All six wrestlers earn medals at Les Tlustos Invitational

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BROOKINGS – The Flandreau Fliers took part in the Les Tlustos Invitational in Brookings on Saturday afternoon with the girls team finishing fifth and the boys team finishing 14th.
“We were finally able to have a full week of practice and it showed,” said Head Coach Cody Chamblin.
“Some teams dropped out on Saturday (due to weather), but it was still a great meet for us. We had lots of region (opponent) matches that we won and with not seeing many Class A schools throughout the year, it’s big to win these to get seeds at regions.”
GIRLS
The Fliers finished with 13 team points which put them behind Rapid City Central (21.0), Dell Rapids (31.0), Brookings (33.0) and first-place Mitchell (36.0).
Jayden Lange finished first in the 142-pound bracket, picking up pins over Rapid City Central’s Stephani Viesca and Saige Hinricher of Brookings. Her season record is now stands at 13-1 with her lone loss of the year coming in her very first match of the season.
“Jayden wrestled a ranked opponent from Brookings and handled her pretty well for being out (of action) for a while,” said Chamblin. “She’s currently ranked number one in the state.”
Julie Pitsenberger finished second at 126 pounds, pinning Mikayla Hight of Dell Rapids and falling in a 7-5 decision to Faith Caldron of Brookings.
“It was nice to get the girls back on the mat,” said Chamblin.

BOYS

The Fliers finished with 47 team points at the event, finishing ahead of Dell Rapids, who had 32 team points. Pierre won the team title with 287.5 points, West Central finished in second with 172.5 points and Canby finished third with 169 points.
Individually, Brayden Wiese and Karter Headrick both took third and Teague Bergjord and Caleb Pitsenberger both finished eighth.
“Wiese had a great day with only one bad match in the semis getting caught and thrown to his back,” said Chamblin. He finished in third place at 126 pounds.
He began his run by pinning Canby’s Clayton Drietz in the quarterfinals. Wiese was pinned by West Central’s Orlando Whiting in the semifinal before pinning Madison’s Carson Wolf in the consolation semifinals. Wiese won the third-place match by a 10-6 decision over Griffin Gimenez of Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial.
“Wiese beat two region opponents and is looking better and better each week,” said Chamblin.
Karter Headrick placed third at 170, winning three of his four matches.
“He comes in seeded sixth and knows he is better than that,” said Chamblin. “It didn’t stop him as right away he pinned a ranked Brookings kid.”
Headrick pinned Israel Caldron of Brookings in the quarterfinals before falling to Harrisburg’s Soren Aadland by an 8-0 major decision in the semifinals. He won his final two matches, pinning Quad County’s Noal Hildahl in the consolation semifinals and defeating Nick Wagner of Canby by a 13-10 decision in the third-place match.
“Karter has great hips that any wrestler would love to have,” said Chamblin noting his sophomore is focused on making some noise and moving up in the rankings.
At 106, Bergjord lost to Josiah Kauffman by a 12-7 decision in the first round, was pinned by Ryder Antony in the third round of the consolation bracket and lost to Kauffman by an 11-6 decision in the seventh-place match.
Pitsenberger, at 152 pounds, went 1-3 at the invitational. He was pinned by Harrisburg’s Logan O’Connor in the quarterfinals but rebounded to win a 6-4 decision over Madison’s Tyan Braskamp in the second round of the consolation bracket. Pitsenberger was pinned in the seventh-place match by Blake Kannegieter of Brookings.
“Both Bergjord and Pitsenberger won over a regional opponent,” said Chamblin
The Fliers will be in action again on Tuesday when they travel for a triangular in Howard with Deuel/Deubrook Area and Hamlin, travel to Clark Thursday for a make-up quad with C/WL, MC/M and Sioux Valley and then head to DeSmet on Saturday for the LCC/BEC meet.
“A lot of travel with a lot of good teams; we’re just trying to go out and get some wins.”

Results
126 lbs. Julie Pitsenberger: WBF 2:47 Hight, DR; lost 7-5 Caldron, BRO 2nd
142 lbs. Jayden Lange: WBF :33 Viesan, RCC; WBF 3:11 Hinricher, BRO 1st
106 lbs. Teague Bergjord: Lost 12-7, Kaufman, SFL; bye; won 5-3 Antony, LCWM; lost 11-6, Kaufman 8th
126 lbs. Brayden Wiese: bye; WBF 1:40 Drietz, CANBY; LBF :29 Whiting, WC; WBF 3:42 Wolf, MAD; won 10-6, Gimenez, LCWM 3rd  
152 lbs. Caleb Pitsenberger: bye; LBF 2:39 O’Connor, HAR;  won 6-4 Braskamp, MAD; lost 4-2 Deelstra, SFL; LBF 2:09 Kannengieter, BRO 8th
170 lbs. Karter Headrick: bye; WBF 4:56 Caldron, BRO; lost 8-0 MD Aadland, HAR; WBF 2:11 Hildahl, QUAD; won 13-10, Wagner, CANBY 3rd