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Aberdeen Central's Zach Melcher, works on Yankton's James Hisek, bottom, during their 160-pound match at Golden Eagles Arena earlier this season. Melcher and the Golden Eagles will play host to the Region 3A tournament starting at 10 a.m. Saturday at Golden Eagles Arena. The top four wrestlers in each weight will advance to the State A tourney next weekend in Watertown. (American News Photo by John Davis / February 14, 2013) |
The State A tourney is set for Feb. 22-23 in Watertown the same time the State B will be held at Wachs Arena.
There are four regions in both classes on Saturday, including the Region 3A tourney at Golden Eagles Arena.
“I think it’s a definite advantage to wrestle in our home gym,” said Central coach Rocky Burkett. “Hopefully, we can get a good crowd and our guys can use that crowd to build some momentum early on in the tournament.”
While Region 3A only has seven teams, three of them (defending state champion Pierre, Central and Huron) are rated among the top four teams in the state.
Burkett said the main goal is getting every member to state, and also to place as high as possible for better draws during the state tourney.
“You don’t want to go in with 14 kids that got fourth place at regions,” Burkett noted. “Hopefully, we’ll get everyone through and then also place as high as we can place, so we can hopefully get some good draws for Watertown.”
The Eagles have been among the dominant teams all season and Burkett believes his troops will be ready on Saturday.
“I think right now we’re sitting pretty good,” Burkett said. “They understand what they have to do if they want to be successful as a team. We have to score a lot of bonus points.”
The Golden Eagles are hoping to cap off an already solid season with their best performances of the year.
“The kids have done a really good job this year,” Burkett said. “I’m just looking forward to hopefully putting an exclamation point on it these next couple of weeks.”
Here is a look at each of the regions on Saturday:
Region 1A Tournament in Brookings, 9 a.m.: Brookings, Dell Rapids, Madison, Milbank, Sioux Falls O’Gorman, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Sisseton, Watertown, West Central.
Region 3A Tournament in Aberdeen, 10 a.m.: Aberdeen Central, Chamberlain, Cheyenne-Eagle Butte/Dupree, Huron, Mitchell, Pierre, Todd County.
Region 1B Tournament in Redfield, 10 a.m.: Aberdeen Roncalli, Britton-Hecla, Clark/Willow Lake, Deuel, Faulkton, Groton, Ipswich/Leola, Kingsbury County, Redfield/Doland, Sioux Valley, Tiospa Zina, Warner/Northwestern, Webster.
Region 2B Tournament in Salem, 10 a.m.: Alcester-Hudson, Beresford, Canton, Elk Point-Jefferson, Flandreau, Garretson, Howard, Marion/Freeman, McCook Central/Montrose, Parker, Tri-Valley.
Region 3B Tournament in Wagner, 10 a.m.: Andes Central, Bon Homme, Burke/Gregory, Crow Creek, Kimball/White Lake/Platte-Geddes, Lyman, Miller/Highmore-Harrold, Mt. Vernon/Plankinton/Corsica, Parkston, Scotland, Sunshine Bible Academy, Wagner, Wessington Springs/Woonsocket/Wolsey-Wessington, Winner.
Region 4B Tournament at Rapid City Central gym, 9 a.m. MST: Bennett County, Custer, Harding County, Hill City, Hot Springs, Lemmon/McIntosh, Mobridge-Pollock, Newell, Philip Area, Potter County, Red Cloud, St. Thomas More, Stanley County, Sully Buttes.
Sports writer Dave Vilhauer
