Watzel earns state FFA degree

Madaline Watzel, a senior at Winner High School, recently earned her state FFA degree. This is the second highest degree in FFA.

Watzel’s Supervised Agriculture Experience (SAE) consisted of working  on her family ranch. She put in over 1,000 hours into it over the course of four years.

She feeds, doctors, hays, fixes equipment and markets the cattle from her parent’s feedlot. Each year she has grown her skills and kept documentation of it in order to apply for this award.

Watzel is the daughter of Dean and Barb  Watzel. 

“Madaline is a hard worker and has rightly earned this degree,” said Nicole Roth, Winner FFA advisor.

“It shows her dedication to FFA and she has reaped the benefits of having a supervised agriculture experience in the many skills she has gained including a strong work ethic, dedication and an understanding of and appreciation of agriculture,” said Roth.

Watzel will be recognized on stage at the state FFA convention in April.

“We are so proud of her for accomplishing this honor,” said Roth.

NCAA Division II Coaches Rankings prior to the postseason- Wrestling

In the final NCAA Division II Coaches Rankings prior to the postseason, the Northern State University wrestling team came in with 11 points and receiving votes in the team poll. In addition, three Wolves are ranked individually including No. 11 Kolton Roth (141), No. 8 Wyatt Turnquist (149), and No. 10 James Burks (157).

Turnquist posts a team best 16-2 record in 2021-22 with nationally ranked victories over No. 4 Speelman of Augustana and No. 7 Bailey of UIndy. In addition, the junior is 9-0 in NSIC action and holds a team best four technical fall wins.

Northern State competes next Saturday, Feb. 26 from the NCAA Super Region V Tournament in Moorhead, Minn.

Shirley Ann Winter, 85

Shirley Ann Winter, 85, passed away on Feb. 19, 2022 at Monument Health Rapid City Hospital.

Due to Covid, a private family service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26, 2022 at the United Methodist Church in Winner, SD. Burial will follow at the Winner City Cemetery.

Shirley was born in Tripp County on March 16, 1936 to Anton and Ila (Kappelman) Rehak. There were three daughters in this family, and Shirley was the middle child. As a youngster, Shirley enjoyed and told stories about helping her father on the farm and riding around the field on the drawbar of his tractor. She attended school in Winner.

She was united in marriage to Ralph Winter on Dec. 19, 1953. To this union, two daughters were born, Victoria and Valarie. She was a homemaker until her daughters were school age. Following this time, she began working for Lenker Agency, then a few years later at Home Federal Bank in Winner.

Shirley spent many hours riding on the back of a motorcycle with her husband, Ralph, across the country, visiting all the states west of the Mississippi River. They also enjoyed traveling in their retirement years to Alaska and Ellis Island.

After Ralph’s passing, she moved to Rapid City, to be closer to her daughters.

She is survived by her daughter Valarie (Steve) Lien of Rapid City; son in law Lon Harter of Sturgis; three grandchildren, Eric (Jason) of Dell Rapids, Amy (Chris) of Wall, and Jamie (Matt) of Brookings; six great grandchildren, Sunny, Sean, Berkeley, Calder, Hazel, and Lola; sister Bonnie Brown of Winner; and many nieces and nephews.

Shirley was preceded in death by her husband Ralph, daughter Vickie Harter, grandson Reed Lien, her parents Anton and Ila Rehak, and her sister June Nelson.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials made to the Winner United Methodist Church, PO Box 526, Winner, SD 57580.

Jerry Kemp, 78

Jerry Kemp, 78, of Colome, South Dakota passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, at the Winner Regional Health Care Facility in Winner, South Dakota.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022 at 1 p.m.  at the Mason Funeral Home in Winner, South Dakota. Burial will follow in the Winner City Cemetery in Winner, South Dakota. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the services.

Jerry Arthur Kemp was born on Feb. 21, 1943 at Garner, Iowa to Arthur and Grace (Nuehring) Kemp and passed away on Feb. 15th, 2022 at the Winner Regional Hospital.

Jerry and his family moved to Clearfield, South Dakota in 1947. Having moved several times, Jerry attended various country schools and graduated Winner High School in 1961.

Jerry was married to Norma Schmidt and to this union, Todd was born. Jerry then married Cindy Heese, and he adopted her son Michael.

After high school, Jerry worked for the PV Elevator in Winner. Later he worked for the Tripp County Highway Department, where he drove a road maintainer for several years. As owner of Kemp Trucking, he bought and sold hay for several feedlots.

