SIOUX FALLS – Jacob Schoon capped off a stellar junior season with a Class A 170-pound state title on Saturday at the Premier Center as the Bobcats finished in a tie for 15th with Madison and Sioux Falls Roosevelt with 53.5 points.
Pierre scored 159 points to edge Rapid City Stevens (157.5) for the team crown, the fourth-straight for the Governors.
Schoon, who ended his championship season with a 30-1 record, won a 4-0 decision over Harrisburg’s in Saturday’s semifinals before beating Kolby Kost of Rapid City Central, 5-4, in the title tilt.
At 113 pounds, Connor Klinkhammer captured fifth for the Bobcats; Logan Bowes (160) and Gus Miller (220) placed seventh; and Nolan Archer (106) finished eighth.
“If everybody wrestled to their seed, we knew we could have as many as four placings, so getting a fifth one was kind of a bonus,” said Bobcat head coach Scott Miller. “Jacob (Schoon) was the 2 seed and he took the championship; Klinkhammer was sixth seeded and he took fifth; Gus (Miller) got drawn into the No. 1 seed and he beat the No. 7 and 9 seeds to place, beating the sixth seed in the seventh-place match – all of our kids wrestled really well.
“The conversation on the way home wasn’t ‘How are we going to replace?’ it was where can we get these kids next year for a repeat and trying to figure out we’re going to get anywhere from 25-40 more points so we can get up on that awards stand with everybody else placing at state.”
In the 170-pound title match, Kost sandwiched a pair of takedowns around a Schoon escape in the first minute of the match as the Cobbler senior led 4-1 after a period.
Kost deferred his choice to start the second period and Schoon chose to be on the bottom – getting a reversal midway through – and then picking up two nearfall points with 40 seconds on the clock as the Bobcat junior led 5-4 after two.
Kost chose neutral to start the final period, and neither wrestler gained an advantage in the first minute. Schoon received a caution for stalling with 1:10 left, and then, shot for a takedown twice in the final minute – controlling Kost with a single-leg lock over the last 30 seconds to hold on for the one-point victory – and the title.
At 113, Connor Klinkhammer claimed a 2-0 sudden victory over Tristan Permann of Sturgis in the fifth-place match. The Bobcat junior won a 6-0 decision over Sam Olson of Madison in the consolation quarterfinals, but dropped a 4-3 decision to Roosevelt’s Riley Hollingshead in the semis for the rematch with Permann, who had sent Klinkhammer into the wrestlebacks with a 5-0 decision on Friday.
At 160, Bowes lost a 4-1 decision to Alec Bien of Milbank in the consolation quarters before bouncing back to beat Rapid City Central’s Wyatt Jungclaus, 7-6, in the seventh-place match.
At 220, Miller dropped an 8-0 major decision to Mathais Thompson of Rapid City Central in the consolation quarters, but came back to claim seventh with a 3-2 win over Stevens’ Hunter McMath.
At 106, Archer lost a 6-0 decision to Aberdeen Central’s Brenden Salfrank in the consolation quarters before dropping a 4-3 decision to Gabe Skustad of Chamberlain in the seventh-place match.
Team scores (33 teams)
1. Pierre 159, 2. Rapid City Stevens 157.5, 3. Sturgis 113.5, 4. Rapid City Central 109.5, 5. Aberdeen Central 106.5, 6. Huron 96, 7. Brandon Valley 95.5, 8. Harrisburg 92, 9. Vermillion 84.5, 10. Chamberlain 81, 11. Watertown 63.5, 12. Mitchell 62, 13. Yankton 56, 14. Lennox 55, T15. Brookings 53.5, Madison 53.5, Sioux Falls Roosevelt 53.5, 18. Douglas/Rapid City Christian 32, 19. Beresford/Alcester-Hudson 30, 20. Sioux Falls O’Gorman 28, 21. Spearfish 26, 22. Milbank 22, 23. Dell Rapids 15, 24. Pine Ridge 13, 25. Dakota Valley 12, T26. Sioux Falls Lincoln 10, West Central 10, 28. Sioux Falls Washington 7, 29. Little Wound 3, 30. Cheyenne-Eagle Butte/Dupree 1, T31. Belle Fourche 0, Tea Area 0, Todd County 0.
CLASS B
Canton claimed the team title with 165 points to Winner’s second-place total of 111.5.
Flandreau’s Michael Witte posted three wins in the consolation bracket to place third at 145 pounds as the Fliers finished 30th as a team with 19 points.
Witte won a 3-0 decision over Landon Sivertsen of Miller/Highmore-Harold to capture third place. Earlier in the day, Witte won 4-1 over Philip’s Colby Fitch in the consolation quarters, and then, won an 8-0 major decision over Joey Wheeler of Potter County in the semis to advance to the third-place match.
Team scores (45 teams)
1. Canton 165, 2. Winner 111.5, 3. Howard 100, 4, Philip 96.5, 5. Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon 84.5, 6, Clark/Willow Lake 83, 7. Mobridge-Pollock 78, 8. McCook Central/Montrose 75, 9. Redfield 68, 10. Wagner 65, 11. Parkston 60, 12. Burke/Gregory 50, 13. Faulkton Area 47.5, 14. Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes 47, 15. Webster 45, 16. Elk Point-Jefferson 42.5, 17. Mt. Vernon/Plankinton/Corsica/Stickney 40, 18. Garretson 37, 19. Miller/Highmore-Harrold 36, 20. Sisseton 33, 21. Groton Area 32, 31. Custer/Edgemont 31, 23. Bennett County 30, 24. Tri-Valley 27.5, 25. Stanley County 27, 26. Lemmon/McIntosh 24, T27. Hot Springs 20, Lyman 20, Parker 20, 30. Flandreau 19; 31. Harding County 17, 32. Lead-Deadwood 15, 33. Potter County 13, 34. Britton-Hecla 9, T35. Deuel 5, Wolsey-Wessington 5, 37. Kingsbury County 4, T38. Hill City 3, Marion/Freeman 3, Newell 3, T41. St. Thomas More 2, Sunshine Bible Academy 2, 43. Wessington Springs/Woonsocket 1, T44. Ipswich/Leola/Bowdle 0, Warner/Northwestern 0.
Jon Schoon photo: Brookings’ Jacob Schoon (top) works on Rapid City Central’s Kolby Kost during the 170-pound championship match in the Class A State Wrestling Tournament on Saturday night at the PREMIER Center in Sioux Falls. The Bobcat junior recorded a 5-4 decision to win the title and cap a 30-1 season. It marked the fourth consecutive year Schoon finished in the top eight.
