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The second-ranked Dakota Valley Panthers were too much for the West Central Trojans on Tuesday, September 22nd. The Panthers won a straight-set match against the Trojans 25-9, 25-13, and 25-14 at Dakota Valley High School.
Brooke Opitz had 11 set assists and nine digs for the Trojans. Jocelyn Nilson also added nine digs. Rachel Bucher had five kills. McKenna Sichmeller had one block and one ace serve.
West Central (3-7) will play Lennox at home on Thursday, September 24th.
The West Central Trojan girls and boys cross country teams competed in the Alcester-Hudson Cross Country Invite on Monday, September 21st in Alcester.
The girls team finished third with a total of 27 team points. Beresford won the team title with 12 points, and Vermillion was second with 23 points.
Reagan Stallman placed seventh individually with a time of 22:14.12. Sayda Rolfson was 12th with a time of 23:25.37. Paige Pilker had a 14th place finish in 23:39.06. Drew Caffrey was 16th with a time of 23:46.24. Kaylyn Kunz was 17th at 23:47.88. Abbie Cain had a 21st place finish witha time of 24:25.72.
The boys team finished fifth with a team score of 46. Vermillion was first with 17 points. Baltic placed second with 29 points, and Dakota Valley was third with 30 points.
Justin Schumacher was 13th individually with a time of 18:55.12. Ben Strunk placed 17th in 19:13.48. Jonathon Roth was 19th with a time of 19:22.03. Blake Stark, 32nd, had a time of 21:53.91.
The Trojans will be at the Sioux Valley Invite in Volga on Tuesday, September 29th.
The West Central Trojan boys golf team finished fourth at the Dak-12 Conference Tournament on Monday, September 21st. The tournament was held at Rocky Run Golf Course in Dell Rapids.
The Trojans finished with a team score of 342. Tea won the conference team title with a score of 320. Lennox was second at 333, and Sioux Falls Christian placed 3rd with a score of 337.
Trey Even finished second individually with a round of 75. Cole Miles placed 20th with a round of 87. Connor Eisenbeisz finished with an 88. Peyton Bettcher had a round of 92. Kamden Zomer had a round of 94, and Anthony Lanham had a 98.
West Central will play in a dual against O’Gorman at Elmwood Golf Course on Thursday, September 24th. The Region 2A meet will be held at Bakker’s Crossing on Monday, September 28th.
The West Central Trojans got back into the win column with a 25-8 victory over the Tri-Valley Mustangs on Friday, September 18th. The Mustangs were playing in their third straight home game of the year, while West Central won for the first time since week one.
The Trojans finished the game with 159 yards of total offense, 134 rushing yards and 25 passing yards. Justin Zirpel had 21 carries for 109 yards and two touchdowns. Zirpel also provided a big defensive play for West Central. He had a fumble recovery return for a 55-yard touchdown. Isaiah Colon and Braden Dierickx both had an interception.
The Mustangs, meanwhile, had 218 yards of total offense, 176 of those rushing yards. Jaden Siemonsma had 12 carries for 59 yards and a touchdown. Mason Mathieu had 11 carries for 51 yards. Mathieu was also 6-10 passing for 42 yards with two interceptions. Siemonsma had two catches 14 yards, and Owen Besmer had two catches for 19 yards.
West Central head coach Vincent Benedetto said, “Anytime you win, it is a big deal. We played well enough to win tonight and get back on track. Our kids’ goals are high, and they know there is a lot to improve on in order to achieve our goals. The most positive thing from tonight is our players made plays when we needed them.”
West Central (2-2) will host the Dakota Valley Panthers on Friday, September 28th. Tri-Valley (1-2) will play in their first road game of the season when they travel to Dell Rapids on Friday, September 25th.
The West Central Trojan volleyball team split their last two matches. West Central ended a short two-match losing streak with a win over the Chamberlain Cubs at home on Thursday, September 17th. The Trojans won in straight sets by scores of 25-13, 25-14, and 25-21.
Cassidy Siemonsma had a team-high 12 kills in the match. McKenna Sichmeller finished with eight kills. Siemonsma also led the team with five blocks. Brooke Opitz had 23 set assists. Jocelyn Nilson finished with 11 digs, and Grace Harden had five aces.
The Trojans then lost a weekend match at Hamlin High School against the Chargers by scores of 19-25, 25-19, 19-25, and 23-25.
West Central (3-6) will travel to Dakota Valley on Tuesday, September 22nd.
The West Central Trojans nearly had a top-three team finish at the Vermillion Invite on Wednesday, September 16th.
The Trojans finished fourth as a team with a score of 343. They were just two strokes behind Lennox, who finished third as a team with 341. Vermillion won the team title with a score of 326. Sioux Falls Christian was second with a team score of 337.