Jerry was a friend to Bob and Joy. A few years after Bob passed away, Jerry invited Joy and her family to his annual Memorial Day cookout. Jerry loved to cook and was quite good at it. He took pride in his cooking.

Jerry and Joy were married June 30, 2007 at Calvary Chapel Church south of Colome, South Dakota.

Gardening with his dad was very important to Jerry and even more so was sharing the produce with family and friends.

Jerry enjoyed his cattle, especially at calving time. He liked taking Joy and his faithful dog, Bud, along to check on them. If Joy couldn’t go with him, he brought her a bouquet of wild flowers, lilacs, or a blooming branch from his orchard.

Jerry was a member of the New Apostolic Church in Ainsworth, Neb.

Preceding Jerry in death were his parents, Art and Grace, many aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Jerry is survived by his wife Joy; his two sons Todd and Michael (Crystal) and family. His sister Judy Kelsey of Sundance, Wyo. and her families: Aaron (Ellen) Kelsey and family of Alaska; Adam (Yun Hui) and daughter of Arizona and Melissa (Jonathan) O’Brien of Arizona. A stepdaughter Brenda (Tad) McClanahan and son, and a stepson George A Shippy and family, both from Colome, South Dakota. Aunt Inez and Uncle Bruce Dunbar from Missouri, Uncle Keith and Aunt Wilma Nuehring from Iowa and numerous cousins.

Debra Christensen, 66

Debra Christensen, 66, of Winner, SD passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022 at the Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, SD. 

  Funeral service was held on Monday, Feb. 21, 2022 at 11 a.m. at the United Methodist Church in Winner, SD.  Burial  followed in the Winner City Cemetery. 

Debra Kay was born to Celestine “Sally” (Ruhkamp) Leiberger on June 16, 1955 in Hot Springs, SD. Debra was the second of five children. She joined her brother Richard and later came Lesley, Dick, & Lisa.

Debra attended country school and later Winner & Colome Schools. She graduated from Colome High School in 1973. Debra was united in marriage to Roger Dice in 1973 and later divorced. They were blessed with two children Michael & Elizabeth.  Debra helped on the family farm for many years while raising their children. As the kids got older, Debra went to work in town at various jobs.

Debra later married Stan Christensen on July 5, 2003. Debra enjoyed reading and crossword puzzles. She loved to dance and bowled on leagues. She also really enjoyed playing cards. She and Stan spent many evenings playing cards with Andy & Donna Dice. Stan taught Debra how to fish (at least he thought he did, if you listen to the stories, one may wonder!)  Debra and Stan loved to go camping and spent many years camping until Debra was diagnosed with Myotonic Dystrophy, a genetic disorder that causes progressive muscle loss and weakness.

Debra leaves  behind  her husband Stan of Winner, SD; son Michael (Tracy) Dice and their children,  Kendall, Trevyn, & Kenzlee, of  Winner, SD; daughter Elizabeth Dice of Winner, SD; brother Dick Ring of Winner, SD; sister Lisa (Roger) Hauf of Colome, SD; nieces Tasha (Justin) Vanneman and Tiffany (Jordan) Nelson; stepdaughters Leslie (Rick) Ross and their children, Kayla (Josh) Swanberg & Kylie (Greg Ellis) Ross; Rebecca Christensen and her children, Katie & Molly Monson; brothers-in-law Gary (Connie) Christensen; Doug (Liane) Christensen, sisters-in-law Debbie Christensen-Farris; Cheryl (Bruce) Lutz. She also leaves behind great nieces & nephews and a host of friends.

Debra was preceded in death by her mom, brothers Richard and Lesley; Stan’s parents Lowell and Frankie Christensen and special family Andy & Donna Dice.

Debra was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, & aunt and will be greatly missed.

David C. London, 91

David C. London, 91, of Newman Grove, NE passed away on Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, at the Boone County Health Center in Albion, NE.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held  at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, at St. Michael’s Catholic Church in Albion, NE with Rev. Steve Emanuel officiating. Burial  followed at Holy Family Cemetery, Lindsay, NE with Military Rites conducted by American Legion Post #73, Army Funeral Honor Guard, and the American Legion Riders.

Levander Funeral Home of Newman Grove, NE is in charge of arrangements. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.levanderfuneralhome.com.

David Carlton London, son of Martin and Martha (Tuttle) London was born on Oct. 11, 1930 in Colome, South Dakota.  He was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Church.  David graduated from Colome High School in 1949. 

On Feb. 21, 1952, David entered the United States Army and served in the Korean War. He was honorably discharged with the rank of Colonel on Jan. 31, 1954.

