The Flandreau Flier matmen hosted a quad Tuesday, Dec. 5 and then participated in the highly competitive Ken Ruml Invitational in Howard on Saturday.

FLANDREAU – The Fliers won their duals over Hamlin/Castlewood 42-24 and Viborg-Hurley/Irene Wakonda 42-30, but narrowly dropped their match with Chester Area 39-36.
“The gym was rocking and had explosive atmosphere,” said Coach Cody Chamblin.
“It was the most people I have seen at Flandreau wrestling in years and it was a great, exciting night,” he added.
Four Fliers were 3-0 on the night. Brayden Wiese, Justin Klein and Karter Headrick each picked up two wins by fall and one via forfeit. Eighth grader Gabe Frias won all three by forfeit.
Chamblin thought the highlight of the night came when newcomer Alex Lopez pinned his Chester opponent for his first varsity win and had everyone in the Flandreau section cheering at top volume.
The other four Fliers on the mat, Cameron Blair, Teague Bergjord, Zach Pederson and Lopez, all finished 2-1 at the quad.

HOWARD – The Ken Ruml Invitational in Howard features some of the best Class B wrestling teams in the eastern side of the state although Madison, the lone Class A team other than the Fliers, won the invite with 162.5 points.
Eighteen schools were represented. Flandreau’s eight grapplers finished 13th with 48 points.
Almost everyone won a match according to Chamblin.

Senior Brayden Wiese was the lone place winner wrestling to third in the 126 pound bracket.
His lone loss was to Cole Hendrixson of Tri Valley in a 13-6 decision.
“Against a highly ranked kid, Brayden wrestled one of the best matches I have ever seen by him,” said Chamblin.
Chamblin also highlighted a few more wrestlers. At 126, Gabe Frias picked up his first varsity competitive win and Lopez picked up two falls in the 175 lb. bracket, fighting back after an injury in his first match.
“It’s been fun just seeing the strides these new kids have made,” he added.
“Justin Klein is turning heads with his explosive hard-nosed wrestling by knocking off a great kid from Parker (Connor Even) in his first match,” he said. “He keeps pounding away making progress.  Justin is going to be fun to watch and feared by many at the end of the year.”
Junior Karter Headrick in the 190 pound class picked up his 100th career win when he pinned Xavier Yount of Tri-Valley in 1:50.
“Karter wrestled well in a very competitive bracket. He needs to find his groove this year and get to his explosive style.”
The Fliers only girl wrestler Julie Pitsenberger did not have matches last week.
The Fliers traveled to a quad in Volga on Tuesday. The Cossacks also hosted McCook Central Montrose and Clark/Willow Lake.
Saturday, the Fliers head to Madison where they will see many of their Region 1A opponents for the first time this season at 10 a.m.

Ken Ruml Invite results:
113 Cam Blair: Bye: LBF 1:09 Brody Randall, Ham/Cast; Bye; LBF CJ Peterson, UA
120 Teague Bergjord: WBF :51 Exavian Aungie, ACDC; lost 10-2 MD Daniel Dorsey MVPCS; LBF 2:23, Pederson, UA
126 Gabriel Frias: Bye; LBF :40 Tacey Miller, Web; Bye; WBF 1:56 Jack Jodozi, Parkst; LBF 1:56 Alek Kuchta, Park
132 Brayden Wiese: Bye; WBF 3:49, Jade Wilkens, MAD; lost 13-6 Cole Hendrixson, TV; won 10-0 MD, Henry Meyer, UA; WBF 1:40 Wilkens, MAD 3rd Place
165 Justin Klein: WBF 3:07 Connor Even, Par; WBF :35 Jhett Breen, Wagner; WBF 1:29 CJ Fitzsimmons, Deu; WBF 1:24 Owen Bekanich, Wag; LBF 2:52 Landyn Reiser, TV
175 Alex Lopez: LBF :19, Gage Jodozi, Parks; Bye; WBF :55 Deion Harris, KICO; WBF 2:52 Westin Switzer, Hanson; LBF :19, Jodozi, Parks
190 Karter Headrick: Bye; LBF 3:06 Stetson Rigss, Han; WBF 1:50, Xavier Yount, TV; WBF 3:56 Tucker Peterson, MCM; lost 4-3 dec. Kolter Kramer, Parks

Wrestling unattached:
120 Zach Pederson: Lost 6-1, Parker Randall, MCM; Bye; WBF 2:23, Bergjord, Fl; LBF 4:37 Caden Singrey, UA