All Decade Team - Wrestling

Wrestling has undergone some big changes over the decade. Weight classes changed. There used to be a district meet, which no longer exists. They used to name an all-conference team, which to my knowledge doesn’t happen anymore. There were some outstanding wrestlers in the past decade, moreso in the lighter weights than the heavier weights. It got a little tougher to fill the weight classes in those heavier weights, so I put a guy at heavyweight who mostly wrestled at 220. If I missed someone, be sure to let me know. Likewise, if I stiffed someone on a postseasing placing, let me know that as well. I did a lot of research to find this information, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t miss something. I also took the liberty of placing some wrestlers at weight classes they wrestled at some point in their careers, not necessarily their senior years. This allowed me to get more of what I feel are the best wrestlers on the team, as there were multiple great wrestlers at some weight classes. 

 

106 - Logan Graf - Class of 2022 - The first wrestler on the list was the easiest one to pick. Graf became Custer’s first state champion since 2007 (Ryan Foster) when he won the 106-pound weight class at the conclusion of wrestling season this past year, despite having missed a large chunk of the season with a broken hand. When you win a state championship you’re on the all-decade team, even if it wasn’t technically in the decade we are grading here. But heck, the season started in 2019. Close enough. Graf is already a two-time region champion, a conference champion and placed fourth at state his freshman year. He has a legitimate chance to graduate as Custer’s only multiple state championship winner.

 

113 - Jacob Brunner - 2023 - Oh, what could have been for Brunner as a Wildcat. As an eighth grader, Brunner won the region and placed third at state. That was the last time he would wrestle for the Wildcats, however, as his family moved to Puerto Rico.

 

120 - Chasen Cole - 2014 - Cole qualified for state in 2011, followed by placing second at the district and region meet in 2012 before placing eighth at state that same year. In 2013 he was third at region and placed second in the region meet the following year. He again placed eighth at state his senior year. Cole now teaches at Custer Elementary.

 

126 - Eli Mines - 2018 - OK, I took some liberties here. I’m not sure the elder Mines brother ever wrestled at 126—138 is the lightest I saw him in our archives, so I’m having him cut 12 pounds here. Maybe he wrestled at 126 really early in his career? There were no obvious candidates for this spot, Mines was a pretty good wrestler, and realistically I could put Mines at 138 and move Chance Grill here because I know for a fact he wrestled all the way down at 106 at one point. There were no candidates at this weight class that jumped off the page. You get the idea. So, Mines makes it based on his third - and fourth-place finishes at conference and region, respectively, in 2016, a third place at regions in 2017, a fourth place at the region meet in 2018 and an eighth place at state that same year.

 

132 - Brennan Hanes - 2020 - Hanes began his wrestling career in the cooperative between Custer and Edgemont, but went to school full-time as a Wildcat his senior year. His career included a fourth-place finish at the region meet in 2017, a third-place finish at the region meet in 2018 and a third-place finish at the region meet and seventh place finish at state his junior year. As a senior, Hanes won the region meet before placing eighth at the state meet.

 

138 - Chance Grill - 2018 - Grill was a conference champion in 2016 and placed fourth at the region meet that same year. The following year he was again region champion, and his senior year he won the conference and region meets before placing third at state.

 

145 - Dylan Severyn - 2013 - Severyn has an impressive body of work, which began with placing second at the district meet and fourth at the region meet in 2011. The following year Severyn was second at the district meet and second at the region meet. In 2013 he finished second at the region meet and sixth at the state meet. He was a three-time all-conference selection. Severyn and the next wrestler on the team could swap weight classes as well.

 

152 - Levi Mines - 2019 - The younger of the Mines brothers finished third at the conference meet and fourth at the region meet in 2016 and was second at the region meet and sixth at the state meet the following year. As a junior Mines won the region meet and finished fourth at state before finishing his career with a second-place finish at the conference meet before winning the region meet and placing third at state.

 

160 - Micaiah Grace - 2020 - Grace finished his career this past season with a second-place finish at the state meet after winning the region meet. In 2017 he placed third at both conference and region meets. The next year he was region champion. His junior year he was both conference and region champion. He will wrestle for Chadron State College in Nebraska beginning this fall.

 

170 - Clayton Wahlstrom - 2014 - Wahlstrom is another whose career took place at the time of the district meets. He placed second in the district in both 2010 and 2011 and won his weight class at the same meet in 2012. He was also region champ that same year. In 2013 Wahlstrom placed second at the region meet before placing third at the state meet. He won his region again in 2014 before capping his career with another third-place finish at state. He was also a three-time all-conference choice. He went on to have a successful wrestling career for Augustana College, including placing fourth in the 197-pound weight class at the NCAA championships his senior season, which earned him All-American honors. 

 

182 - Tanner Eiesland - 2012 - Eiesland, who, like Grace and Wahlstrom, was also on the all-decade team for football, fills in our 182-pound slot. Eiesland was third at the district meet in 2010 and fourth in the region that same year. The following year he was second at the district meet, and his senior year he was first at both the district and region meets. Eiesland was twice named all-conference.

 

195 - Clay Seidler - 2013 - Seidler placed fourth at the region meet in 2011 and won the district meet in 2012. He also wrestled his way to a region championship in 2013. He was a three-time all-conference selection.

 

220 - Mike Murray - 2014 - Murray never made it to a state tournament, just falling short his senior year, but was a capable wrestler at a heavier weight who placed in multiple tournaments over the years. He was also named to the all-decade football team.

 

Hwt. - Ty Cooper - 2011 - Cooper is another Wildcat who was also on the all-decade football team. As a wrestler right at the turn of the decade he placed third at the district meet and fourth at the region meet. He was also honorable mention all-conference that year.