Some matches featured a measure a revenge, some went down to the wire, and there was one that even combined both during the Lee Wolf Invitational wrestling tournament Saturday at Golden Eagles Arena.

Rayden Zens of Aberdeen Central defended his Lee Wolf championship from a year ago, but had to come up big in the closing seconds of the final to do it.

Zens was matched up against Watertown’s Weston Everson in the finals at 126 pounds. The two have split close matches this season – one in overtime – and were hooked up in another nail-biter. Zens, who lost to Everson on Thursday, had watched his 5-2 lead evaporate and the score was tied 5-5 in the closing seconds before the Central sophomore recorded a reversal with eight seconds left to claim a 7-5 victory.

“The fact that I kept that out of overtime and won it, that was awesome,” Zens said.

As soon as his hand was raised in victory, Zens pointed to a loud Central fan base who cheered him on.

“I was like dad, if I win today, I’m pointing to you guys,” Zens said. “You guys better be loud. And they did it for me. I was excited for that.”

A pair of Redfield wrestlers won bookend championships. Brady Risetter won the first title of the evening at 103 pounds and Grady Fey won the final championship of the night at 285 pounds.

Risetter had a unique path to his victory. The top-rated Class B wrestler was in complete control against Watertown’s Gage Lohr, the top-rated Class A wrestler. However, Lohr battled back from a 10-2 deficit and used a 1-for-2 escape for takedown strategy to eventually tie the score at 13-13.

“I knew I had to get on shots and finish them, keep on trying to score, but I wasn’t really finding any good ways to score,” Risetter said. “He kind of had everything on his side.”

Lohr tried one final escape for takedown attempt, surrendering a point in the final minute to trail 14-13. This time, however, there would be no more takedowns for Lohr as Risetter eventually got his own takedown in the final seconds to secure the win.

“I just managed getting my hips in a good position there at the end,” Risetter said, “and tossing him.”

Fey faced Chamberlain’s Canyon Burkard in the finals and pulled out a 3-1 victory in a match that featured a focus on angles and leverage.

“He’s a lot bigger than me, so I knew I didn’t want to get under him,” Fey said. “I figured if I kept my base and kept him moving, it would tire him out and I could score eventually.”

The junior did just that, scoring a takedown in the third period on the way to the victory.

With Fey leading 1-0 heading in the final period, Burkard decided to chose the neutral position.

“I was a little surprised,” Fey said. “I figured he would have gone down and just got his one to tie it up. When I saw that I was a little happy, because I knew I would have given him a free point.”

Dani Batchelor of Clark-Willow Lake overcame an early deficit before pinning Central’s Madysen Gillen in the girls’ 113-pound final.

“I’m used to just working from a scramble,” Batchelor said. “I prefer to actually have my opponents take the shot.”

Soon, the junior got a reversal and wrapped her legs around Gillen until she was able to record a pin.

“I’m used to being a leg rider,” Batchelor said, “so I just put the boots in.”

Batchelor not only knew how to use her legs, she found the right angle to ensure a victory.

“I make sure to lock it up tight so she won’t go anywhere,” Batchelor said, “and just stretch her out so she can get pinned.”

Central’s Katrina Gibson came up just short against Pierre’s Hattie Baldwin 3-2 in the finals at 154.

The match was tied going into the third, but Baldwin was on the bottom, got her escape and forced Gibson to try to score a takedown the rest of the way.

“I’ve wrestled Hattie Baldwin at least three other times and most of them are placement matches,” Gibson said.

Each match is a battle and usually goes down to the wire.

“We’ve both been head on head, trying to get those takedowns,” Gibson said.

Despite the setback, Gibson continues to show marked improvement.

“I really think it’s mindset and pushing yourself,” Gibson said of the reason for her growth on the mat, “but teammates and coaches help a lot, too.”

Jacksen Carter of Wessington Springs-Woonsocket-Wolsey-Wessington experienced dramatic improvement from a week ago. The eighth-grader was able to avenge a 6-1 loss to Talon Ping of Miller-Highmore-Harrold last weekend with a 6-2 victory in the finals at 113 pounds.

Carter said he wasn’t feeling the best in his previous match against Ping. In the rematch he scored the first four points for a lead he never lost.

“My coaches said you have to start the match off strong and just keep everything rolling throughout the match,” Carter said.

Last season Carter did not place at the Lee Wolf and now he is a tournament champion.

“You just have to put in extra time during the summer,” Carter said, “and the time you get during the season to use, you have to use it well.”

Colby Kolda made good use of his time on the way to winning the 152-pound championship over Central’s Elias Biegler. The Miller-Highmore-Harrold sophomore did not give up a single point in the title match.

“Just pressure on top and move your feet,” Kolda said of the key to his victory.

Kolda said it was nice to face foreign competition at the tourney.

“There’s a few different styles from what I usually wrestle,” Kolda said.

Central took second in both team points, finishing just behind Watertown in the boys’ division and taking runner-up to Pierre in the girls’ division.

“It was a great day. I’m trying think back to the last time we were in the top three here at our own tournament,” said Golden Eagles coach Donnie Bowden. “We wrestled really well. It was a group effort. We got points out of everybody. It was a good feeling.”

He said the wrestlers keep trending in the right direction and hope to continue that trend when they head to Brookings for a dual on Thursday.

“I think that’s what we’ve been doing, is just building confidence every week,” Bowden said. “We get better each week, every time out. We’re hoping that we can just carry that on.”

To see complete boys’ results, click on the following link:

https://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=688446132

To see complete girls’ results, click on the following link:

https://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=697559132