Six Milbank Wrestlers Qualify for State

Milbank is sending five male and one female wrestler to the 2025 SDHSAA State Wrestling Championships this Thursday, February 27 through Saturday, March 1. The action will take place in the Summit Arena at the Monument in Rapid City. 

The wrestlers qualified at the Region 1A meet in Hartford on Saturday, February 22.  “This is Milbank’s first year back in Region 1A after about 10 years,” noted Josh Schmeichel, head coach for the Bulldogs. “Region 1A has historically been the toughest region in the state and this year looks no different. That didn’t stop our boys from going out there and competing. We ended up with five qualifiers.”

Individual Results:
At 113 pounds, Tayson Tilma started the day off with a loss. In his next match he turned things around for a pin. He lost his next two matches, but finished in sixth place.   

At 126,  Andrew Karels battled hard. He ended with a 0-3 record, but also finished in sixth place.

At 132 pounds, Kyle Schneck started with a loss in a close 6-10 match decision. The next match “he came out determined,” Schmeichel said, “but fell short in a 4-16 decision.”

At 157, Joe French won with a 15-0 tech fall against his first opponent, but lost by a tech fall in his second match. “In the blood round, Joe was able to get a 12-1 major decision to get into the third and fourth place match,” Schmeichel said. “We then decided to medical forfeit because Joe hasn’t gotten his energy level completely back from when he had mono earlier this season. This secured a No. 7 seed at State for Joe.”  

“Reese Rabe, at 165 pounds, came into the tournament with a slim chance of making it to State,” remarked Schmeichel. “He lost to the No 1 seed, but then flipped a switch in his next three matches to pull off three upsets and beat two wrestlers who beat him earlier in the year. He ended with a great third-place finish.”

At 175 pounds, Tate Schlueter came in as the No  3 seed in the toughest 175  region in the state with three of the top-four ranked wrestlers in South Dakota at 175. Tate started off with a quick 30-second pin and moved on to  a really close 7-10 match in the semifinals. On the back side of the bracket, Tate finished with a 10-1 major decision and a 50-second fall to take third place and secure a No. 4 seed at State.

At 190 pounds, Jesse Schneck came into the region tourney as the No. 1 seed, so he felt some pressure. He started off with a quick 20-second pin before continuing on to  a full six-minute match. He lost 1-2 with a late reversal in the third period. From there, Jesse came back with a 4-2 and a 7-2 win for a third-place finish. He secured a No. 9 seed at State. He will have a rematch of his semifinals match to start the tournament.

Hunter Reede, at 215 pounds, pinned his first opponent. In the semifinals, he ended up getting pinned in the third period before coming back and getting another fall in the blood round to punch his ticket to the tournament. He then got beat, but earned a fourth-place finish. “Hunter spent most of the season dealing with an injury and illness,” Schmeichel commented, “ This caused him to come into Regions without too much wrestling during the year. That didn’t scare him away from pulling off two pins to get a ticket to the state tournament. As a junior, the younger Bulldogs will be looking to Hunter to be a leader for the team.”

At 285, Oliver Korth came into the tournament knowing it was going to be a tough battle for State. Oliver got headlocked in the last 30 seconds of his first match to take the loss. From there, he couldn’t get his momentum and lost his next two matches.

Region 1A Team Scores:  1.) Watertown – 214 points  2.) Tea Area – 179.5  3.) West Central – 161  4.) O’Gorman – 150.5  5.) Jefferson – 149.5   6.) Brookings –  125  7.) Milbank – 84.5  8.) Dell Rapids – 72   9.) Roosevelt – 15

Results for the Lady Bulldogs at Regions
“This year was the first year for Regions for girls,” Schmeichel explained. “Since girls wrestling only has one class in South Dakota, they created Regions by taking the boys’ 1A Region and combining it with the boys’ 1B Region.”

Alondra Romero Mondrago started the girls off at 107. Alondra went out determined, but came up a little short with two losses.

 Aza Scavariel at 120, started the day off with a loss, but came back to win two matches before losing the next two matches. She finished in sixth place.   

Mackenzie Mueller at 138, started with a tough loss. Mackenzie was up during the match, but got rolled in the third period and lost the match. In the second match, she just couldn’t get anything going and ended up suffering the loss.

At 185, Kyra Tostenson started with a quick pin to make it to the finals. In the finals, Kyra went up against the top seed, but couldn’t quite pull off an upset. She finished in second place to punch her ticket to State as the No. 6 seed.  

Tickets:
Purchase your 2025 SDHSAA State Wrestling Championship adult or student passes or individual session entry tickets online at themonument.evenue.net 

There will be two sessions per day, except for Saturday. Saturday is one session for the championships. All five sessions are reserved seating for adults and general admission seating in sections 209-211 only for students. Premium level tickets are also available.

