Submitted photo These are the participants in the Winner Elks Hoop Shoot held on Jan. 14. The event was held at the Winner auxiliary gym. There were 14 winners in various age divisions.
The
Winner Elks Hoop Shoot was held Jan. 14 at the auxiliary gym.
Eight
West River football teams reached the 11 man state playoffs this season but
Winner was one of the teams that stood out.
Winner
has five players on the Rapid City Journal’s Best of the West 11 man football
team.
Winner
reached its fourth straight championship game and ninth title game in 15
seasons as it finished with an 11-1 record and state runner-up.
A
summary of the Winner players on the team.
Aiden
Barfuss proved to be a force on both sides of the ball for the Warriors. He
earned Class 11B all-state honors for his efforts in the backfield.
Barfuss
rushed 138 times for 1,050 yards to average 7.6 yards per carry and racked up
18 rushing touchdowns. He added 36 tackles, six tackles for loss, an interception
and a pass breakup on defense.
On
special teams, he averaged 42 yards per kickoff return, with a touchdown and
kicked off for an average of 45 yards per attempt.
Jack
Kruger anchored an offensive line that allowed the Warriors’ backs to rush for
over 3,600 yards. Kruger’s efforts earned him all-SESD and all-state honors.
Ethan
Bartels made a difference on all sides of the ball. The senior caught seven
passes for 181 yards and five touchdowns as a tight end. As a kicker he
averaged 48.5 yards per punt and 45.7 yards per kickoff.
Bartels
also stood strong in the trenches with 10 tackles, four tackles for loss, a
pass breakup and an interception. He earned all-SEDS honors and a Class 11B nod
as a defensive lineman.
Riley
Orel and Blake Volmer were both defensive backs.
Orel was
exceptional for the Warriors on both sides of the ball. At running back he
rushed 79 times for 880 yards and 12 touchdowns while averaging 11.1 yards per
carry to earn all-state honors.
On
defense, Orel racked up 25 tackles, broke up 12 passes and intercepted a pass.
Volmer
stepped up as quarterback this season and locked down opponents as a defensive
back.
Volmer
racked up 18 tackles, six pass breakups and six interceptions to earn Class 11B
all-state honors.
Submitted story Wrestling in the LNI tournament in Rapid City are from left Jude Sargent, Gus Bartels and Abe Kaiser.
Three
Winner wrestlers competed at the Lakota Nation Invitational wrestling
tournament in Rapid City.
Abe
Kaiser was first at 152 pounds and Jude Sargent was first at 170 pounds. Gus
Bartels took 2nd at 145 pounds.
Kaiser
in the first round won by fall over Justice Child of Little Wound. Kaiser had a bye the second round and then
pinned Eddie Rousseau of Tiopsa Zina in 5:15.
In the
championship bracket Kaiser pinned Zuya Romero of Red Cloud in 1:54. For first
place he wrestled Rousseau again and won by pin in 32 seconds.
Sargent
had a bye the first two rounds. In the third round he pinned Adonis Runs After
of CEB in 12 seconds.
In the
championship bracket, Sargent pinned Uziel Munoz of Lakota Tech in 28 seconds.
Then for first place he pinned Cameron Dekle of CEB in 51seconds.
Bartels
had a bye the first two rounds. In the third round he pinned Tayne Pucket of
Lakota Tech in 29 seconds. In the championship bracket, Bartels pinned Cody
Provost, Lakota Tech in 29 seconds.
Semni
Big Crow of Pine Ridge won a sudden death victory over Bartels in the
championship match.
Basketball
scrimmages for the Winner High School boys and girls basketball teams have been
set.
The
girls scrimmage will be Friday, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m in the Armory. This year the girls team will be doing a
free will donation and there will also be baked goods up for a silent auction.
All proceeds will be donated to the Winner Pix Theater.
The
Winner boys Gatorade scrimmage will be Dec. 3 at 10 a.m. in the Armory.
Submitted Photo The Winner Youth Rodeo was awarded a grant in the amount of $6,000 from the William J. Matousek and Marjory E. Caldiera fund, a sub fund of the Tripp County Community Foundation. These funds will be used to assist in the purchase of a tractor to be used at the Tripp County rodeo grounds. This will benefit all rodeos and horse shows hosted in the arena. Pictured are Heather Moore, secretary/treasurer of the Winner Youth Rodeo, Dawn Covey of the Tripp County Community Foundation and Cody Moore, president of the Winner Youth Rodeo.
Kaden
Keiser of Winner has had an impressive start to his college wrestling career at
Appalachian State in Boone, N. C.
On Dec.
20 Keiser wrestled at the Keystone Classic in Philadelphia, Pa.
Team
competing were from Penn, Drexel, Appalachian State, Arizona State, George
Mason, Duke, Rider, F&M, Virginia Tech, Sacred Heart and Harvard.
Keiser,
a four time South Dakota state wrestling champion, wrestled six times at the
classic.
He
defeated Matthew Hoelke from Rider, 11-6.
