Recapping outstanding 2024-25 seasons for Watertown High School's boys & girls wrestling squads
Call it a two-for-one special.
Not only did the Watertown's high school boys wrestling team turned in another outstanding season in 2024-25, the Arrow girls wrestling team joined the mix with its best performance in the three-year history of the squad.
Watertown's boys battled some significant injuries throughout the season but still qualified for the state Class A dual team tournament and tied for third in the state Class A individual tournament.
"It was a definitely an interesting season that had a lot of challenges between injuries and getting guys in the right weight classes," Watertown boys coach Chas Welch said. "We were able to put it together at the end and close out what was another pretty good season."
The Arrow girls lacked overall numbers but had a talented cast that produced a fourth-place finish in the state individual tourney (there is no dual team tourney yet for girls in South Dakota), one point out of third place.
"We ended the season on a high note to help keep building toward the figure of the program," Watertown girls coach Dex Gaikowski said. "With a season full of ups and downs, I'm proud of how the girls handled every situation."
Team Highlights for Watertown
The Arrow boys finished 12-4 overall in duals, including 7-2 in the Eastern South Dakota Conference. Injuries to eventual state champions Gage Lohr and Shea Richter hamped the team's bid for win the ESD dual team championship, and their absence certainly played in a role in the team's 0-2 finish in the state dual team tournament.
Watertown still went 4-0 in the Marv Sherrill Duals tournament at home, won the Sioux Falls Warrior Invite and the Floyd Farrand Invite in Sioux Falls, added runner-up finishes in the Bismarck (N.D.) Rotary tourney and Lee Wolf Invite at Abedeen, placed third in the Rapid City and Yankton Invites and fourth in the Jerry Opbroek Invite at Mitchell before capturing its first Region 1A championship since 2023.
The Arrows have qualified for the state A dual team tourney every year since it was reinstated in 2020. Watertown is still seeking its first state team championship since 2003 but has finished fourth or higher five times in the last six years and leaped up five spots from last winter's eighth-place finish.
"These guys always set their goals very high, and it's disappointing when you don't reach those goals as a team," Welch said. "Still, they wrestled incredibly well toward the end of the season and came together to score as many points as possible at state."
The Arrows girls went 6-3 in duals, recorded second-place finishes in the Rapid City, Sioux Falls Warrior and Yankton Invite as well as the ESD tournament, took third in the Floyd Farrand Invite and fifth in the Battle for the Paddle before winning the first ever Region 1 girls wrestling tournament.
More on Watertown's Boys
Ten Watertown boys qualified for the state individual tourney, and three of them — junior Shea Richter (28-2) at 120, junior Gage Lohr (34-1) at 138 and senior Micah Hach (48-0) at 285 — each won state championships.
Hach closed out his stellar career with the state title after finishing third once and second each of the past two years. Richter, who moved in from Rapid City Stevens, placed for the third time at state.
Lohr's finish was nothing short of remarkable. He broke a broke in his shoulder in mid-January, had surgery and was thought to be done for the season. He returned for the Region 1A tournament and didn't lose over the final two weeks, however. He joined past greats Nate Althoff, Justin Ward and Sloan Johannsen as a three-time state champion and maintained his chance to equal and/or even surpass Rick Jensen, the only four-time state champion in program history.
Junior Brody Randall (35-8, fourth at 126), sophomore Kutler Swenson (43-15, fourth at 132), sophomore Chase Mathews (35-10, sixth at 113) and junior Markus Pitkin (35-15, sixth at 157) also placd at state. Freshman Braylon Schell (37-15 at 106) and senior Leo Stroup (15-11 at 150) were other state qualifiers.
Richter, Randall, Lohr and Hach each also earned All-ESD honors.
"We've got a good portion of our lineup coming back next year and plenty of capable guys ready to step in when the time comes," Welch said.
More on Watertown's Girls
Watertown spent most of the season with only eight wrestlers, and six of those qualified for the state tournament. The biggest highlight came when freshman Olivia Anderson (43-1 at 107), junior Allison Konrad (42-2 at 185) and sophomore Eden Hach (40-1 at 235) become the first Arrow girl wrestlers to win state individual titles.
Eighth-grader Brooklynn Randall (47-6) placed sixth at 114. Eighth-graders Vanessa Anderson (29-25 at 100) and Nevaeh Schanbeck (19-18 at 152) also qualfied for state.
Olivia Anderson, Randall, Schanbeck, Konrad and Hach each also earned all-conference honors.
Seniors Jeryn Fieber (9-19 at 120), Josie Althoff (10-23 at 126) and April Peterson (1-2 at 152) will graduate.
"With having all six state qualifiers returning next season; it gives us great optimism that we'll keep climbing the ranks and continue to make history for Watertown and the state," Gaikowski said.
More complete season statistics for Watertown's boys and girls wrestlers can be found online at www.thepublicopinion.com.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Season recap for Watertown High School's wrestling teams
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