Category Archives: Sports

Winner wrestlers were able to score enough points to keep Custer from overtaking the Warriors in the Winner Invitational.

Winner won the championship with 229 points. Custer was close with 203 points.

Rounding the top three was Burke/Gregory.

Maxton Brozik, Kaden Keiser and Riley Orel won individual championships.

A field of 14 teams filled the Winner Armory on Saturday.

Jhett Breen of Wagner was named the outstanding wrestling. He won the 132 championship with a pin over Owne Hansen of Burke/Gregory in 2:40. Won

The championship for Winner was the icing on the cake of a very busy week of wrestling.

Brozik won the 113 pound championship with a pin in 4 minutes over Brock Kotalik of Bon Homme/ Scotland.

Kaden Keiser won the 145 pound championship with a 19-4 decision over Riley Roberts of Wagner.

Orel won the 160 pound title with a 1-0 decision over Jonathan Lewis of Custer.

Also placing for Winner were: Karson Keiser, 2^nd; Jude Sargent, 3^rd; Joey Cole, 2^nd; Jack Kruger, 2^nd; Charley Pravecek, 3^rd; Achilles Willuweit, 2^nd; and Stetson Shelbourn, 2^nd.

Winner had several other wrestlers competing who did not place.

The next action for Winner will be in the tournament in Aberdeen on Jan 29.

Glen Novotny has been dedicated to the sport of wrestling for over 50 years.

Sunday at the start of the Winner youth tournament, Novotny was honored for his dedication to the sport.

From 1971 to 1981 he was a Warrior wrestler and placed third at state his senior year. His first year out of high school in 1982, he became the middle school wrestling coach. They held practice in the “dungeon” which was a small room in the basement of the then school administration building, which is now DB’s Bait and Tackle. For just shy of two decades he devoted his time to the middle school wrestlers and continued to coach them until 2001.

In 2002, he became involved in coaching the younger wrestlers in the Winner Youth AAU program. For the last 20 years, he has strived to teach every wrestler the basics and his booming voice could be heard through the gyms, coaching several wrestlers that were on the mat at once. Win or loose, he was always on the edge of the mat, right there with a word of advice or a pat on the back.

He is a true Warrior wrestling fan. He is proud to have coached three generations of wrestlers including two sons, several nephews and his grandson, along with many others who wrestled over the last 40 plus years.

A plaque was presented to Novotny for his over 40 years of dedication and loyalty to the Winner wrestling program.

Blake Volmer’s go ahead basket with eight seconds left lifted No. 3 Winner boys to a 46-43 win over Class AA Pierre on Jan. 11.

It was a thrilling victory for the Warriors who remain undefeated at  10-0. It was an also an amazing comeback for the team that was down early in the game.

At the end of the first quarter, Pierre led 14-7. Winner made up some ground with a 13-9 second quarter.

The Warriors fought back in the fourth quarter and out-scored Pierre 13-9.

With two minute left in the game, Winner tied the score at 38-38.

With  22 seconds left in the game, Barfuss put up a layup and was fouled sending him to the free throw line.

With 1.9 seconds left in the game, Elijah Peterson made two free throws to seal the game.

“We had a fun and exciting game in a packed house against Pierre,” said coach Brett Gardner.

Both Blake Volmer and Aiden Barfuss led the scoring with 11 points,  followed by Slade Cournoyer, 8; Ethan Bartels, 6 and Shawn Hammerbeck, 5.

The Warriors shot 30 percent from the field and were 11-22 for 50 percent from the free throw line.

Volmer pulled down 12 rebounds, Hammerbeck, 8; Cournoyer and Jackson Vesely, 5 each; Ethan Bartels, 4 and Elijah Peterson , 3.

Volmer had 5 assists and Cournoyer, 3.

Bartels had 6 steals and Cournoyer, 4.

“We overcame a slow start and a poor shooting night by defending and rebounding. We were able to hold a Class AA school to 43 points,” said the coach.

Gardner added: “We are so proud of our guys for showing resiliency and continuing to work hard the entire 32 minutes. Aiden Barfuss and Elijah Peterson were able to make free throws in the final minute and Blake Volmer hit the tough go-ahead lay up with 8.2 seconds to go,” said Gardner.

The next action for Winner is Jan. 20 when the Warriors host Tri Valley.

Joey Cole, quarterback for the Winner football team, has been named Best of the West MVP.  

The Rapid City Journal picks the Best of the West team.

Also recognized from Winner Kaden Keiser, Charley Pravecek and Riley Orel with Aiden Barfass, Jackson Vesely and Achilles Willuweit being named to the honorable mention list.

Cole guided the Warriors to their second straight undefeated season and back to back Class 11B state championships.

Cole was also a South Dakota Coaches Association all-state selection for defensive linemen after recording three sacks four tackles for loss, two pass breakups and recovering four fumbles.

Of the multiple rushing options the undefeated Warriors had at their disposal this season, no one punched in more touchdowns than Kaden Keiser. He finished his senior campaign with 16 while picking up 747 yards. He also caught six passes for 156 yards with one touchdown.

Charley Pravecek was named outstanding lineman in both this year and last year state championship games. He helped the Warriors rush for nearly 4,000 yards.

Riley Orel’s defensive performance was impressive. The junior collected three interceptions, two pass breakups and two tackles for loss as well as 26 tackles.

Orel also rushed for 933 yards on 72 carries. He also rushed for 933 yards on 72 carries with six touchdowns. He also caught seven passes for 130 yards and four touchdowns.

Ellie Brozik has been named to the volleyball  Class A all state first team.

Brozik is making her third overall appearance on the Class A all state team after a second team selection in 2019 ad and a first team pick in 2020. The Winner senior had 405 kills, 89 aces, 329 digs. The Lady Warriors reached the Class A SoDak 16.

The 11^th annual Winner Area Chamber of Commerce Sharpshooter Bird and Clay  Classic will be held Dec. 10-11.

The classic will feature six person teams and they will have four hours to hunt on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Check in will be at the Rosebud Arrow, Rod and Gun Club before 2 p.m.
Once checked in persons will compete in trap shooting.

The Friday night banquet will be held at the Tripp County 4-H Center where there will be a Calcutta and a drawing for landowners.
The Saturday night awards banquet will be held at the 4-H Center.  There will be games, a meal followed by awarding of prizes from the hunt.

Prizes will be awarded to the top three teams and guns will be awarded to each member of the team.

This year there are 16 teams in the hunt.

Mike Scott, executive director of the Chamber, says there is still need for more volunteers for the hunt. This incudes more judges for the Saturday hunt. Persons who can help are to call the Chamber office at 842-1533.

Charley Pravecek of the Winner football team, has been named to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader Elite 45.

Each year the Argus Leader selects the best football players in the state.

Pravecek was both a guard and tackle for a Winner team that was thoroughly dominate. Pravecek led an offensive line that rushed for over 3,600 yards this season.

He was almost as dominant as a defensive presence for the Warriors. He had 36.5 tackles, 11.5 tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks on a Winner team that rarely gave their opponents room.

“Defensively, he was dominant. He played with incredible effort and technique,” said coach Trent Olson. “He was one of the best linemen I have ever seen in 11B.”

Named honorable mention in the Elite 45 was Kaden Keiser of Winner. 

Riley Orel, a junior on the Winner High School football team, was one of two honorable mentions for Midco Sports player of the year.

Orel helped the Winner Warriors win the Class 11B state championship.

The other honorable mention was Kolby Kaiser from Bridgewater/Emery-Ethan.