TSCHETTER THE CHAMP AT 144 LBS.; PANKRATZ, PREHEIM ADVANCE
Three-day state tournament begins Thursday in Rapid City
Three minutes and 45 seconds.
That’s how long Easton Tschetter was on the mat during last week’s Region 2B Wrestling Tournament in Salem, and in that time, he recorded three pins and a championship in what can only be described as total domination of the 144 lb. weight division.
The Freeman High School freshman, who earlier in the season recorded his 100th victory, received a first-round bye before winning his first match by fall at 1:41, his semifinal match by fall at 0:40, and the title match by fall at 1:24.
Tschetter — third in Region 2B in both 2023 and 2024 — won his first of what will likely be multiple region championships on Saturday, Feb. 22 and earned his third trip to state in as many years; he was eighth in a deep 120 lb. field last year and competed at 112 lbs. as a seventh grader.
And Tschetter isn’t making this week’s journey to Rapid City by himself.
Marion senior Keaton Preheim and Freeman High School sophomore Logun Pankratz also punched their ticket on Saturday to another state tournament with a third and fourth place finish, respectively.
Wrestling at 132 lbs., Preheim won his first match, lost his second, and then fought his way back to third place with a pair of pins.
Pankratz competed at 126 lbs. and received a first-round bye before winning his first match of the day. He went on to lose in the semifinals to the eventual 126 lb. champion — Canton senior Zach Bartels (46-2) — before winning an elimination match by technical fall (17-1) earning a spot in the state tournament. Pankratz lost the third/fourth-place match on a 4-1 decision.
“We had a good day,” said Mark Bradley, who is in his first year leading the longstanding Marion/Freeman Rebels program. “The three that we anticipated going ended up going, but we had other boys who were a match away from going to state, which we did not anticipate.”
Indeed, in what may have been the most energizing part of the day for the Rebels program, Freeman eighth grader Josh Oleson, Freeman seventh grader David Wollmann and Marion eighth grader Michael Blau won back-to-back-to-back matches — all by pin — in the in the second round wrestleback at 106, 113 and 120 lbs. And Oleson almost got through to state, instead losing a 10-8 decision in the match that would have gotten him there.
The Rebels saw one other win when Freeman Academy junior Thomas Ding won an elimination match in the wrestleback before — like the other three — falling in a match that would have taken him to state.
“It was fun,” Bradley says of the wins that came in relatively quick succession in what was otherwise a drawn-out day. “I think it really sets them up well for next year, knowing how close they came, and even though it’s heartbreaking in the moment.
“It’s nice for these boys to know what they worked hard for all year,” the coach continued. “It’s something that really does build confidence going into next season; it’s one of the last things they’ll remember about the year and will help them get a good start next year.”
Marion/Freeman was also represented on Saturday by Freeman sophomore Raymond Arnold, who competed at 285 lbs.
The Rebels also had Hunter Spangler scheduled to compete at 157 lbs., but the Freeman eighth grader did not make weight before the region competition began Saturday morning.
Next stop: state
The State Wrestling Tournament includes girls and boys from both Class B and Class A schools and will be held over three days in Rapid City. All matches will take place on the Summit Arena floor inside The Monument, which was constructed as an addition to the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in 2021.
The first round will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 27 with quarterfinal matches starting at 4 p.m. that afternoon.
Friday morning and afternoon sessions are both reserved for consolation matches, with the semifinal round set for 3:30 p.m. Friday afternoon.
Place-matches begin at 10 a.m. Saturday morning with championship matches beginning at 1 p.m.
Bradley believes all three Rebels can get on the podium with top eight finishes.
Here’s a closer look
Tschetter: The freshman heads into his third state tournament with a 42-6 record and as the fourth seed in the 144 lb. division. He will face Parker senior Jerimiah Friman (21-14) in a winnable first round and will likely battle Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes junior Johnny Lenz (36-7) in the quarterfinals Thursday evening — a good wrestler he defeated 3-1 in Wagner earlier this month.
Should Tschetter win again against Lenz, he would be on a collision course with Bennett County senior Gavin Risse (32-2), who placed fifth at state at 132 lbs. last year and who has defeated Tschetter twice this season — but both matches were close.
“It would not surprise me if we see him in the finals on Saturday,” Bradley says of Tschetter. “There isn’t a kid that I’ve seen this year that Easton, when he is at the top of his game, cannot beat.”
Pankratz: Pankratz goes into the tournament with a 38-15 mark, missed a top 10 seeding by one spot and was therefore randomly paired with his first-round opponent — Potter County senior Lane Stuwe (35-15).
“I like the draw,” Bradley said. “The way they set it up, they seed the top 10 and everybody else is drawn in, and he drew the lowest seeded kid he could.”
The winner of the Pankratz/Stuwe match will likely face Sisseton senior Ian Metz (18-1) in the quarter final round, and McCook Central/Montrose senior Trystan Traupel (41-3) is also on Pankratz’s side of the bracket. But Bradley believes that Parnkratz is skilled enough to work his way through the consolation bracket and earn a top-eight finish at 126 lbs. if that’s what it comes to.
Preheim: Whereas Pankratz drew a favorable opponent in the first round, Bradley says Preheim did not. Rather, the senior will battle the No. 1-seeded wrestler at 132 lbs. in Custer senior Tray Weiss (35-10). It is for that reason that Bradley takes issue with how the pairings are determined for the state tournament. Somebody who finishes third in the region should not be facing the No. 1-seeded wrestler, the coach says. “That doesn’t seem fair.”
And to help illustrate his point, Bradley points to Tschetter’s first-round match against Friman, whom Tschetter pinned for the Region 2B title.
“Why are we seeing the last kid we beat at regions right away at state?” he asks.
Still, the coach says Preheim has a shot at scoring an upset.
“If anybody can do it it’s somebody with Keaton’s skill set,” Bradley says. “He’s incredibly quick, and if he can use that speed, maybe he could pull it off.”
And if he doesn’t — like Pankratz — Bradley believes Preheim can survive an elimination match in the first round of the consolation bracket on Friday morning and work his way back.
“I think all three boys have a relatively good chance of getting on the podium in some fashion if they wrestle to their potential.,” he says.
