasn’t referring to only those who competed in Sioux Falls last week, but of the entire squad.

“There’s a lot of talent, a lot of hard workers and everybody is coachable,” he said. “Whoever takes this over, they’re getting a golden spoon handed to them.”

The leader of the pack at present is Gossen, who qualified for his first state tournament as an eighth grader last season and finished his freshman campaign with a team-best 47-3 record. His only losses this season came against the guy who beat him in Saturday’s championship match, Brody Randall, a sophomore from Hamlin who wrestles for Hamlin/Castlewood.

“The kid is good,” Sayler said of Randall, who last season was fifth at state at 106 lbs. and won the 113 lb. title this year with a major decision over Gossen. “He’s a very strong kid, stays in good position and is always a step ahead. We knew we were going to have to gamble and take some chances if we wanted to put ourselves in a position to win; we weren’t going to beat him wrestling a conservative match.

“He’s such an explosive wrestler who can score points fast.”

That’s what happened on Saturday afternoon.

Randall went up 2-0 on a reversal in the first period and then 4-0 on a nearfall in the second before Gossen got on the board with a reversal of his own late in the period. But Randall turned his 4-2 advantage into a 13-2 win to claim the 113 lb. championship and wrap up an undefeated season at 44-0.

Still it was a memorable tournament for Gossen, who the week before had won the Region 2B championship and took care of business in his first three matches at state. He pinned Winner Area seventh grader Roukyn Robbins (32-17) in 48 seconds in the opening round on Thursday, took care of Bennett County eighth grader Maddux Risse (39-15) 1-0 in the quarterfinals for his 100th career win and then dominated Custer junior Tyler Trant (46-9) with a 9-0 major decision in the semifinals to advance to the championship match.

“He took it hard, but he’s got to be pretty proud that he’s a state runner up,” Sayler said of Gossen’s loss to Randall and his overall effort in Sioux Falls. “I’m sure he would love another opportunity to beat him. He’s probably going to take a little time off, but he’ll be back at it.”

Tschetter 8th

For Easton Tschetter, who entered the state tournament with a 48-7 mark, he won the matches he had to win to get on the podium for the first of what will most likely be many more times to come.

Taking the mat in a deep 120 lb. weight division, the Freeman eighth grader pinned Faulkton Area eighth grader Cash Edgar (27-14) in Thursday’s opening round and then, after losing to eventual state-runner up Kasen Konstanz (42-3), a senior from Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes in the quarterfinals, won an elimination match in what is known as the “blood round.” Tschetter needed the win to stay alive and secure his spot on the podium against a senior from Webster Area in Tacey Miller (36-16), and he got it by pinning his man in 1:44.

Tschetter dropped his next two matches to Canton junior Zach Bartels (43-15) and Miller/Highmore-Harrold sophomore Talon Ping (40-10) — both by decisions — but still emerged with his first career state tournament medal.

“Just to place in that weight class — that’s huge,” said Sayler. “For an eighth grader to knock out a senior in the blood round, it just goes to show just how good of a wrestler he is at this age.”

The coach notes that Tschetter was winning state tournaments at the AAU level and people have had their eye on his potential as he has gotten older.

“He’s a tough kid,” Sayler continues. “He’s methodical, he’s smart, he’s strong and he’s very coachable. You tell him to run into a wall with his head, he’ll go for it.

“He’s just going to keep moving his way up the podium.”

Rest of the Rebels

While Marion-Freeman came away with only two state tournament medals, Sayler said he is exceedingly proud of his entire Rebels squad, from those who qualified for the competition in Sioux Falls to those who failed to advance through the Region 2B competition.

That includes the only senior and only girl on the team, Sarah Cremer, whose toughness and commitment to the program is to be commended.

“She grew up a Rebel,” he said, noting Sarah is the third Cremer he has coached at a state tournament and follows in the steps of her two older brothers who also attended school in Marion. “That’s pretty neat.”

Cremer qualified for her first state tournament by posting an 11-9 record during the regular season and competed at 116 lbs. — one of 12 combined Class A and B weight divisions for the girls.

Cremer lost her opening-round match on Thursday by fall to Rapid City Central’s Langston Huffman (41-10), who went on to finish sixth, and then was defeated in the first-round consolation bracket on Friday by Brookings sophomore Bailey Tekrony (17-9) in a 12-4 major decision.

Sayler said he was proud of Cremer’s effort and she should be, too.

“She never gave up,” he said. “It’s tough when you’re the only girl on the team. She didn’t get the quality workouts this year that she deserved and it would have been easy for her to hang it up, but she didn’t. She loves being in the room, and when I refer to ‘the guys,’ that includes her.

“She should be very proud of how she ended the season.”

The same holds true for the Pankratz and Preheim, who were both dealt tough draws and were eliminated from competition on Friday.

Pankratz, a Freeman Public freshman who entered the tournament with a 44-14 record, had Redfield sophomore Maddon Odland (38-14) tied at 3-3 before dropping a 5-3 decision in his opening match, and then lost an 8-3 decision to Webster Area freshman Tayten Kurkowski (31-18) in the first-round consolation bracket.

“We knew going in that Logun had a tough draw,” said Sayler. “We lost some matches down the stretch that hurt us in the seeding, but he wrestled well.”

The coach notes that Pankratz had to cut quite a bit of weight to get down to 106, “and I think that was starting to get to him a little bit. It’s tough for anybody to maintain weight, but it’s especially tough when it’s a big cut like that.”

But Pankratz will be back.

“Without a doubt he’s going to make multiple trips and have lots of opportunities to be on the podium the next three years,” Sayler says. “He knows what he has to do, he’s a hard worker and shows a lot of determination. It just didn’t work out for him down the stretch this year.”

As for Preheim, a junior from Marion, it was that same kind of work ethic that earned him his first trip to state last week.

“He’s come so far and just keeps developing,” said Sayler, who notes that Preheim was an eyelash away from qualifying for state as a sophomore and that was clearly a motivating factor for him this season.

“He seemed really committed and focused,” said the coach. “This is something that he really wanted and I’m super proud of him for the season he had.”

Like Tschetter and Pankratz, Preheim earned his ticket to Sioux Falls thanks to a third-place finish in the region competition and took the mat at 132 lbs. with a 39-20 record.

After dropping his first match to Lemmon/McIntosh junior Gage Anderson (45-11) by fall, Preheim came back to win a 6-4 decision over Philip/Kadoka Area/Wall freshman Oakley Menzel (12-25) in the first-round consolation bracket on Friday.

He was then eliminated from competition by Winner Area junior Konner Osborn (35-12) later that day on a 13-0 major decision.

Like the others, Sayler says Preheim will be back next season and will take on a leadership role in what is expected to be a big 2024-25 campaign for the Rebels.

In addition to the four state qualifiers who are returning, Marion-Freeman should see a strong senior season from Finley McConniel, who competed at state as a sophomore and just missed qualifying for state this year, as well Alaric Knittel and Axle Schultz, who as a freshman and an eighth-grader this season both won a match at the Region 2B competition.

Sayler said there’s also a chance the Rebels could see the return of Riley Tschetter, a sophomore who finished seventh at state as an eighth-grader, was an alternate last year and this season continued his recovery from a torn ACL sustained in football.

“If we can get kids spread out a little more and develop our upper weights, next year will be a banner year,” he said. “It’s going to be a great season for whoever takes this over.”

And Sayler says he will look back fondly on this season because of the kids he had the privilege of coaching.

“This has been a memorable year, that’s for sure,” he said.

Marion senior Sarah Cremer faces off against Langston Huffman of Rapid City Central in the opening round of the state tournament Thursday morning.