ELK POINT & MADISON, S.D. — In 1975, Rapid City’s Randy Lewis set a South Dakota High School record with his 45th consecutive pin. Lewis went on to have a Hall of Fame career that included two national championships at the University of Iowa and an Olympic Gold Medal.
His record stood for more than four decades until today when, remarkably, two wrestlers had a chance to make history.
It started this morning in Elk Point at the EPJ Invite. 138 pound Canton senior Kellyn March tied the record with his 45th straight pin in the first round, and then needed just 24 seconds in the quarterfinals to pin Parkston’s Kaleb Buseman, setting the new state record of 46 consecutive pins.
After that competition was stopped to honor March in which Lewis himself presented Kellyn with a special plaque to commemorate the achievement. Kellyn went on to pick up two more pins to run his streak to 48 in a row and capture the EPJ Invitational championship.
Several hours later in Madison, Chamberlain heavyweight Nash Hutmacher also tied the previous mark of 45 and pushed his streak to 46 with three more pins today during his run to the Madison Invitational Championship. It’ll certainly be a friendly competition for both to see who ends up with more and the final record, and an achievement that lasts a lifetime for all three.
