WILLMAR, Minn. – Five South Dakota State wrestlers won or shared event titles Saturday at the 2017 Ridgewater Open.
Brothers Josh and Justin Portillo shared the 125-pound title after going a combined 4-0 in convincing fashion in the opening rounds. Josh Portillo won his first match by fall over Tucker Hicks of Morningside and advanced to the championship with a 17-1 technical fall over Keegan Hessler, also from Morningside.
Justin Portillo won both of his contested matches by technical fall, outscoring his opponents by a combined 35-1. He downed Anthony Hennen of St. John’s (Minn.), 19-1, then defeated Willie Meine of Southwest Minnesota State, 16-0.
The championship match that would have pitted the brothers against each other was declared a double forfeit.
Redshirt freshman and Rapid City native Kasey Klapprodt emerged victorious from the 165-pound weight class with a 4-0 record on the day. Klapprodt won by fall over both Ethan Blankenship of Morningside and Cody Heitman of Southwest Minnesota State and added a 16-5 major decision over Rochester Community College’s Ryan Kottschade to advance to the championship. In the title bout, Klapprodt squared off against teammate Garrett Jordan and came away with a 7-3 win.
Jordan’s run to the title bout consisted of three consecutive wins by fall.
Freshman heavyweight Blake Wolters rounded out the Jackrabbits’ champions. The Pipestone, Minnesota, product scored an 11-2 major decision over Nathan Hellman of Ridgewater College, followed by a second-period pin of Chase Nottestad of Rochester Community College. Wolters received a medical forfeit from Logan Linderbaum of Minnesota State, Mankato, to claim the title.
Two Jackrabbit wrestlers claimed top-five spots in the event’s largest weight class in terms of the number of competitors, the 157-pound division. Redshirt freshman Brett Bye finished as runner-up after falling in the title bout to Jose Champagne of Minnesota. True freshman and Willmar native Colten Carlson took fifth after posting 4-1 record of the day. Carlson won two matches by fall, with his only loss coming to Champagne in the second round.
Nolan Funk closed out SDSU’s place-winning performances with a fourth-place showing at 197 pounds. Funk went 2-2 on the day, with both of his losses in narrow decisions.