Keiser
got beat by No. 15 ranked in the nation Doug Zapf from the University of
Pennsylvania, 19-8.
The
Winner wrestler came back and defeated Kylan Montgomery, Virginia Tech, 4-2;
defeated Rocco Demartino, Sacred Heart, 16-0; defeated Vincent Mannella,
University of Pennsylvania, 5-4.
Keiser
got beat by Jack Crook, Harvard, 8-5.
Keiser
could not wrestler the 7th and 8th place match because he
can only wrestle six matches in a day. He placed 8th.
Keiser
won the open division in the Mountaineer Invitational in Boone.
He won
four matches. Keiser defeated Zach Soda, Edinboro with a pin in 3:24; defeated
Mason Stefsnelli, Virginia, 5-4; defeated Nicholas Grizales, App State, 14-4
and defeated Kai O’Dell, 6-3.
Dan Bechtold/Winner Advocate Photo Riley Orel carries the ball in Friday’s state playoff game. The Warriors won 46-6.
Focused.
Determined. Locked down and ready to play.
That was
the Winner Warriors Friday night as they defeated McCook Central/ Montrose 46-6
in the semifinals of the state football playoffs.
The victory
sends the undefeated Warriors to the DakotaDome in Vermillion on Friday for the
Class 11B state championship. The game
will be at 2:30 p.m. and the Warriors will take on Elk Point-Jefferson.
The
Warriors are the two time defending state champions and have won 34 consecutive
games.
The
Warriors are attempting to win a third consecutive state title.
“You could
tell how focused they were, how much film they were watching just based on the
questions they were asking in practice,” said head coach Trent Olson.
“I am very
proud of the kids. They have worked really hard for this. MCM is a very good
team but the boys were extremely focused and took care of business,” explained
Olson.
Winner put
the first points on the board and that was crucial to setting the tone of the
game.
Using his
versatility to pass the ball, quarterback Blake Volmer completed a 9 yard pass
to Shaw Hammerbeck for the first touchdown.
MCM drove
to mid-field on the next drive and failed to convert a fourth down which
allowed Winner to take over and five plays later the Warriors were on the
scoreboard again. This time Volmer completed a 31 yard pass to Riley Orel.
Rounding
out the first half, Aiden Barfuss scored on a one yard run. Winner took a 20-0
lead into the lockerroom at half.
Volmer said
that first touchdown set the tone for Winner. “They are a good team. We knew
they were not going to let up and that first possession set the tone and showed
them Winner was ready to go,” said Winner’s quarterback after the game.
Winner
scored two touchdowns each in the third and fourth quarters.
Barfuss
scored his second TD on a 3 yard run with 5:17 left in the third period.
With 52
seconds left in the third period MCM got on the scoreboard.
However,
Winner was going to respond right away. On the ensuing kickoff, Karson Keiser
ran 76 yards for a touchdown and Winner is now up 34-6.
The third
touchdown for Barfuss came in the fourth quarter on a 78 yard run. Four minutes
later Jude Sargent plunges in from two yards out for the score.
The
Warriors had a total of 397 yards of total offense with 332 of those yards
coming on the ground.
Winner had
20 first downs to 13 for MCM.
Barfuss was
the rushing leader with 162 yards. Keiser had 55 yards, Jack Peters, 48 and
Riley Orel, 47.
In passing,
Volmer was 4-9 for 65 yards.
Jack Peters
said the victory was a great team effort. “We were locked down and focused that
is for sure. We wanted it more than they did,” he said.
Winner
again had a strong defense. Jack Kruger and Jack Peters both had 7.5 tackles.
Jude Sargent had 6 tackles. Dalton Petersen had 3.5 tackles, Barfuss and Karson
Keiser, 3 each, Shawn Hammerbeck 2.5 and Sam Scholz, 2.
The next
step for Winner in their undefeated season is defending its state championship
as they face Elk Point-Jefferson on Nov. 11 at 2:30 p.m.
“We have a
great opportunity in front of us,” said Olson.
South Dakota Public Broadcasting Photo Winner competitive dance hip hop team placed third at the state tournament in Watertown. The state meet was on Friday, Oct. 21.
Winner
competitive dance team placed third in hip hop and tied for 4th in
pom at the state cheer/dance meet in Watertown on Friday. Overall, Winner took
5th place in dance.
“This
was the best scores of the year,” said coach Sarah
Taggart.
“The
girls danced their hearts out. We are going to miss our five seniors and their
leadership, talent,” said Taggart.
Kendyl
Bachmann and Josey Kludt were named to the all-tournament team.
Leah
Wiechelman, Amanda Blare, Josey Kludt and Kendyl Bachmann were named
all-academic.
Submitted Photo Tripp County Flag football Dallas Cowboys team is in front from left Roman Evans, Corbin Christensen, Maddux Phillips, Nick Assman, Brayten Haase, Kade Fenenga and Clint Eastman Jr. Coaches in back are Sully Shippy, Jordyn Harter, Cole Rank. Coaches not pictured are Jack Peters and Cody Wheadon.