West River wrestling fans that made the trip to Watertown will be treated to some great finals match-ups. Region 4A has 15 wrestlers in the finals and has at least one grappler in all but three of the championship matches.

Sturgis has the most grapplers in the finals in the state with six: Tanner Bothwell (103), Josh Keszler (119), Seth Lange (125), Nate Wilson (135), Rex Lyon (140), and Clint Wilson (171).

In four matches, two region 4A wrestlers will battle each other in the finals.

Wouldn’t be something if region 4A wrestlers were to take state titles in 11 of the 14 weight classes? It could happen in Watertown tonight.

The team championship seems all but wrapped up for Sturgis as they lead by 16.5 points over Stevens.

Should Sturgis win tonight it will be their fourth state championship in five years.

-Jake-

The semifinal round of the Class A wrestling tournament in Watertown provided some serious entertainment for area fans.

Stevens’ Morgan Russell scored a 10-8 overtime win over Vermillion’s TJ North to hand North his first loss this season in 44 matches and set up a title match against Rapid City Central 8th grader Aero Amo.

Josh Keszler (Sturgis) and Jamin Battles (Belle Fourche) each pinned their opponents to set up yet another match between the two region foes at 119 pounds. Keszler’s teammate Seth Lange stayed undefeated with a tough 7-6 decision over Lincoln’s Tim Waterman to move into the 125-pound final.

Hot Springs’ Cole Romey and Sturgis’ Nate Wilson have made the 135-pound final an all-Region 4A affair, while Sturgis’ Rex Lyon held off upstart Joe Sigler of Central (just a freshman) in a 3-2 OT win to move into the 140-pound final against Huron’s Cord Glanzer.

The 145-pound class is another all-Region 4A battle as Central’s James Wilson and Hot Springs’ Brady Harkless will meet again. Stevens’ Jarrett Jensen remained undefeated this season, moving into the 152-pound final to face, you guessed it, another Region 4A foe in Belle Fourche’s Kale Merrel.

Stevens’ Kris Klapprodt had one of the most impressive performances of the semi round with a 23-8 tech fall win over Mitchell’s Austin Havlik to set up a “dream match” with unbeaten Canton wrestler Tom Davies — unbeaten and considered to be the top wrestler in the state by some.

Sturgis’ Clint Wilson will meet unbeaten Jordan Reiner of Mitchell in the 171-pound final. Jayd Docken of Winner knocked off Central’s Chapman Ham in a tight match, 3-1 at 189 pounds, and will face Canton’s Charles Fox for the title. Ham was looking to add the 189-pound title to a 215-pound title from last year.

Douglas’ Damon Lappe continued his quest for a 215-pound state title with a 4-0 win in the semis and will face Mitchell’s Kyle Larson in the finals.

Oh yeah, Sturgis is leading the team title race 148.5 to 132 over Stevens. Central’s fourth behind Huron.

- Padraic

As we enter the 145 pound weight class Sturgis has started to extend their lead over the field. Currently Sturgis leads with 64.5 points followed by Huron with 41.5 points. Rapid City Steven’s has wrestled better than this morning winning some key matches in the lower weight classes and the wrestle backs. They have moved into third place with 41 points. Rapid City Central follows closely behind with 37.5.

In the all important 145 pound weight class, Jeff Moran of Rapid City Steven’s lost to Tyler Palmer of Brookings in the quarterfinals. James Wilson of Central won his match 5-2 and will face Palmer in the semis tomorrow.

On the other side of the 145 pound bracket, Sturgis’ Kyle Kopplin lost his match to Andrew Eidem of Vermillion while Brady Harkless of Hot Springs won his match against Kirby Bowyer of Canton. Harkless will face Eidem in the semifinal.   

-Jake-

Watertown is buzzing with wrestling fans. All the hotels are full and the Watertown Civic Arena is packed.

Defending state champions the Steven’s Raiders took a hit to their title hopes today losing five opening round matches. Meanwhile, the Central Cobblers are currently third with 23 points and Hot Springs is seventh with 21.

Steven’s still has plenty of time to improve upon their current sixth place standing with victories in the wresltebacks and quarterfinals.

Douglas’ Damon Lappe won his first round match in the 215 pound weight class with a pin. His teammate, Jacob Korzeniewski lost his opener.

-Jake-

WATERTOWN — The Sturgis Scoopers had all 10 of their wrestlers win their first-round matches Friday at the Watertown Civic Arena to move out to an early 31 to 25.5 point lead over Aberdeen Central after the first round of the Class A state wrestling tournament.

Region 4A has been good thus far, highlighted by Spearfish’s Brendon Waterson’s 5-4 win over Mitchell’s Jason Greenway at 135 pounds to move into the quarterfinals against Milbank’s Alex DeFea.

I don’t know how big of an “upset” that can be classified as, but it’s one that stuck out a bit to me.

 

- Padraic

What I love about the NFL is that it is replacing Major League Baseball in terms of ‘Hot Stove’ speculation.

