Sam Werdel crowned MS State Champion, 8 Titans medal

The Middle School wrestlers traveled to Pierre on Saturday, Feb. 15 to compete in the SD State Middle School tournament. The Titans had 14 wrestlers competing between grades 6-8. There was a record 83 teams from across South Dakota with 430 wrestlers competing. This created one of the most competitive MS tournaments ever seen in South Dakota with fourteen 32-man brackets.

Sam Werdel led the Titans winning the Championship and dominating the 113lb weight class pinning all five opponents with the longest match lasting 1 minute and 51 seconds. The Titans had a total of eight wrestlers making the podium, which sets a new Tea MS record previously set in 2018. The Titans had three wrestlers (Fyrst Henriksen, Aidan Kranz and Jonah Hunter) that were one match win out of placing.

The team finished the day with 45 wins, of which 31 of those were by pin, the 2nd most pins by any team competing.