113 Tayson Tillma (19-24) placed 6th and scored 6.0 team points.

• Quarterfinal – Will Norman (O`Gorman) 22-9 won by tech fall over Tayson Tillma (Milbank) 19-24 (TF-1.5 4:28 (19-0))
• Cons. Round 1 – Tayson Tillma (Milbank) 19-24 won by fall over Gabriel Herzog (Sioux Falls Roosevelt) 11-11 (Fall 2:07)
• Cons. Semi – Henry Fortin (Tea Area) 34-18 won by major decision over Tayson Tillma (Milbank) 19-24 (MD 20-11)
• 5th Place Match – Briggs Archer (Brookings) 16-10 won by decision over Tayson Tillma (Milbank) 19-24 (Dec 13-7)

126 Andrew Karels (6-22) placed 6th and scored 3.0 team points.

• Quarterfinal – Brody Randall (Watertown) 32-6 won by fall over Andrew Karels (Milbank) 6-22 (Fall 1:07)
• Cons. Round 1 – Andrew Karels (Milbank) 6-22 received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Semi – Camden Tebay (Dell Rapids) 21-12 won by tech fall over Andrew Karels (Milbank) 6-22 (TF-1.5 4:37 (15-0))
• 5th Place Match – Haiden Baxter (Brookings) 9-16 won by tech fall over Andrew Karels (Milbank) 6-22 (TF-1.5 3:59 (16-1))

132 Kyle Schneck (11-24) 

• Quarterfinal – Kaydin Sorensen (Sioux Falls Jefferson) 28-31 won by decision over Kyle Schneck (Milbank) 11-24 (Dec 10-6)
• Cons. Round 1 – Braeden Dunkelberger (Tea Area) 10-11 won by major decision over Kyle Schneck (Milbank) 11-24 (MD 16-4)

157 Joe French (23-10) placed 4th and scored 12.5 team points.

• Quarterfinal – Joe French (Milbank) 23-10 won by tech fall over James Fitzpatrick (Brookings) 15-13 (TF-1.5 3:21 (15-0))
• Semifinal – Keaton Vessells (West Central) 45-9 won by tech fall over Joe French (Milbank) 23-10 (TF-1.5 3:32 (16-0))
• Cons. Semi – Joe French (Milbank) 23-10 won by major decision over Beau Werdel (Tea Area) 25-29 (MD 12-1)
• 3rd Place Match – Markus Pitkin (Watertown) 32-12 won by medical forfeit over Joe French (Milbank) 23-10 (M. For.)

165 Reese Rabe (13-20) placed 3rd and scored 15.0 team points.

• Quarterfinal – Dawson Eimers (Tea Area) 27-3 won by fall over Reese Rabe (Milbank) 13-20 (Fall 3:15)
• Cons. Round 1 – Reese Rabe (Milbank) 13-20 won by fall over Chaz Carda (West Central) 10-13 (Fall 4:46)
• Cons. Semi – Reese Rabe (Milbank) 13-20 won by fall over Landen Lewis (Watertown) 29-23 (Fall 4:03)
• 3rd Place Match – Reese Rabe (Milbank) 13-20 won by decision over Breck Evans (Dell Rapids) 27-13 (Dec 6-5)

175 Tate Schlueter (25-4) placed 3rd and scored 17.0 team points.

• Quarterfinal – Tate Schlueter (Milbank) 25-4 won by fall over Cade Kuemper (Watertown) 23-17 (Fall 0:29)
• Semifinal – Gabriel Stern (Brookings) 35-5 won by decision over Tate Schlueter (Milbank) 25-4 (Dec 10-7)
• Cons. Semi – Tate Schlueter (Milbank) 25-4 won by major decision over Sam Glesiah (Sioux Falls Jefferson) 28-13 (MD 10-1)
• 3rd Place Match – Tate Schlueter (Milbank) 25-4 won by fall over Jeremiah Wilgers (Tea Area) 31-22 (Fall 0:48)

190 Jesse Schneck (27-6) placed 3rd and scored 14.0 team points.

• Quarterfinal – Jesse Schneck (Milbank) 27-6 won by fall over Ty Hagen (Watertown) 2-14 (Fall 0:18)
• Semifinal – Cain Grocott (West Central) 29-18 won by decision over Jesse Schneck (Milbank) 27-6 (Dec 2-1)
• Cons. Semi – Jesse Schneck (Milbank) 27-6 won by decision over Blake Kannegieter (Brookings) 22-17 (Dec 4-2)
• 3rd Place Match – Jesse Schneck (Milbank) 27-6 won by decision over Gabriel Bastemeyer (Tea Area) 27-9 (Dec 7-2)

215 Hunter Reede (6-6) placed 4th and scored 14.0 team points.

• Quarterfinal – Hunter Reede (Milbank) 6-6 won by fall over Cooper Dykstra (Sioux Falls Jefferson) 33-22 (Fall 2:51)
• Semifinal – Rip Siemonsma (O`Gorman) 29-12 won by fall over Hunter Reede (Milbank) 6-6 (Fall 4:50)
• Cons. Semi – Hunter Reede (Milbank) 6-6 won by fall over Ethan Wientjes (Watertown) 16-21 (Fall 2:38)
• 3rd Place Match – Zach Hagemann (Brookings) 20-17 won by tech fall over Hunter Reede (Milbank) 6-6 (TF-1.5 5:00 (19-4))

285 Oliver Korth (11-10) placed 6th and scored 3.0 team points.

• Quarterfinal – Dylan Reynolds (Brookings) 19-13 won by fall over Oliver Korth (Milbank) 11-10 (Fall 5:42)
• Cons. Round 1 – Oliver Korth (Milbank) 11-10 received a bye () (Bye)
• Cons. Semi – Daniel Vazquez (O`Gorman) 27-19 won by fall over Oliver Korth (Milbank) 11-10 (Fall 2:52)
• 5th Place Match – Noah Duran (Sioux Falls Jefferson) 26-20 won by major decision over Oliver Korth (Milbank) 11-10 (MD 15-5)

Submitted Photo: left to right, Hunter Reede, Jesse Schneck, Joe French, Tate Schlueter, Reese Rabe and Kyra Tostenson.