But the further they make it on the journey, the harder it will get.

Greenfield, a senior who is ranked No. 5 at 182 pounds, and Remsburg, a sophomore 126-pounder, both advanced out of a Class 1A sectional tournament and will compete at districts this weekend in Emmetsburg.

Greenfield (41-1) claimed a sectional title with a pair of victories, while Remsburg (36-7) advanced as a silver medalist.

South Hamilton scored 107 points to place fifth among the seven teams in the field. Emmetsburg and West Hancock dominated the sectional, as they hoarded 18 of the 28 district spots. Emmetsburg pushed 10 grapplers through and won the team title with 248 points, while West Hancock advanced eight and tallied 212 points. Eagle Grove and its five district qualifiers was third with 153.

South Hamilton’s Keyton Remsburg (left) gets in on a single-leg shot against Eagle Grove’s Connor Christopher on Saturday. DFJ photo/Angela Hewitt

“We faced (Emmetsburg and West Hancock) during the dual season and we knew how good they were,” South Hamilton head coach Dan Brodie said. “That meant for a tough day for some of our guys, but we wrestled well even in defeat. We really showed some things that aren’t going to show up on a final score.”

Greenfield, who came within one win of reaching the state tournament podium a season ago, earned a 5-0 decision over Ben Saxton, a 33-match winner from Emmetsburg, in Saturday’s finals, courtesy of two takedowns and an escape. He breezed through the semifinals, pinning Parker Means of West Hancock in 2:22.

“It was smart wrestling on Brent’s part,” Brodie said. “We talked about how he’s in the business of wins right now and it doesn’t matter how they come. He never put himself in a bad spot (against Saxton), and I can’t speak for the Emmetsburg kid, but there had to be a realization that scoring points was going to be tough because Brent just didn’t give him anything.”

After a semifinal round pin in 1:51 over Eagle Grove’s Connor Christopher, Remsburg was unable to capitalize in his finals bout against Emmetsburg’s Ryerson Boevers in a 5-2 loss. Remsburg beat Boevers by fall during the regular season.

“Unfortunately, Keyton kind of tightened up in the finals,” Brodie said. “Give all credit to (Boevers), he came in with a great game plan to slow Keyton down and he really didn’t let us get to our offense.”

South Hamilton’s Holden Klein (106) and Austin Busch (285) both finished third, but were unable to generate a wrestleback. Klein pinned Emmetsburg’s Joseph Peterson in 44 seconds in the consolation final, while Busch rolled up two pins on the day, including a 2:13 decking of Eagle Grove’s Damon Richter in his consolation final.

Class 1A Sectional 5

Saturday at Jewell

Team Standings

(Number of district qualifiers)

1. Emmetsburg (10) 248; 2. West Hancock (8) 212; 3. Eagle Grove (5) 153; 4. North Union (2) 127; 5. South Hamilton (2) 107; 6. Belmond-Klemme (1) 78; 7. St. Edmond (0) 58.

Championship Matches

106 — Mack Morgan (EG) pinned Ethan Preston (NU), 0:19. 113 — Landon Price (NU) pinned LIncoln Wilcoxon (EM), 0:23. 120 — Nic Lowe (EM) dec Jacob Larson (WH), 10-5. 126 — Ryerson Boevers (EM) dec Keyton Remsburg (SH), 5-2. 132 — Dustin Dawson (EG) dec Matt Larson (WH), 13-11. 138 — Kellen Smith (WH) pinned Kaden Hanson (B-K), 1:33. 145 — Ryan Brennan (EM) pinned Korey Anderson (EG), 1:15. 152 — Jace Nelson-Brown (EM) dec Creighton Kelly (WH), 4-1. 160 — Kane Zuehl (WH) pinned Justin Wirtz (EM), 1:33. 170 — Cade Shirk (EM) maj dec Irvin Gomez (WH), 14-2. 182 — Brent Greenfield (SH) dec Ben Saxton (EM), 5-0. 195 — Matthew Wirtz (EM) pinned Jack Mendoza (EG), 1:29. 220 — Matthew Francis (WH) pinned Isaac Olson (EG), 2:15. 285 — Gage Jorgenson (EM) dec David Smith (WH), 2-1.

Wrestlebacks

120 — Jacob Larson (WH) dec Liam Kollasch (NU), 6-1.

South Hamilton Results

106 — Holden Klein 1-1, 3rd. 126 — Keyton Remsburg 1-1, 2nd. 132 — Braden Young 1-2, 4th. 138 — Alan Gandara 0-2, 6th. 145 — Jaxson Watson 0-1, 5th. 170 — Owen Duns 0-2, 6th. 182 — Brent Greenfield 2-0, 1st. 195 — Ernie Taylor 1-1, 5th. 220 — Graham Peters 0-1, 5th. 285 — Austin Busch 2-1, 3rd.

District Matches

126 — Keyton Remsburg (36-7), S. Hamilton vs. No. 2 Cameron Clark (42-1), West Sioux.

182 — No. 5 Brent Greenfield (41-1), S. Hamilton vs. Dakota Deuschle (28-11), Sioux Central.