David was united in marriage to Dolores Vosika in 1954.  The couple lived in Colome, SD where David started working for Union Pacific Railroad.  This job took  the couple to various towns.  Following this career David worked for the United States Post Office as a rural mail carrier for 27 years.  The couple lived in Lindsay, NE where they were members of the Holy Family Catholic Church.  They then moved to Newman Grove. David was a member of the American Legion and the VFW.  He was a volunteer for the Lindsay Project and enjoyed woodworking and collecting things.

David is survived by his son Dana (Nora) London of Malcolm, NE; daughter Jennifer (Mike) Gobel of Norfolk, NE; six grandchildren: Cassie Casey, Jessie, Chris, Leandra, Josh, and Makenzie London; six great-grandchildren: Elliot, Sean, Lillian, William, Liam, and Emory; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Dolores, infant daughter Jennifer, two sons Damon and Marty, grandson Matthew London, three sisters, and special friend Mary Ann Wambaugh.

Wrestlers have high hopes for state

By Dan Bechtold

Editor

For a wrestler this is the greatest weekend of the year.

It is state tournament time and this year the state meet will be held Feb. 24, 25 and 26 in Sioux Falls at the Premier Center.

All the work, sweat and dreams come down to this one weekend.

Winner, one of the top teams in Class B, won the Region 3B tournament and qualified 11 wrestlers for state. Those who qualified are: Max Brozik, Kason Keiser, Kaleb Osborn, Konnor Osborn, Kaden Keiser, Jack Peters, Riley Orel, Joey Cole, Jack Kruger, Charley Pravecek and Achilles Willuweit.

“We had a strong push at the end to win the regional tournament,” said coach Spencer Novotny.

He added the team had its ups downs throughout the day.

Maxton Brozik, Kaleb Osborn, Kaden Keiser, Riley Orel and Achilles Willuweit took care of business and were crowned regional champs.

Jack Kruger had to wrestle the No. 1 kid in the state came up short taking second place.

“Jack Peters wrestled a really good tournament and came from seventh seed to qualify for the state tournament. He beat two rated guys to punch his ticket,” said Novotny.

The coach noted Joey Cole wrestled through an injury showing his leadership and qualified for state.

Konnor Osborn wrestled really well and earned his first state tournament appearance.

“Karson Keiser and Charley Pravecek both wrestled tough but came up short of making the championship match,” said Novotny.

Jude Sargent had a tough day and was one match short of placing. He did come back to get 5th place at 138 pounds and in so doing the state chose him as an alternate for the 138 pound weight class. This means that if someone gets hurt, sick, or doesn’t make weight, Jude will be entered in their spot for the tournament. Each weight class has one alternate.

Novotny added Ash Kaiser and Stetson Shelbourn put it all out there this weekend but couldn’t get through to state. However, both Ash and Stetson are still going to get to wrestle at the state dual tournament on Saturday and will be valuable to the team in that aspect.

Novotny says state week is a fun week. “We were fortunate to qualify for the state dual tournament so we will have all 14 varsity guys and our three alternates in practice this week. It will be 14 going to state plus Gus Bartels, Ryken Orel and Parker Mathis.

In the dual tournament, Winner will wrestle Bon Homme/Scotland/Avon at 11a.m. The semifinals will start at 1 p.m. and the championship at 3 p.m.

The individual tournament will be held Thursday and Friday.

The coach said Winner got some good draws and some bad draws for the individual tournament. “We are ready to roll. This is what we have been working for all season and it is finally here. We will be led by our five seniors that will be wearing their Winner Warrior singlets the last weekend of their career. Our younger guys are hoping to turn a few heads this weekend and get to the podium,” said Novotny.

“Be My Honey” Raffle Winners Announced.

Submitted photo
Winner Boys Scout Troop 100 recently held a raffle. Pictured from left are Matthew Calhoon, Justin Hausmann, Spencer Calhoon, Matt Brozik and Andrew Henderson.

Winner Scout Troop #100 recently held its first “Be My Honey” raffle.  Prizes were donated by area businesses. A list of the prizes and the winners are as follows: the grand prize winner of a one night “Staycation” from the Holiday Inn Express-Kelly Assman, a dozen roses from  Accent Florals  by KC-Chad Duffy, the gift basket of honey products provided by Dakota Honey-Ronae Klein, the Pix Theatre movie package for two-Shannon Calhoon, and a $30 gift certificate from El Tapatio-Jolene Thayer.

The scouts appreciate these businesses, along with OPC and KWYR for the printing and advertising, that made this raffle possible and the public for their support in making it a success.