Headrick, Reed win titles at Cossack Avalanche

VOLGA – Seniors Tathan Headrick and Chase Reed both won championships at the Cossack Avalanche Wrestling Tournament, Saturday, December 18.
The event included 18 teams that came from area Class B and junior varsity Class A schools.
“We are very happy with how our 10 kids showed up ready to wrestle and competed with all they had,” said Head Coach Sam Baier.
Flandreau was fifth in the team points. Kingsbury County won with 198 followed by Sioux Valley, 151, Deuel, 142, Groton Area 135 and Flandreau, 109.
“All together we had 16 wins on the day with 11 of them being pins which was a big contribution to our team point total,” he added.
The Fliers had four wrestlers in the championship round. Taking runner-up spots were Brayden Wiese and Caleb Pitsenberger. Julie Pitsenberger also came in second in her bracket.
Enroute to his championship at 152, Headrick opened with a bye and then used three first period falls to win.  In 1:43, he pinned Sam Glesiah of Sioux Falls Jefferson and then Korbin Kucker of Groton Area, 1:49. In the title match, the Flier senior pined Korbin Whiteley of Deuel, 1:49.
Reed’s four fall day began by pinning Connor Degen of Mitchell in 4:33, then quickly pinned Porter Cuka of Yankton :23. His next match didn’t take long either as his won in :13 over Logan Moore of Sioux Falls Roosevelt. His championship win came again Owen VandeWeerd of host Sioux Valley in 1:09.
For 120 pound Wiese, he opened by pinning Zack Brumnond of SF Roosevelt, :31 and then stopped Lane Jensen of Kingsbury County (wrestling unattached) in 1:22. In the semifinals, the Flier sophomore won by fall over Zane Miller of Sioux Valley, :35. The championship matched him with undefeated on the season Gannon Gilligan of Kingsbury County where Wiese lost by fall in 3:51.
Caleb Pitsenberger’s day was short with only an 8-man bracket. He had a first round bye and then pinned Ashton Langeland of Yankton in the semi-finals. Kaden St. Pierre of Hamlin pinned the Flier in the second period, 2:49, to put Pitsenberger as the runner-up.
Flier sophomore Julie Pitsenberger was in a two person girls’ bracket and came home with second place. She was defeated by Summer Guthmiller of Sioux Valley by fall 1:13.
Also competing at the invitational and their record on the day were 106 pound Teague Bergjord, 1-2; 126 pound, Dylan Christenson, 2-2; 132 pound Justin Klein 1-2; 160 pound Karter Headrick, 2-1; and at 285, Jon Schrader, 1-2.
The Fliers will be off for Christmas break until Friday, Dec. 31 when they head to the MC-M Invitational in Salem.

Matmen 1-2 at MC-M

SALEM – The Flandreau wrestling team was 1-2 at the McCook Central-Montrose quad, Tuesday, Dec. 14.

Clark/Willow Lake
The Fliers lost to the Cyclones 51-30 as they gave up 30 points in forfeits. Picking up wins by fall were 120 pound Dylan Christenson over Logan Foster, 2:44; 160 pound Karter Headrick over Braeden Johnson, 3:06; 170 pound Caleb Pitsenberger over Hunter Wren 1:34 and at 220 Chase Reed over Jerome Enboden 1:38.
Jon Schrader won by forfeit for Flandreau.

Sioux Valley
Flandreau won the dual against the Cossacks, 42-24 behind a pair of pins, two decisions and four forfeit taken.
Brayden Wiese, Christenson, Pitsenberger and Dietrich all won by forfeit while the Fliers lost forfeits at 113 and 182.
The dual was open at both 145 and 220 pounds.
At 132, Justin Klein won his match in a 5-1 decision over Zane Miller and Tathan Headrick, 152, decisioned Skylar Trygstad, 5-2.

Karter Headrick at 160 pinned Andrew Gunderson in :14 and Reed won his match against Owen VandeWeerd in :27.

MC-M
Earning pins against the Fighting Cougars were Klein in 1:40 over Elliott Bartlett and Tathan Headrick over Tucker Peterson :25. In a major decision win, Wiese topped Owen Schmidt, 9-0.
The Fliers again gave up 30 points by forfeit to a stacked MC-M team as they lost the dual, 62-16.

