Category Archives: Sports

When people ask who is the No. 1 team in Class 11B team in the state, there is only one answer: The talented Winner Warriors.

The Warriors proved they were the top Class 11B team in the state when they defeated Tri Valley 45-6 Friday afternoon in the DakotaDome in Vermillion.
With the victory, the Warriors capped a perfect 12-0 season and in those 12 games they recorded 8 shutouts and had a running clock in every game.

“This was another stellar performance by our guys,” said coach Dan Aaker. “This was a crazy year where we dominated football games.”

Two players on the Winner team received special honors at the game. Windsor Barry was named the Joe Robbie most valuable player and also the outstanding running back. Jordan Turgeon was name the outstanding lineman.

The Warriors set three state Class 11B records in the game. The WHS team had the most first downs with 22, total yards of offense with 510 and most points in a game with 45.

This was the sixth state championship for the Warriors and their 13th appearance in the Dome playing for state title.

Windsor Barry of the undefeated Winner High School football team has been named among the American Family Insurance all-USA South Dakota players of the week.
In the semifinal victory over Groton Area, Barry had 162 yards rushing and scored three touchdowns. Isaac Naasz had three sacks on defense.

Winner High School volleyball team played with heart in the Region 7A championship match Nov. 10 in Martin.
The Lady Warriors lost in five sets as they took on Red Cloud for the right to advance to the state tournament in Sioux Falls.
Red Cloud took the first two sets with Winner taking the next two to tie it up. Red Cloud won the final game. The scores were 24-16, 25-17 Red Cloud, Winner 25-23 and 25-10 and Red Cloud 15-11.

Winner High School football team knew what was on the line when they took the field Saturday. It was a chance to make another trip to the DakotaDome and play for the state 11B title.

The Warriors did not disappoint their home fans or fans all over the area. Winner came up with a big 39-0 victory over Groton Area. This was the Warriors 8th shut out this season and the team goes into the state championship game undefeated with an 11-0 record.

The Warriors will play Tri Valley on Friday, Nov. 13, at 1:30 p.m. in the Dakota Dome in Vermillion in the Class 11B championship.

Colome Cowboys were so close to winning the Class 9B semifinal game against Harding County on Saturday.  The Cowboys made the long trip to Buffalo and lost 28-22.

Coach Scott Kortan said the Colome team never gave up and clawed back when they fell behind.  The Cowboys had a tie game (22-22) going into the fourth quarter.

WinnerHigh School volleyball team defeated Pine Ridge in the semifinals of the regional volleyball tournament on Saturday in Pine Ridge. Winner won 25-22, 25-22 and 25-21.

“I could tell from the long bus trip that we were mentally ready to play,” said coach Jaime Keiser. “There was a lot of positive energy on the way to Pine Ridge.”

Burke/South Central defeated Colome in the District 12B championship Friday in Gregory. The scores of the match were 25-15, 25-14 and 28-26.

Colome finished second in the District 12 tournament and ends the season with a 17-11 record.

Colome won the District 12B semifinal match over Gregory in Colome on Thursday. The scores were 25-14, 25-17, 25-19.

Two members of the Winner High School cross country team have been selected to receive academic all state honors.  Hayley Halverson and Grant Winter received the honor.

To receive academic all-state recognition an athlete must be a senior, have participated in the sport for at least three years and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher.

Winner Area middle school wrestling team opened the season Saturday at Valentine, Neb. The Warriors placed 11 wrestlers.

First place went to Kaleb Osborn, Michael Olson, Kaden Keiser, Joey Cole, Aaron Gilchrist, Trevor Peters and Riley Shippy.  Finn Bartels and Preston Norrid took second.  Owen Duffy placed third.  Gavin Tucker took fourth place.

“Coach LaDeaux and myself were happy with how we performed in this tournament,” said coach Spencer Novotny. “We have a lot of stuff we need to work on in the next week.”

Winner High School football team remained undefeated and recorded its seventh shut out of the season as they blanked Bennett County 50-0 in the quarterfinals of the state football playoffs Monday in Winner.  The game ended at halftime due to the mercy rule.
With the win, the Warriors will advance to the semifinals which will be played this Saturday in Winner. Winner will play Groton at Warrior Field.