Three Milbank Wrestlers Place in Top 10 at State Meet

Milbank wrestlers who earned a berth in the 2024 state tournament competed Thursday through Saturday, February 22-24, at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls. Injuries and state and nationally ranked wrestlers hindered the Bulldogs’ progress through the bracket, but they returned home with three top-10 finishes. Tate Schlueter secured sixth place. Landon Novy captured seventh place in overtime, and Owen Fischer collected eighth place.

Josh Schmeichel, head coach for Milbank, said, “State wrestling has many ups and downs. A lot of positive emotions going on, but a lot of heartbreaks, too. This year was no different. We had some positives coming out and some things to work on for next year. One thing new was it was a three-day state tournament. We had to stay in a hotel for three days and make weight for three days. That really drained some of the wrestlers from across the state.”

Coach Schmeichel Recaps the Results for Milbank:

Owen Fischer – 120 Pounds – Going into the first round, we knew it was going to be a tough, but winnable match. Owen went out and took care of business and beat his first opponent 7-4. The next match was against the No. 2- seeded wrestler, so we knew it was going to be a hard one. Owen ended up losing. After that, Owen came back and won his match with a close 4-3 decision to place. In the next match, he got injured during the match, but still finished it. He lost 11-2. Due to the injury, he was unable to wrestle the next day in the seventh-place match. Owen received eighth place.

• 7th Place Match – Porter Lozenski (Aberdeen Central) 28-18 won by medical forfeit over Owen Fischer (Milbank) 33-12 (M. For.)

Jacob Johnson – 126 Pounds – We knew Jacob’s first match was going to be a tough one. He wrestled against the No. 2 seed. He ended up losing that match and got knocked into the wrestlebacks. From there, he needed to win or he would get beat out. He wrestled a tough match and almost stuck his opponent, but got stopped due to blood time. Continuing on with the match, he got pinned and knocked out of the tournament

Joe French -150 Pounds – During his first match, Joe suffered a tough 3-2 loss. From there, he came back, but ended up getting pinned and knocked out of the tournament.

Tate Schlueter – 175 Pounds – Tate started the tournament with a 12-2 win over a wrestler he lost to the previous week. Next up, he faced the wrestler who eventually became the state champ and Tate got pinned. From there, he came back to beat his next two opponents with a pin in the first period and a 10-7 decision. Tate then met his match and lost in a 8-2 decision to take him to the round for fifth and sixth place. During his final match, he ended up sprawling and he dislocated his jaw on the back of his opponent’s head. He was forced to forfeit the match. Tate finished in sixth place.

• 5th Place Match – Lane Knutson (Sioux Falls Washington) 43-5 won by injury default over Tate Schlueter (Milbank) 30-10 (Inj. 0:58)

Jesse Schneck – 190 Pounds – Jesse started the tournament going against the No. 2 wrestler. He got pinned in the first period. Next, he pinned his opponent to get one match away from placing. From there he lost in a 8-1 decision and got knocked out of the tournament.

Landon Novy – 285 Pounds – As a senior, Landon knew this was his last chance to place. He started with a fall over his first opponent. He lost his second match against the No. 2 seed who is also in the national rankings. Landon came back and pinned his opponent to secure a place at State. He then got pinned in his next match. That took him to the seventh and eighth- place match. Landon finished the final match of his wrestling career with a 3-1 win in OT to secure seventh-place.

• 7th Place Match – Landon Novy (Milbank) 23-7 won in sudden victory – 1 over Edly Amaro (Yankton) 26-19 (SV-1 3-1)

Girls Division
Kyra Tostenson – 185 Pounds – Kyra started with an opponent who had previously pinned her twice. She battled hard and only lost 14-6 that time. In her next match, she went out confident and pinned her opponent in the first period. In her last match, she wrestled tough, but got pinned and knocked out of the tournament.