Author Archives: Colton Hall

Brooke Swier-Schloss Named Super Lawyers “Rising Star”

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Brooke Swier-Schloss of Swier Law Firm has been selected to the 2017 South Dakota “Rising Stars” list in Family Law.

Each year, a small percent of the lawyers in South Dakota are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. To be eligible for inclusion as a Rising Star, a lawyer must be either 40 years old or younger or in practice for 10 years or less.

“We are excited and proud that Brooke has been selected to receive this honor,” said Scott Swier. “We congratulate and thank Brooke for her commitment to her clients, which is evident with this well-deserved recognition.”

The annual selections are made using a multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys. The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazines and in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country.

Warriors Roll to 64-16 Victory

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Winner Warrior football team put a lot of points on the board Friday night as they defeated Wagner 64-16.

With the victory the Warriors improved to 6-1 for the season.

Winner raced to a 46-0 lead at the half.

The Warriors scored 24 points in the first quarter on touchdowns by Riley Calhoon and Ty Bolton. Calhoon opened the scoring on a 33 yard run. A minute later Bolton scored on a 16 yard run. Calhoon’s second touchdown came on a 49 yard run.

In the second quarter, Carter Brickman completed a 44 yard TD pass to Calhoon.

With 4:40 left in the first half, Zach Lapsley scored on a 1 yard run. With 12 seconds to go until the half, Trevor Peters scored on a 6 yard run.

Wagner scored a touchdown each in the third and the fourth quarters.

A lot of younger players saw action in the second half of the game. Preston Norrid scored two touchdowns. His first was on a 5 yard run and he scored the final TD on a 29 yard run.

Sandwiched between Norrid’s two TDs was a score by Joren Bruun on a 53 yard run with 6:34 left in the game.

The Warriors had a lot of yards of offense as they put up a total of 510 yards with 447 coming via the rush.

Leading rushers were Calhoon, 94 yards, Bruun, 64 yards; Norrid, 58 yards; Peters, 45 yards; Phillip Jorgensen 42 yards; Sam Kruger, 38 yards and Zach Lapsley, 34 yards.

Winner had 26 first downs and held Wagner to 9.

Coach Dan Aaker said the team had a good week of practice. “We told the team the character of a team is how you prepare and play games likes this. I was happy with what I saw,” said the coach.

On the defensive side of the ball, Aaron Gilchrist had 4 tackles, Levi McClanahan, Nathan Smither, Trevor Peters and Ethan Vesely all had 3 tackles.

The Warriors close out the regular season on Friday, Oct. 13 when they travel to Wessington Springs to play Woonsocket/Wessington Springs /Sanborn Central. This is a new team on Winner’s schedule as the two teams have never met on the football field. This game will also determine the SESD champion.

Aaker said Friday’s opponent is a good football team with a 6-1 record. “This is going to set up to be a good game with a playoff atmosphere.”

The first round of the playoffs begin on Oct. 19.

Colome Suffers First Loss

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The Colome Cowboys suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Corsica-Stickney Friday night in Colome. The Jaguars won the game 22-6.

The Jaguars held Colome to just 116 yards of total offense

Corsica-Stickney took an early 8-0 lead.

Playing in a light rain in the first half, Class 9B No. 2 Colome coughed up the ball and Corsica-Stickney took advantage by scoring and giving them a 16-0 lead.

Colome coach Ben Connot said it was a slow start and that was his team’s downfall.

“Starting down 16-0 didn’t help at all,” said Connot. “We had our chances but did not capitalize.”

Jackson Kinzer scored late in the first quarter on a 2 yard touchdown run to get the Cowboys on the scoreboard.

Wyatt Cahoy led the Colome defense with 13 tackles and Layton Thieman added 10.

Colome, 6-1, will head to Avon on Friday.

Volleyball Team Defeats Gregory

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Winner High School volleyball team defeated Gregory in three sets on Oct. 3.  The scores were 25-10, 25-10 and 25-16.

Morgan Hammerbeck and Alexis Richey were 100 percent in serving. Hammerbeck had 6 aces.  Abby Marts had 14 kills and Hammerbeck, 8.  Addy Root had 31 set assists.   Daesha Klein was 83 percent in serve receive and Hammerbeck was 80 percent.
Richey and Hammerbeck each had 11 digs.  Abby Marts had 1 solo block and Sam Marts had 1 solo and 1 block assist.

As a team, Winner was 96 percent in serving with 10 ace serves, 36 kills, 34 assists, 68 percent in serve receive with 56 digs and 3 blocks.