Trey Even and Peyton Bettcher both finished in the top 10 individually. Even finished fourth with a round of 78. Bettcher finished tied for eighth with a round of 81. Connor Eisenbeisz and Kamden Zomer both finished with rounds of 92. Anthony Lanham had a 94. Cole Miles finished with a round of 100.
West Central will be in Elk Point for the Elk Point-Jefferson Match Play Tournament on Thursday, September 17th.
The West Central Trojan volleyball team fell to the Baltic Bulldogs at home on Tuesday, September 15th. The Bulldogs won in four sets by scores of 25-20, 25-21, 27-29, and 25-16.
In the opening set of the match, Baltic was on fire and got out to a big 11-3 lead. The Trojans tried to make a come back as they got within three points at 22-19, but Baltic was able to finish the set with a 25-20 victory. In the second set, the Bulldogs got out to an 11-5 advantage. Baltic led from that point forward, but West Central did pull within three points again at 24-21, before falling 25-21.
The third set was back-and-forth early. With the set tied 12-12, West Central went on a four-point run for a 16-12 lead. The lead grew to five points at 21-16. Baltic made a run and tied the set at 22-22. Baltic took the lead at 24-23, and again at 25-24 before the Trojans took a 26-25 advantage. Baltic tied the score at 26-26 and 27-27. West Central got the final two points for a 29-27 win to force a fourth set.
West Central seemed to be riding the momentum of the third set as they took an early 9-4 lead in the fourth set. The Bulldogs, however, came fighting back and tied the set at 11-11. They continued their run and took at 19-14 lead late in the set. The Bulldogs went on to take the fourth set 25-16 and won the match.
Cassidy Siemonsma finished the night with 20 kills and two blocks. Brooke Opitz had 33 set assists, 24 digs, and three ace serves.
West Central (2-5) will host Chamberlain on Thursday, September 17th.
After suffering their first loss of the season on September 8th, the West Central Trojan girls soccer team split in their last two matches.
The Trojans hosted the Groton Area Tigers on Friday, September 11th. West Central found themselves back in the win column with a 2-1 victory. They then hosted the Dakota Valley Panthers on Tuesday, September 15th. The Panthers scored the only goal of the game on a penalty kick for a 1-0 win.
West Central (6-2-3) will travel to Sioux Falls to play the Sioux Falls Christian Chargers on Tuesday, September 22nd.
The West Central Trojans girls and boys cross country teams participated in the Sioux Falls Charger Invitational on Tuesday, September 15th.
Both the girls and boys team placed 8th. The girls team finished with 126 points. Sioux Falls Christian won with 26 points. Harrisburg was second with 50 points, and Milbank placed third with 59 points.
Reagan Stallman (31st) had a time of 23:21.81. Abbie Cain (32nd) finished in a time of 23:31.86. Paige Pilker (41st) had a time of 24:29.81. Drew Caffrey (42nd) had a time of 24:33.02. Sayda Rolfson (45th) finished with a time of 24:56.13. Kayln Kunz (48th) had a time of 25:18.74.
The boys team finished with a total of 119 points. Sioux Falls Christian also won the boys team title with 14 points. Harrisburg was second with 46 points, and Vermillion was third with 51 points.
Justin Schumacher (23rd) had a time of 18:58.44. Ben Strunk (38th) finished in 19:48.64. Jonathon Roth (45th) finished with a time of 20:35.59. Blake Stark (53rd) had a time of 21:35.15.
West Central will be at the Alcester-Hudson Invitational on Monday, September 21st.
The West Central Trojan girls and boys cross country teams ran at the Lynx Cross Country Invitational on Saturday, September 12th.
The girls team finished third with a total of 54 points. Brandon Valley was first with 11 points, and Yankton was second with 31 points.
Reagan Stallman finished 14th with a time of 22:29.79. Drew Caffrey was 20th with a time of 23:36.40. Elizabeth Johnson was 22nd with a time of 24:29.60. Abbie Cain placed 23rd with a time of 24:30.67. Kaylyn Kunz was 24th at 24:47.46, Paige Pilker was 25th in a time of 24:48.55, and Sayda Rolfson played 26th in a time of 25:17.87.
The boys team had a fourth place finish with 74 points. Sioux Falls Roosevelt was first with 19 points. Brandon Valley was second with 28 points, and Yankton placed third with 38 points.
Justin Schumacher had a 16th place finish with a time of 19:16.86. Jonathon Roth was 19th in a time of 19:22.35. Ben Strunk placed 24th with a time of 19:54.26. Blake Stark had a 27th place finish in a time of 21:17.78.
The West Central cross country teams will be at the Sioux Falls Christian Charger Invite on Tuesday, September 15th.