SIOUX FALLS -- Empty your mind.
That was the advice Isaac Crownover heard going into a state title match.
The messenger was his brother, Josh, a two-time state wrestling champion, and it worked.
With a one-point lead going into the third period, Isaac Crownover rode out Winner’s Jack Kruger to claim the Class B 182-pound state championship Friday in Sioux Falls.
Crownover, a junior for Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon, defeated Kruger 3-2.
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“I had nothing on my mind,” Crownover said shortly after winning his first state championship to cap a 46-2 season. “I felt light as a feather out there.”
Crownover, whose brother won titles in 2018 and 2019, needed to stay calm in the title match. After a scoreless first period, he gave up a takedown in the second period to trail 2-1. Crownover and Kruger wrestled multiple times this season, so they knew each other well.
“Every match I had with him has been closer and closer,” Crownover said.
Kruger, also a junior, knocked off senior and second-seeded Corbin Schwartz 10-4 in the semifinals.
Crownover, the top seed at 182 who cruised through his first three state matches, stayed calm and scored a reversal in the second period to take advantage going into the final two minutes. After Kruger chose down, Crownover rode him out -- battling off multiple stand-up attempts -- to wrap up his season with a title.
“I knew I could come back. I knew I had it in me,” said Crownover, who took third at state as a freshman at 126 pounds and fifth last year at 152.
Now he goes into his senior season with a chance to repeat, just like his brother.