“We came out focused and ready to play,” said coach Jaime Keiser. “We did a great job of digging and serving. We were aggressive and did a great job of attacking the ball which kept Gregory on the defensive end,” said the coach.  “We played 3 pretty consistent games. The girls played as a team and were having fun,” said Keiser.

Lady Warriors Defeated in Chester Challenge

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Winner High School volleyball team lost to Elkton/Lake Benton in the Chester Challenge on Saturday. The scores were 17-25, 25-19, 23-19, 13-25.

Addy Root and Morgan Hammerbeck were 100 percent in serving. Alexis Richey had 4 ace serves and Daesha Klein, 2.
Hammerbeck had 21 kills.  Root had 36 set assists.  Richey and Hammerbeck were both 78 percent in serve receive.
Richey had 26 digs and Abby Marts, 18.

As a team, Winner was 95 percent in serving with 9 aces, 43 kills, 64 percent in serve receive and 90 digs.

“Elkton/Lake Benton has a very balanced and athletic team,” said coach Jaime Keiser. “I thought we came out ready to play. We were being aggressive on offense and were attacking the ball which kept Elkton/Lake Benton chasing the ball all over the place. When we attacked the ball, Elkton/Lake Benton couldn’t stop us. Our struggle was serve receive. We couldn’t pass the ball and Addy was running all over the place to chase the ball. We also gave Elkton/Lake Benton to many unearned points on defense,” said Keiser.  The coach added the third game Winner came out and took the lead right away, but just couldn’t finish. “We just need to take care of the little things.”

Winner defeated white River in three sets 25-8, 25-13 and 25-10.


Richey and Klein were 100 percent in serving. Richey had 2 ace serves and Abby Marts and Addy Root had 1 ace serve.
Marts had 17 kills and Hammerbeck, 13.  Root had 34 set assists.  Richey was 81 percent in serve receive and Marts was 80 percent.   Richey had 13 digs. Sam Marts and Root had 1 block assist.

As a team, Winner was 93 percent in serving with 5 ace serves, 41 kills, 37 set assists, 73 percent in serve receive with 65 digs.

“We came out ready to play from the start,” said Keiser. “We did a great job of serving and attacking the ball which kept White River out of system. We did a better job in serve receive which has been a weakness of ours,” said the coach.

Winner will be at Mt. Vernon/Plankinton on Oct. 16 and Wagner on Oct. 17.

Watson Wins Cross Country Meet

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Kade Watson of the Winner Area cross country team won first place at the Ethan/Parkston cross country meet on Oct. 5.
Watson finished in 17:05.

Results of other Winner area varsity boys include: Dawson Phillips, 14th; Wyatt Turnquist, 17th.

The Winner Area girls won first place with Sidda Schuyler winning the meet. Schuyler finished in 19:32. Jaclyn Laprath took fourth in 20:33; Aryn Meiners, 6th, 20:58. Also placing were Saige Schuyler, 11th; Melanie Brozik, 20th.

In the girls junior varsity race, Katherine Jankauskas took 8th; Nanette Eagle Star, 10th and Charlotte Shopene, 12th.

Joseph Laprath won the boys junior varsity race.

The regional cross country meet will be in Chamberlain on Oct. 12.

Lady Warriors Win First in Conference Meet

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The Winner Area girls cross country team won first place at the SESD conference meet Oct. 2 in Gregory. The Winner Area boys took third place.

Sidda Schuyler won the girls varsity race. Also placing for Winner were Jaclyn Laprath, 4th; Aryn Meiners, 9th; Saige Schuyler, 17th; Meagan Blare, 21st; Melanie Brozik, 27th.

In the varsity boys race, Kade Watson took third, Dawson Phillips, 15th; Wyatt Turnquist, 22nd; Atlas Willuweit, 32nd.

Madison Thieman placed 11th in the girls junior varsity race. Charlotte Shopene was 12th; Nanette Eagle Star, 13th; Katherine Jankauskas, 14th; Gabriel Kocer, 15th and Joselin Kludt, 19th.

Kade Watson of the Winner Area cross country team won first place at the Ethan/Parkston cross country meet on Oct. 5.
Watson finished in 17:05.

Results of other Winner area varsity boys include: Dawson Phillips, 14th; Wyatt Turnquist, 17th.