Tomorrow is one of my favorite days in the NFL. Or should I say 10:01 p.m. today in Mountain Standard Time. That is the exact moment that the NFL free agency period begins and teams in earnest start to build for the 2009 season.

This winter has shown that no veteran is indespensible. So far, veterans - and most likely Hall of Famers - Derrick Brooks, Warrick Dunn and Fred Taylor are among the most recognizable names cut by their teams and are out on the free agent market.

Other players want more money and are weighing what are called ‘hometown discounts,’ which means taking a paycut to stay with their team. Among those players are the Chargers’ LaDanian Tomlinson and the Vikings’ Matt Birk. Birk, a Minnesota native with four children, has probably the toughest of decisions.

The biggest name on the market, starting tonight, is Tennessee defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. He will most likely get the largest contract for a defensive player in league history.

Other big names likely to find new homes - unless they are re-signed - are the Ravens’ Ray Lewis, the Redskins’ DeAngelo Hall, the Cardinals’ Kurt Warner and Anquan Boldin, and the Bengals’ T.J. Houshmandzadeh and the Cowboys’ Chris Canty. Here are some others:

Top 50 free agents

The other fun part of free agency is hearing about the needs of specific teams. For instance, the Eagles’ need for a receiver, the Cowboys’ need for a locker-room leader, the Vikings’ need for a quarterback (and a coach but that cannot be solved in free agency) and the Broncos need for a running back and, well, a defense.

During free agency, you also get a preview of the NFL Draft.

What catches your eye during free agency?

- Russo

Now that the St. Thomas More and Newell girls basektball teams have successfully won their district semifinal matchups it sets up an interesting District 16A final.
More and Newell split during the regular season, and I don’t know if this game will be high scoring or not, but it should be entertaining no matter which way it goes.
Newell packs a lot of punch and has many different ways to score, but if STM gets off to a good start it may just be the Cavaliers advancing on.
The game will be a good nightcap to three district games at the civic center on Thursday.
Jeff

MLB Spring trainging games begin this week in Florida and Arizona.  Amen. Yes I know it’s only spring training, but it’s still baseball and no I am not talking about A-Fraud. 

The final rosters of the 16 teams participating in the second World Baseball Classic were released on Tuesday evening, and they include a bevy of All-Stars.

Team USA has Boston’s Dustin Pedroia, the Yankees’ Derek Jeter and San Diego’s Jake Peavy. The roster of defending champion Japan includes Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki and Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka. The Dominican Republic brings back Boston’s David Ortiz and adds Florida’s Hanley Ramirez. Team Canada boasts Boston’s Jason Bay and Minnesota’s Justin Morneau. Mexico has San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez, and Puerto Rico the Mets’ Carlos Beltran to name a few.

The games in the Classic are set to begin next Tuesday.

Round 1 is double elimination - the first two teams to lose twice will be eliminated. The pool winners and runner ups will advance to Round 2 of the tournament. Round 2 also will be double elimination. The first two teams to lose twice will be eliminated and the remaining teams advance to the semifinal round in Los Angeles.

Although I am not a big fan of the Classic, I will be watching to see what transpires. With baseball out of the Olympics for the foreseeable future this will give one a glimpse of the Cubans, generally regarded as one of the best teams in the world, year in and year out.

After this long and windy winter it will be a breath of fresh air for me.

-Lenn    

It’s playoff time for the girls and I’m wondering who everybody thinks is going to get to the state tournament from out here.

Class AA — It’s all on Central and Sturgis. The Cobblers are the best team but Sturgis did beat them at Naasz. The Scoopers seem to be playing their best lately and when Breanna Janovy is a presence down low they can be very dangerous. Because of the double elimination format of Class AA two teams could make it to state from this district/region.

Class A — The winner of District 16A should go from Region 8A, whether it is Newell or STM. The two teams split during the regular season, with each winning at home, setting up what should be a good game at the Civic Center. Newell is playing better ball lately, but More is still capable of getting the win. Pine Ridge shouldn’t have any problem getting out of Region 7A if they show up ready to take care of business.

Class B — Harding County is the best team in Class B out here. They should roll in 8B. Region 7B is more interesting. Philip and Wall are the top two seeds, but White River, Jones County, New Underwood and Edgemont could spoil.

- Padraic

We are planning a story in Tuesday’s dead tree edition on the Hill City boys basketball team. The Rangers are 15-4 on the season, just behind St. Thomas More (17-2 overall) and just ahead of Lead-Deadwood (14-5) in the Black Hills Conference, with a final game against Red Cloud later this week.

Hill City’s four losses have come to Omaha Nation during the LNI, a pair of Black Hills Conference losses to the Cavaliers and a BHC split with the Golddiggers.

Does Hill City have enough to get past St. Thomas More, Red Cloud, Lead-Deadwood and the other talented teams it could face during district and regional play? We will find out.

Andrew