Fliers host Chargers, Watchdogs in doubleheader hoops

FLANDREAU –
The Flier basketball teams hosted two doubleheader events last week. The girls picked up a pair of wins while the boys split.

Girls vs. Hamlin
It took overtime, but the Flier girls “found a way to get the win” according to Head Coach Megan Severtson.
Flandreau stopped the second ranked Chargers, 57-56 OT.
“Hamlin is a very good team. It was fun to get the chance to play in front of a big crowd in an exciting game. I am proud of our team’s performance,” said Severtson.
The Fliers got 31 points from sophomore Claire Sheppard along with 11 from senior Maria Parsley. They both had two defensive steals as well and seven and six rebounds respectively.
Handing out the assists were Lily Klein with four and Bella Pavlis with three.
Lizzie Pavlis swiped down 10 of the Fliers 27 rebounds.
Flandreau jumped out to a 17-8 first quarter lead and held it at the half, 33-25. Both teams scored 12 in the third period, but the Chargers poured in the points in the fourth to tie the game at 53-all when the regulation clock had expired.
Kami Wadsworth led Hamlin with 22 and Ally Abraham scored 12.
The JV team lost 37-21 to Hamlin. Faith Wiese scored six points.

Boys vs. Hamlin
Flandreau’s Tash Lunday scored 22 points and had 15 rebounds, the Fliers came up short against the Chargers, 60-56 in their first game of the season.
“(It was a) disappointing loss for the Fliers to open the season,” said Head Coach Brendan Sheppard.
The Fliers led after one period, 16-11 and at the half 29-20. They also held the edge after three quarters, 41-35.
 “We played hard and competed, however we had some defensive lapses in the fourth quarter and allowed Hamlin to score 25 points (to the Fliers 19). Nineteen turnovers combined with missed opportunities to score under the basket also contributed to the loss,” added Sheppard.
Chase LeBrun also scored 10 points and had five boards.

Turner Steverson had points and Dawson Noem, 12 for Hamlin.
The JV team also lost to the Chargers by a score of 39-24. Paul Parsley scored 15 points.

Girls vs. Beresford
The Flier girls picked up win number three on the year with a 48-21 trouncing of Beresford.
They had three players in double digit scoring with Sheppard connecting for 14 points, Lizzie Pavlis for 12 and Bella Pavlis for 11.
Sheppard had 12 rebounds and five assists.
“I thought our defense was pretty good all night long. We talked a lot pre-game about staying disciplined defensively, and I thought the girls executed our defensive game plan well,” noted Severtson.
Beresford’s Ella Merriman scored nine points in the loss.
Flandreau’s JV team defeated the Watchdogs, 30-23 behind 11 points from Faith Wiese and nine points from Ella Hoffman.
Boys vs. Beresford
The Fliers had three players in double digits as they topped Beresford, 59-28. They led at a quarter stops and were never threatened in the game which included a 20 points burst in the third period.
“This was a nice bounce back win for the Fliers,” said Sheppard.
“We were good defensively the whole game. Offensively, we found a nice rhythm in the second half after settling for too many three-point attempts in the first half.”
Lunday led all scorers with 24 points and made 14 rebounds for his second double-double of the week. LeBrun dumped in 15 points and pulled down 10 boards while Alex Anderson found the net for 11 points, hitting three 3-point shots. He also dished out five assists.
In the JV game, the Fliers found a tough match with the taller Watchdogs and fell, 46-29. Maverick LeBrun had 8 points with Luke Sheppard and Tyce Ryan adding 7 each.

Flier boys take huge win over Chester Area

CHESTER –There was no trouble for the Flier boys in a make-up game Saturday morning at Chester as they stomped the Flyers, 77-36.
“Saturday morning and our guys game out to play,” said Coach Brendan Sheppard.
“Offensively, we had a nice flow and were able to get into transition leading to easy buckets. We only committed six turnovers and shot over 75%.”
Flandreau led at all quarter stops, 23-8, 45-13 and 65-25.
Fliers’ scoring was led by the seniors with Tash Lunday pouring in 31 points, Liam Streitz with 17 and Chase LeBrun with 13. Lunday also gave out nine assists and Alex Anderson handed out seven.
Lunday pulled down seven and LeBrun, six of the Fliers’ 28 boards.
“We played very well defensively, with LeBrun having a nice game on that end,” he added.
“It was a very efficient game for the Fliers.”
The Fliers are now 2-1 on the season.