The Winner Area girls won first place with Sidda Schuyler winning the meet. Schuyler finished in 19:32. Jaclyn Laprath took fourth in 20:33; Aryn Meiners, 6th, 20:58. Also placing were Saige Schuyler, 11th; Melanie Brozik, 20th.

In the girls junior varsity race, Katherine Jankauskas took 8th; Nanette Eagle Star, 10th and Charlotte Shopene, 12th.
Joseph Laprath won the boys junior varsity race.

The regional cross country meet will be in Chamberlain on Oct. 12.

Richard Faubion, 63

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Rickfaubion obit

Richard Faubion, 63, of Winner, SD passed away at his home on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017. Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017 at the United Methodist Church in Winner. Burial followed in the Winner City Cemetery.

Rick was born on April 21, 1954 in Ainsworth, NE. Rick attended school in Millboro and then graduated from Springview High School in 1972. From there he attended Springfield Mechanics School. After school he started working at the Winner Ford/Mercury Garage. Rick started his love for truck driving in 1979 with Kaiser trucking and started his long-term career with Grossenburg’s – Rosebud Concrete in April 1991.

On June 12, 1976, he married the love of his life, Diane Berger. Rick and Diane started their family in 1985 and became proud parents to four children; Brady, Chris, Heather, and Lindsay.

Rick was a man of few words but his actions spoke loudly. Family was always first for him. He enjoyed skiing, hunting, gardening, fishing, boating, camping, the sport of car racing, chaperoning for church and boy scout camps and was always taking care of his birds. Anything that required being outdoors was something that he always loved. He most recently enjoyed four-wheeling with friends and family.

Rick was an active member with the church. He enjoyed his Sunday mornings running the AV booth, passing out bulletins, greeting people with a smile, being a part of the praise team and he always looked forward to couple’s club. In his younger years he enjoyed playing baseball and always looked forward to another season of Minnesota Twins baseball. He wouldn’t miss a Twins game!

Although his life here on earth seemed to short; we know that he now has the best seat with our Lord.

Rick is survived by his wife of 41 years Diane, son Brady (Jena), son Christopher and wife Jordan, Heather Massingale and husband Lane, Lindsay (Anthony), and three loving grandchildren; Avery and Trinity Massingale, and Grayson Faubion (Chris) and his sister, Donna Howland of Winner.

Preceded by his parents Richard and Dorothy, father-in-law Ernest Berger, brother-in-law Dennis Howland.

Ron Merchen, 85

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ron merchen obit

Ron Merchen, age 85, of Winner, passed away on Sept. 30, at the Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls. Funeral service were held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2017 at the Assembly of God Church in Winner. Burial followed at the Winner City Cemetery.
Arthur Ronald Merchen was born on Aug. 15, 1932 to William Merchen and Josephine (Cummings) Merchen in Witten, South Dakota.

The Merchen family moved to Winner, South Dakota in 1936. Ronnie started school in the first grade in 1938. Ronnie joined the South Dakota National Guard in 1949. Coming home from summer camp, the Korean War was declared and the South Dakota National Guard was activated. Ronnie opted-out of going with the guard unit on duty, so he could finish high school. In 1952, after graduating from high school, he went into the regular Army and went to Fort Benning, Georgia, and volunteered for the Airborne.

Ronnie had a three day pass and went to Lagrange, Georgia to attend church, and there he met his wife to be, Margaret Smith. On Aug. 2, 1953, they were married. To this marriage two sons were born, James Henry Merchen and Earl Frederick Merchen. Ronnie and Margaret lived in Smyrna, Georgia where the boys went to school and were very active in sports, playing basketball, baseball, football, wrestling and soccer. Ronnie and Margaret were very active in their children’s sports. Ronnie officiated football, basketball and umpired baseball at some high schools and small colleges.

When they moved back to Winner in 1974, Ronnie became very involved with basketball and football officiating. After moving back to South Dakota, Ronnie became a truck driver, owning five trucks for a period of time. He traveled all 48 states and Alaska, and all of Canada hauling heavy equipment which he enjoyed very much.

Ronnie and Margaret were members of the Assembly of God Church in Winner. Ronnie is preceded in death by his mother and father; step-father; three sisters Dorothy, Aileen, and Louise; one brother Richard; and oldest son James.

Ron is survived by his son Fritz of Salem, SD; two grandsons Alex of Atlanta, GA, and Kellen of Chicago, Il.; two great-grandsons; one sister Joanne Jerred of Winner; daughter-in-law Dena of Atlanta, GA; and his special friend Joyce Weidner of Winner; and a host of relatives and friends.