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EspañolFeb. 28—SIOUX FALLS — The entire South Dakota wrestling season has built to this point.
A record total of 42 individual champions will be crowned on Saturday afternoon in the South Dakota state high school wrestling championships at the Premier Center in Sioux Falls, starting at 1 p.m.
That lineup includes 18 defending state champions from 2025, including eight from the girls ranks, plus 16 undefeated wrestlers still with perfect seasons alive.
With that in mind, here's six matches to watch closely on Saturday.
It's hard to envision a two-time state champion as an underdog but that's exactly where McCook Central/Montrose's Alexis Bryant found herself coming into the state tournament. Bryant (49-6) had six losses during the season and was seeded No. 3 in her bracket but won decisively in the semifinals over Brooklynn Randall, of Watertown, avenging a pair of losses during the season. Bryant, who plans to wrestle at Iowa Lakes Community College, has been rock solid in a Fighting Cougar uniform and in her final high school match, there's no question she will be a tough out.
Meanwhile, Custer's Savannah Bell has found herself in a prime position to earn her first state championship, with a 39-3 record and a very solid performance so far, with a technical fall and two decisions. She moved to Custer from California prior to the season and a state championship on Saturday would be a rightful welcome to the state. Bell won the only meeting between the two wrestlers on Jan. 10 in Presho by 7-1 decision.
All eyes will be on Harrisburg senior standout Regina Stoeser at the end of Saturday's championship matches. She is a huge favorite to claim her fifth state championship on Saturday at 130 pounds, looking to become only the second five-time champion in South Dakota's short history with a full girls tournament. It was picked as the featured match after Friday night's semifinals. Stoeser, who is headed for Fort Hays State in Kansas to wrestle collegiately, has a 19-0 record after missing some of the season with an injury, and Stoeser and Yellow Hawk have not met this season.
Her opponent, Sully Buttes' Cateri Yellow Hawk is a formidable foe who can take advantage if Stoeser gives her any room for an upset, coming in with a 33-2 record. Yellow Hawk, who is committed to wrestle at Dakota Wesleyan, was the runner-up at 126 pounds last season and she was third in 2024 at 126 pounds. She'd love nothing more than to see her career build toward a shining victory on Saturday.
As two wrestlers hailing from the same region, it's no surprise that Winner's Roukyn Robbins and Bon Homme/Avon's Ryvr Larson have faced off a lot. Saturday's 126-pound Class B championship will be the fifth time this season and Robbins takes a 3-1 record into this showdown.
Larson got his lone win on Jan. 17 at the Tri-Valley meet, a 5-3 decision. Otherwise, Robbins has a major decision and two decisions this season, including a 6-0 score on Feb. 21 in Robbins' home gym at the Region 3B meet. Can Larson shake loose another victory from this frequent matchup this season.
It's one of only two Class B title matches involving wrestlers from the same region, the other being the Jacksen Carter-DeVonne Sessler showdown at 138 pounds representing Wessington Springs/Woonsocket/Wolsey-Wessington and Bon Homme/Avon.
Parkston's Wyatt Anderson has a 50-0 record going into the 175-pound championship, looking to avenge a title round loss in 2025 in Rapid City. He will face Tri-Valley's Landyn Reiser, who is 48-4 on the season, and Anderson is responsible for all four losses this season.
Anderson won via injury time in their first meeting in December in Howard and then has won twice since then by 4-1 decisions and once in an ultimate tiebreaker format.
Anderson has been on the mat for less than 8 minutes so far in the state meet, scoring three pins. Can he score another win over an opponent he knows well to close out the championship season?
This is the only boys matchup on Saturday involving a past state champion vs. an undefeated wrestler. West Central's Kaden Haakinson won the 106-pound championship as a freshman and has marched to a 31-2 record. In the state tournament, Haakinson has three wins so far for the Trojans, all via technical fall in a total time of 10 minutes and 10 seconds.
He runs into undefeated Pierce Hurd in the championship, with Hurd at 46-0 on the year. Hurd has two technical falls and a pin in his two matches and he's been on the mat for less than seven minutes so far.
Sturgis' Tyler Baldwin carries a 46-0 record into the championship round for the Scoopers, one of six Sturgis wrestlers in the title matches. And like teammate Kelson Dirk, he's also defending his 113-pound title from last season. The Scooper standout has already faced his opponent, Brandon Valley's Brendon Oehme, one time this season and Baldwin scored a 4-2 win on Jan. 24 in a dual against the Lynx. Oehme, who is 43-2 as a junior, was here last season in the 126-pound title match and lost, and now he drops down a class to face Baldwin and attempt to deny the perfect season.
Baldwin and Oehme entered the state meet both ranking in the top-10 in Class A in takedowns on the season. Richter allowed only one takedown during the regular season and Oehme allowed four. It might only take one takedown but who will crack the other's strong defense in this match and score?